The Castle of Love Read Free Page B

During the whole year she was convalescing, they exchanged letters."
    Sarah fell silent. Jacina waited. She could not understand why her heart seemed to be beating so quickly. She watched as the old Nanny sighed and wiped her eyes with her apron.
     "So they were writing to each other." Jacina prompted.
    Sarah looked dazed for a moment. "Who, my lovely?"
    "Felice and – Hugo."
    "Oh, yes. Yes, they were. And some sort of understanding was growing between them, it seems. Because when the old Earl became ill, he asked Master Hugo to declare his intentions. So Master Hugo wrote back promising to marry Felice. The old Earl told me about it shortly before he died. It made him very happy."
    Jacina drew in a deep breath before she spoke. "And will they marry, Sarah?"
    Sarah frowned. "The talk now is that it won't happen. 'What young woman would want to yoke herself to aninvalid', that's what they're all saying. But they're fools. Master Hugo is still a great catch. There's many a young lady of nobility round here wants him, if Miss Felice should change her mind. But she won't. Mark my words. The new Earl and Felice Delisle will marry here at Ruven before the year is out."
    Before the year is out –
    The blood rushed to Jacina's face and she looked away.
    Why did the thought of Hugo Ruven getting married affect her so? After all, she had not had so much as a glimpse of him since that incident long ago when he rescued her bonnet.
    From far below the open nursery window there came the sound of wheels on gravel. Jacina jumped up and ran to the sill. She leaned out to look.
    Approaching the castle was a coach drawn by four white horses. Visible on the side of the coach as it swerved round the head of the driveway was the Ruven coat of arms.
     
    The new Earl of Ruven was home.

CHAPTER TWO
     Jacina hurried down the stairs. In the Great Hall, the servants were gathering to greet the new master of Castle Ruven. Jacina saw her father and ran to his side. He glanced down at her and smiled but his eyes betrayed anxiety.
    How would everyone respond to the sight of the blinded Earl?
    The huge front door stood open. Jarrold the butler stood at the top of the flight of wide steps that led down to the driveway. He would be the first to greet the new Earl. He stood very upright as should befit his position.
    The coach had drawn to a halt. The white horses pawed the ground and champed at the bit. They knew they were at the end of their journey and looked forward to mashed oats and the comfortable straw of their stables.
    A footman, dressed in the Ruven colours of deep maroon and black, approached the coach. He pulled down the folding steps. Then he stood aside and with one smooth movement opened the coach door.
    The first to step out was the Earl's valet. He turned at the bottom of the folding steps and waited.
    From within the coach, a hand appeared and grasped the frame of the door. In one swift move, the Earl was out on the coach steps, straightened to his full height. So firm and unfaltering was his bearing, that those watching barely noticed him extend his right hand to the valet. The valet guided him down and then released his hand.
     The Earl strode with head held high toward the castle steps.
    Jacina's heart missed a beat. He was darker and leaner than when she had last seen him, but the tilt of the head and the firm stride were the same.
    The butler hastily descended the steps just as the Earl reached them.
    "The first step, my Lord," he whispered.
    For a moment, a frown crossed the Earl's forehead and the unseeing eyes seemed to darken. But he controlled whatever impatient thought was within.
    "Thank you, Jarrold," he said. "It is Jarrold, isn't it?"
    Jarrold bristled with importance. "Oh, yes, indeed, my Lord. It is Jarrold the butler here, sir. The household is in the Great Hall waiting to greet you."
    "Good. Then remind me, Jarrold. How many steps are here before me?"
    "Just five, my Lord."
    "Thank you," said the Earl.
    He ascended