skeletal, blackened ruins of Tregowan Hall rising high above the trees in distance. Fire had gutted part of the hall ten years ago, its owner, Lord Julius Tregowan, and his wife having perished in the blaze. The Tregowan estate was a prosperous one with vast productive acres. The quiet rural communities in this part of Cornwall flourished on rumours about the family that had lived and died in the great house. Lord Tregowan’s heir, who employed a bailiff to administer the working of the estate, remained a mystery. Some said he lived in Bristol and had never been to Tregowan Hall to look over his inheritance. Whether he eventually came to Cornwall remained to be seen, and meant nothing to her anyway.
Her thoughts far away, she did not seem to hear his approach until the dogs bristled and growled low in their throats. Turning her head, she looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun’s brightness. A man astride a horse was looking down at her. Her eyes and brain recognised his presence, but her emotions were slow to follow.
‘You!’ she said, surprised to see Mr Searle.
Mocking blue eyes gazed back at her. ‘Aye, Rowena,’ Tobias said, swinging his powerful frame out of the saddle, his boots sounding sharp against the rocks. ‘My apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you.’
Removing his hat, the intruder looked down at her, his face grave, though Rowena noticed one eyebrow was raised in that whimsical way he had and his lips were inclined to curl in a smile. What was he doing up here? she had time to wonder, since he was a long way from his ship.
His gaze swept the landscape, settling for just a moment on the skeletal chimneys of Tregowan Hall, before coming to rest on the young woman who made no attempt to get up. He was surprised to see that she wore a jacket and breeches and black riding boots more suitable to a male than a female. She lounged indolently against the rock at her back, one of her dogs beside her, her long slender legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. She was as healthy and thoughtless as a young animal, sleek, graceful and high-spirited as a thoroughbred, and dangerous when crossed.
There was also a subdued strength and subtleness that gave her an easy, almost naïve elegance she was totally unaware of. The sun shone directly on the glossy cape of her deep brown hair, which had escaped the restriction of the red ribbon. Few women were fortunate enough to have been blessed with such captivating looks. Her eyes were as clear and steady and calm as the waters he had seen lapping a stretch of tropical sand and were the same exquisite mixture of turquoise, sapphire and green, their colour depending on the light and her mood. In fact, Rowena Golding was blessed with everything she would need to guarantee her future happiness.
The beauty of her caught his breath, then irritation at her recklessness in being up here alone.
‘Have you no sense?’ he chided, sitting with his back to a rock facing her, a knee drawn up and an arm dangling across it. Glancing at one of the dogs reclining some yards away watching him closely, baring its teeth menacingly since it did not know him, he made no move to approach it. ‘Don’t you realise the danger of riding alone up here, where vagabonds and gypsies and all kinds of travellers roam the country looking for work? They would do you serious harm for the pennies in your pocket. What is your father thinking of to allow it?’
She gave him a haughty look, as though to ask what that could possibly have to do with him. ‘I don’t have any pennies in my pocket, and my father has more important things to worry about than what I get up to. Besides I rarely do what people suggest, as you must have noticed. What did you say to Mr Whelan, by the way? He didn’t even wait to see Father. Jane told me you spoke to him and that the two of you left together.’
‘I merely told him you were spoken for.’
Her eyes opened wide and her tone was indignant. ‘You told him that? It was a lie and you had no right.’
‘Surely you would not choose to wed an old man over me.’
‘Oh, I shall marry—if it will get you off our backs—but never would I consider you, Mr Searle.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Worry not. Before you know it, your father will come up with another suitor.’
Rowena glared across at him, holding a tight rein on her temper. ‘It is none of your affair.’
‘On the contrary, my dear Miss Golding. Everything your father does is of primary importance to me. I have an investment in your family. I seek only what is my due, and if marrying you to some tottering ancient is his only means of acquiring the money to settle his debt, then so be it.’
‘Mr Searle, I may be many things, but I am certainly not your dear.’
A soft chuckle and a warm, appreciative light in his eyes conveyed his pleasure. ‘You are by far the loveliest and dearest thing I’ve seen for many a year, Rowena.’
His gaze swept over her, from her shining head, sliding leisurely over her rounded bosom and down the length of her legs. Her hand went to the ears of the panting dog, which she fondled and smoothed and pulled, to the dog’s evident delight, and she was rewarded by the thump of a black tail. It obviously meant a great deal to her the way she was fussing over it. Tobias felt a strange sensation come over him and he could hardly believe it when he realised it was resentment—that he, Tobias Searle, who knew himself to be attractive to women, and not because he was one of the richest merchants in Bristol, but because—and he would make no bones about it—he was handsome and had a certain way with the ladies, could be jealous of a dog.
Casting a wary eye over both animals, he saw they were big dogs, gentle and affectionate, but let anyone make a move they didn’t like against their mistress and he suspected they could become fierce as tigers.
A lazy smile dawned across his tanned face, and Rowena’s heart skipped a beat. Tobias Searle had a smile that could melt an iceberg. She immediately wished she’d worn her riding habit, which was less revealing than her breeches, for his careful scrutiny left no curve untouched. When his eyes returned to hers, her cheeks were aflame with indignation. He smiled into her glare.
‘Yes, Rowena. You really are quite lovely, you know.’
‘And you are the most insufferable man I have ever met.’
She fell silent, looking at him openly. His face was virile with a compelling strength, which said that no matter what words she flung at him, he would never yield to them. His dark curling hair was cut short, glossy and thick, dipping across his wide forehead. His eyes were steady and narrowed in a deep brilliant blue when he smiled, and his mobile mouth curved across strong white teeth in his brown face.
‘What are you doing here? Were you spying on me?’
‘I grew bored with Falmouth and came to see if the sights were better up here.’ The corners of his lips twitched with amusement, and his eyes gleamed into hers as he added, ‘I am happy to report they are much better.’
‘It’s a pity you have nothing better to do than go about ogling women.’
‘I could find plenty to do, if I weren’t waiting for your father to come up with the money he owes me. So, with time on my hands, I can’t think of anything more enjoyable than being in the company of a very attractive young lady.’
‘So, not only are you a man hellbent on ruining my father, you are also a womanising rake,’ she sneered.
Making himself more comfortable Tobias grinned leisurely. ‘Don’t mind me. It’s just my way. You must forgive me. I’ve been too long at sea and have grown forgetful of how to behave when
