Folly's Reward Read Free

over his shoulder. Yet at the turn around the end of the shale ledge, he sat suddenly on the rock and dropped his head to his knees.
    Prudence released Bobby’s hand and hurried back. The stranger looked up and grinned.
    “Don’t discompose yourself, dear angel. Even Jonah was able to save himself, and he was swallowed whole and regurgitated before being washed up.”
    “Oh, don’t be silly,” she said. “Let me help you. Put your arm about my shoulders. The house isn’t far.”
    He shook his head, but Prudence slipped her arm about his waist to help him stand. Beneath the wet shirt he was supple and lean, yet his flesh felt icy. Leaning on her shoulder, he walked up the beach, Bobby clinging to his other hand.
    Yet when they reached the straw hat full of shells, the man bent to retrieve it and handed it to the little boy.
    “I imagine you must wear this if you’re to return home, sir,” he said. “Allow me to carry your treasures for you.”
    The shells disappeared into one of his pockets, and he placed the hat on the child’s hair.
    “Are you sure you’re not the silkie?” Bobby asked.
    “I don’t know. I might be anything. Who is he?”
    “It’s an old folk tale,” Prudence said. “A belief that some seals can turn into men at night to visit the land. They’re called silkies.”
    “You can tell if you see a seal with blue eyes that he’s really a silkie,” Bobby explained earnestly. “They come to shore and turn into men, so they can meet real ladies and steal their hearts. But they always abandon them and their babies, and go back to the sea in the end.”
    “I see,” the man said. “Dashing, of course, but rather thoughtless of them.” He turned to Prudence and gently disengaged himself. “I believe I can manage now, angel. But thanks for the assistance. It felt wonderful. If I thought it would always result in your warm hand at my waist, and my arm around your enchanting shoulders, I would happily suffer shipwreck every day.”
    Prudence looked up at him. He was too pale and struggling not to shiver, but he didn’t seem in any further need of help.
    “And if I thought for one moment that you might be taking advantage of me, sir,” she said. “I should wish that you had drowned.”
    Her answer was a charming smile. “Angel, you are too severe. For so would I.”
    Bobby let go of his hand and ran ahead toward a track that led up from the beach. A stout, respectable lady stood there shielding her eyes with one hand.
    “Look, Mrs. MacEwen!” Bobby cried. “We have found a man.”
    * * *
    Prudence changed her dress and vigorously sponged away the marks of salt water. The fabric was still wet from its contact with the man’s body. She wished she could as easily scrub away her uncomfortable feelings.
    How could a man in danger of dying of exposure offer all that absurd, meaningless gallantry? And to her, of all people!
    She glanced at herself in the mirror.
    Unlike her sisters, she wasn’t pretty. Everything about her was nondescript. Her coloring was altogether too washed out and pale, even her straw-blond hair—it had none of Bobby’s golden lights. She was a governess, for heaven’s sake! And she had problems of her own.
    Half an hour later, Prudence sat in the drawing room while Mr. and Mrs. MacEwen tried to decide what to do with the fellow who had been so inconsiderate as to wash himself up on their beach. Bobby had been sent to the nursery, where one of the maids was giving him a bath. The stranger had been allowed to sit in the kitchen, warm himself, and take some refreshment, while the cook hovered over him and no doubt happily returned his outlandish flirtation.
    “I cannot think that it is perfectly respectable to be found on a beach,” Mrs. MacEwen said, tapping her fingers on the arm of the sofa.
    “It’s a villainous, rascally way to be found, to be sure.” Mr. MacEwen examined his pipe and poked in the bowl with a wire.
    “I don’t like it, Mr. MacEwen. The man