scandal to the family name, just as I am sure you would dislike any misunderstandings.â
âMisunderstandings can be sorted out,â Wyngate snapped.
âBut how much better if they donât occur in the first place!â the Earl said smoothly. âNow, shall we have some tea?â
âDonât bother,â Wyngate said. âItâs time we were going. I told that coachman to wait in the grounds, so I suppose heâs still there.â
âIâll summon him,â Rena said.
âI would have liked some tea,â Matilda said mildly.
âShut up!â her father told her.
In no time the carriage was at the front door waiting for them. The coachman pulled down the step and opened the door. Matilda stepped in, followed by her father.
But before he entered the coach Wyngate turned back to face Rena and the Earl, standing on the step.
âIâve never set my heart on anything I didnât get,â he grated. âIâll be seeing you again very shortly.â
Then he looked directly at Rena. It was a malevolent look, like a blast of icy wind. It told her that he wasnât fooled. He knew exactly what she had done, and how she had done it. And she would be made to pay for it.
All this was in the silent, deadly gaze that he turned on her.
Then he got into the carriage and slammed the door.
CHAPTER SIX
âThank goodness for you,â John said sombrely as they turned back into the house. âIf you hadnât come in when you did ââ He shuddered. âRena I hardly recognised you, talking in that half witted fashion.â
âBut you understood what I was saying?â
âYes. I would have been trapped. I can see it now, but then everything was strangely foggy. I donât understand it.â
âHe was weaving wicked spells around you,â said Rena.
âThat was exactly how it felt. All the time he was talking I knew there was something wrong, but I couldnât see what it was because my mind seemed to be full of cobwebs. It was as though he had mesmerised me. But then you came in and blew the cobwebs away.â
He grinned. âYou were brilliant. You sounded like the silliest woman in the world, not at all like my Rena.â
She smiled. âSometimes itâs easier to say things if people think youâre too stupid to be taken seriously. I didnât want to denounce him openly as a scoundrel in case you wanted to go along with his plan.â
âYou think Iâd do that?â
âYou need money.â
âAnd you expect me to marry for it?â
âI expect you to remember that the village is relying on you,â she said quietly. âBut Iâm glad youâre not turning to Wyngate. Heâs evil.â
âYes, I felt that force in him too. But good vanquished evil.â He gave her a tender look.
âFor the moment,â she said in a brooding voice. âBut he will come back. He isnât going to give up.â
She would have liked to tell him that Matilda had another lover, and would fight the marriage as strongly as they. But she had given Matilda her word not to speak of Cecil, so she contented herself with saying,
âMatilda may give him a shock. She isnât as docile as he thinks. Sheâs very much his daughter. She told me that twice, and itâs true.â
âDid she tell you anything else?â
âNothing that I can repeat. But weâre on the same side. Letâs go and have some tea.â
In the kitchen they ate the cakes she had prepared and she said, âWhatever possessed you to invent that story about my being your married cousin?â
âI was trying to be helpful,â he said, aggrieved. âYou were so worried about your reputation.â
âBut everyone knows me in this village. They know my nameâs Colwell because of my father, not my non-existent husband. Matilda didnât believe a word of it. And neither