Page 18 of The Spring Promise
“Oh. Of course,” Celeste said hastily. “I will miss you, Mr Starling. Perhaps you could visit me while I am there? You would be most welcome. Mr Hunter intends to call, although he tells me he is always very busy.”
She pouted and Will decided he would need to be direct.
“I am afraid I am very busy as well,” he said. “The estate keeps me very busy, and I do not have time to gallivant in London, Miss Morton.”
Celeste blinked at him in surprise. “Oh, that is too bad,” she said rather sharply. “But I believe if one does not venture outside of one’s comfortable little world, then one will become very boring. That is why I will treasure my time here, and the people I have met.”
“All very well, Miss Morton, but I am not a man of leisure like Mr Hunter. One day Starling Hall will be mine and I intend to run it as efficiently as possible, without compromising the wellbeing of my tenants or my animals.”
There, he had said what needed to be said in the sort of plain language he preferred. And Celeste seemed bewildered by his frankness.
“Will,” she said quietly, “we would not suit at all, would we? Why did you ask me to marry you?”
“If I am being honest, I was bewitched by you. Your-your beauty and your kindness. I have never met anyone like you in my life. You sparkle like the brightest star. Barton Lacey will be the poorer for your going, Miss Morton. But there is more to marriage than that. As you have pointed out, we would not suit at all. But I too will treasure the time I have spent with you.”
Celeste seemed very moved by that. It wasn’t entirely the truth, but Will thought it was close enough, and he didn’t want to hurt the girl.
“Oh Will,” she whispered, and blinked back tears. “Thank you. I will never forget you.”
Will gave her a bow and walked away. He felt lighter, as if he had shed a heavy weight. Now he wanted to find Molly. But neither Molly nor Hunter were in the room. A sense of foreboding washed over him. Was he already too late?
CHAPTERELEVEN
“And this is where I slept when I was a child,” Mark said, opening the door with a flourish. “My parents travelled a great deal, so I was left with my grandparents whenever they were away. This room is part of the old tower, and I thought it very exciting. If you stand outside on the balcony, you can see down into what was once the moat.”
Molly peered into the room from the corridor. It looked dusty and there were large patches of damp on the walls. She didn’t want to be here with him and she wasn’t all that keen to see his old bedchamber. When Mrs. Hunter had been called away to attend to some domestic matter, Mark had insisted he show her around the house. If she hadn’t been so desperate to escape Will and Celeste’s whisperings, she would have said no.
Really, all she wanted was to go home and throw herself on her bed and weep. It seemed as good a solution as any. Celeste seemed more infatuated with Will than ever.
Mark pointed out some of his toys, each one with a story all its own. It was quite charming, actually, and if she had ever thought about marrying him in another life, she might have been swayed to say yes. But she hadn’t, and it was becoming more and more of an effort to be agreeable because she knew she had to give him an answer. And there was really only one answer she could give.
“Come and see the view,” Mark led her to the narrow window. He swung the frame open with an effort—the hinges groaned with disuse—before leaning out to show her the small balcony with its metal railing.
“Oh, it is further down than I expected,” she said.
“I used to pretend I was a valiant knight of old, watching for my enemies,” he said with a self-conscious laugh. “Give me your hand and I will help you step out.”
Molly didn’t want to step out. The balcony didn’t look very safe at all. But Mark had already gripped her hand and was helping her through the low window. The next thing she knew, her feet were on the narrow balcony. Looking up, she could see Starling Hall in the distance, though she really didn’t want to think about the Starlings right now.
Celeste’s voice came from outside the door. “Mr Hunter?”
A moment later, she appeared in the doorway. She came toward them with a cry of excitement. “Oh, can I join you, Miss Lacey?”
Mark turned away, perhaps to warn her there was only room for one, and that was when it happened.
Molly felt the balcony floor give way. She fell, and it was by sheer luck that she managed to catch hold of the windowsill.
It all happened so quickly. There was a crash as the remains of the balcony fell against the tower and then slithered down to the ground far below. Molly’s feet dangled helplessly as she tried to find something to stand on, but there was nothing but fresh air. She had hold of the windowsill but that was rotten too and began to pull away from the frame.
She screamed as she began to fall. “Will!” she cried out instinctively.
It was Hunter who grabbed her arm. He cursed as he leant through the window and some slivers of broken wood jabbed him from the broken sill. “I don’t know how long I can hold you,” he panted. A droplet of blood fell from his injured wrist onto her cheek.
And then Celeste, her voice high with terror, “Will, is that you? Oh, thank God! Help! Hurry!”
Hunter’s hold on her was slipping, and he was in obvious pain.
“I am going to fall!” Molly cried, her voice filled with despair.
