distance. If anyone were to observe them from the house it was all above reproach. They strolled a little way in silence, though from time to time Elena shot a sideways glance at her companion. His proximity made her feel self-conscious—aware of his closeness to her fingertips, a feeling so unaccustomed that she felt unwontedly awkward.
‘I regret the need for a chaperone,’ she said then. ‘It isn’t because I don’t trust you.’
He smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘It’s just that I must be seen to observe the required forms of behaviour. My aunts …’
‘You don’t have to explain. I understand perfectly.’
She gave him another sideways look. ‘Do you?’
Unwilling to reveal his knowledge about her past, he slid over it. ‘Your admission to the convent is to take place very soon, I collect.’
She nodded. ‘My uncle has arranged it.’
The words jarred and aroused a sense of impotent anger. Suddenly he wanted to find out more, to hear Elena’s side of the matter.
‘And how do you feel about the new life you are about to enter?’
‘As a man might feel on learning that he is to be imprisoned for the rest of his life.’
The words confirmed what he had suspected from the conversation at table the previous evening. It made the implications all the more unpalatable.
‘Then you have no vocation?’
‘No vocation, or even a belief in God any more. However, that makes no difference to my family.’
He heard the suppressed anger in her tone, saw it in her eyes. He could well understand it too. More than ever the whole business seemed criminal.
‘I’m truly sorry. Is there nothing that can be done to change their minds?’
‘They are quite resolved and will not bend.’
‘They might show some compassion.’
‘They have none. I am twenty-three years old, unmarried and with no prospect of being so. I am therefore a liability they mean to be rid of, and a convent is the ideal place. The method is respectable, discreet and permanent.’
He knew she was right and, even though it was none of his affair, he could not help but feel pity for her predicament and disgust for the perpetrators.
Elena lifted her chin. ‘I think that you have heard quite enough of my woes. Let us speak of something else.’
‘Certainly.’
‘Tell me about your brother, the one whose death has occasioned this visit. I think you must have been very fond of him to travel so great a distance.’
‘Jamie was the brother I looked up to most. He was a hero to me when we were younger. I wanted to be just like him.’ He smiled wryly. ‘It always seemed like a big pair of shoes to fill.’
The smile, albeit transitory, suggested hidden warmth behind the cool English reserve. She sensed there was more here than met the eye and was intrigued.
‘Have you other brothers and sisters?’
‘Two sisters and three brothers, although Jamie is gone now and the youngest, Edward, died at Waterloo.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It was a terrible blow to all the family, but our father took it hardest. He’d already lost Jamie, you see, and when he received the news of Edward’s demise … well, it affected the balance of his mind.’
‘It must have been a terrible time for all concerned.’
He sighed. ‘It was. Because his body had not been found there was always a little gleam of hope that, somehow, a miracle might happen and Jamie might come back but, as time went on, hope began to fade. Eventually we had to face the facts, of course.’
‘But you have not given up hope of obtaining the proof you need.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I have not. As for the rest, it’s still hard to accept. I always thought I would know if he were really dead, that I’d feel it in my heart. I suppose that was just a form of denial. A foolish one at that.’
‘Not foolish at all, only human. There is not a day goes by that I don’t think about my father.’
The empathy evident in her look and tone touched something deep inside him. These were things he had never discussed with anyone, until now. Being accustomed to keeping his stronger emotions out of sight this unwonted openness made him feel exposed and yet, paradoxically, comforted too. It also felt like dangerous ground. He needed to return to a surer footing.
‘I hope I haven’t come on a wild-goose chase.’
‘I think you will discover the truth eventually.’
‘I hope so.’ Harry sighed. ‘Besides, it is only just that the estate should pass to the rightful heir. I need to establish who that is.’
‘Of course.’
Discovering the facts relating to Jamie’s death was only part of the problem, but Harry knew it would not be fitting to discuss such intimate details here. All the same, it was surprisingly easy to talk to Elena. Disarmingly easy. It behoved him to be careful. Whatever his view of the matter she was forbidden fare in every way. What might be regarded as acceptable attentions to a lady in England might well be regarded as familiarity in Spain where interpretation was much stricter. When marriages were arranged here it was not unusual if the bride and groom didn’t meet until their wedding day.
That thought engendered others and he wondered what manner of man Elena’s betrothed had been that he would abandon a woman in that way. Did he know what he was losing? Had they even met? He could hardly ask her, but all the same his curiosity increased.
‘Tell me about your home,’ she went on. ‘In what part of England does it lie?’
‘The family seat is at Castonbury Park in Derbyshire. That’s roughly in the middle of the country.’
‘The Montague name is an old and respected one, I think.’
‘Our line goes back to the Norman Conquest. One of our ancestors came over with Duke William and was rewarded for his service with lands in England.’
‘Do you live in a castle, then?’
‘No, although there has been a house at Castonbury since the Middle Ages. The original one changed over time as bits were added to provide more living space. Eventually it was demolished to be replaced with the present house.’
‘It must be very grand.’
He smiled faintly. ‘Grand enough, I suppose.’
‘Do you live there all the time?’
‘No, I reside in London for the most part.
