Meryl uncovered the snack, which turned out to be chicken and salad and trifle. The dogs promptly gave her their full attention.
‘What are their names?’
‘Rusty and Jacko. They’re pests. I don’t know why I bother to keep them.’
‘Because you’re crazy about them,’ Meryl said.
He grunted. ‘Yes, that must be it.’
Rusty had been watching her carefully. Suddenly he dived for the plate and seized the chicken piece up in his mouth before she could stop him.
‘No,’ she cried in horror, terrified of the chicken bones that could splinter and choke him. ‘Give it to me. Bad dog.’
A tug of war ensued with neither side winning. At last, with the determination of despair, Meryl thrust her fingers right into his mouth. ‘Give it to me.’ Rusty made a sound that wasn’t exactly a growl, more like a soft rumble of protest.
With a huge effort she managed to retrieve the chicken and blew on her fingers where Rusty’s protest had caught them.
‘Did he bite you?’ Jarvis asked, frowning.
‘No, just a little nip, and he didn’t mean it. Didn’t even break the skin.’
‘Let me see.’ He took her slender hand between his big strong ones and studied it closely. At last he gave a grunt of satisfaction and returned it to her. ‘You’re lucky. They’re the gentlest dogs alive, but even I wouldn’t put my hand in their mouths when they’re eating.’
‘I suppose it was stupid, but I once saw a dog choke to death on splintered chicken bones, and it’s something I never want to see again.’
‘When was that?’
‘When I was a little girl. I had a spaniel called Potts that I was crazy about. Nobody ever warned me about chicken, so I fed him some and he died right there in my arms.’
‘What about your parents?’
‘My mom was dead by then.’
‘Your father?’
‘Well, Dad was kind of busy. When he did come home, we didn’t talk about Potts. In fact-’ She fell silent.
‘What?’ Jarvis asked.
‘I’ve just remembered-Dad came in one evening and went straight to his study to work. He said, “I hope that dog of your hasn’t been in here again.” But Potts had been dead for three weeks. He’d just forgotten.’
‘Maybe he didn’t know-if he was away a lot-’
‘He was home when it happened. When I cried he’d said, “Daddy’ll buy you another dog”, and I threw a terrible tantrum because there could never be another dog and he didn’t understand. Whatever it was, he thought you could always “buy another”.’
Jarvis was watching her face, noticing its softer lines in the firelight. ‘Did you remind him that Potts was dead?’ he asked at last.
Meryl shrugged. ‘No chance. He was gone before I could answer.’ She turned to the dogs and crooned lovingly, ‘You stupid, stupid creatures!’ She fondled their heads and kissed them. ‘They’re getting grey. How old are they?’
‘Ten. I had their sire, and his before him.’
‘Then don’t you have any of their offspring lined up to take their place?’
He shrugged. ‘As you say, some dogs can’t be replaced.’
He refilled her glass and they sipped wine together for a moment, neither wanting to break the silence.
Her hair was damp from sea spray and she pulled it down about her shoulders to dry by the fire. It was very long and black and-he had to admit-very beautiful.
He shut the thought off, impatient with himself for even remembering the legend and the stone inscription. But it was hard not to remember it when Hannah was doing her best to remind him.
And not only Hannah. Somehow the news had spread to his estate on the mainland, and wherever he’d gone today he’d received eager, enquiring looks from his tenants and employees.
Meryl was looking at the portrait over the fire. ‘Who’s that?’
‘My grandfather. He was an army general.’
‘He looks like he’d have been fun to know.’
‘His men didn’t find him fun. He was a terror.’
‘But I’m not a man,’ Meryl pointed out. ‘I’ll bet he was a devil with women. You can see it in his eyes.’
Jarvis was about to protest at this superficial character reading when he recalled Ferdy saying, ‘He was a terrible man for the women,’ on the very day they’d first discussed Meryl Winters, and agreed that the general would have sent her away-but only after tumbling her in the hay.
Now Jarvis wished he hadn’t thought of that, because if ever a woman was made to be tumbled it was this one.
Lord Larne could take his pleasure wherever it pleased him. Over the centuries some Larnes had pleased themselves more than others. The present holder had an innate reserve and caution that made him pass up most of his chances, although he had far more than his title going for him. He had the well set up looks of a man in his prime, and a powerful masculine vitality that made women study him with interest. Just occasionally there was something else to mark him out as General Larne’s grandson, a look of the devil, a hint that if he let down his guard…
But he never did. He couldn’t afford to.
And with this woman, above all, he couldn’t afford to. For a moment he knew something like regret, but he silenced it. He had to keep his head.
CHAPTER FOUR
MERYL yawned and stretched, leaning back against the chair, then relaxing in an attitude of languid grace. ‘Sarah not here?’ she asked innocently.
‘No, she went home earlier.’
‘That’s a relief,’ she murmured. ‘I’m so afraid of her.’
He gave a crack of laughter. ‘I reckon you can take care of yourself OK.’
‘Reckon I can.’
‘Sarah’s an old friend, and very protective of Larne and its ways. I’m afraid she sees you as an invader.’
Meryl tossed a little grenade at him. ‘No more than you do.’
He winced. ‘Let’s forget that. Little though you might believe it, Larne also has a tradition of hospitality.’
‘Always assuming that you can tell the difference between guests and invaders.’
‘That can be a problem. The castle was built to ward off invasion. The threat was from the north. There was a whole string of castles constructed along the north coast, and Larne was one of them.’
‘But why was it built out in the sea?’
‘It wasn’t. In those days this was part of the land, but it’s been eroded.’
‘You ought to fortify that causeway,’ Meryl mused, ‘before it vanishes altogether.’
‘Yes,’ he said in a voice that was suddenly distant.
She gave him a puzzled look, then illumination dawned. ‘Did I just become an invader again?’
He groaned at himself. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Well, it wasn’t much of an invasion if you had to rescue me from drowning,’ Meryl pointed out. Suddenly she began to laugh.
‘What is it?’
‘I was just thinking of what I must have looked like,’ she choked. ‘Coming to storm the castle and having to be rescued like a drowned rat.’
