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The other man’s perplexity faded into understanding. “Ah. Hmm. Tresigan. I don’t see why not.” He paused as if something about the plan was amusing. “I can make arrangements,” he added. “I might be quite a dab hand at arrangements.”
Why he should find this funny, Kenver did not know. He did not really care as long as… Remembering a problem, he grimaced. “My allowance is not large,” he said, a humiliating admission to this superior man. “I could not pay a great deal.”
“Ah, well, Cecelia is always saying that careful tenants are more valuable than inflated rents.” The duke smiled. Not at Kenver, but at some mysterious jest of his own. “I’m sure we can agree. Let us consider the matter settled.”
Kenver felt the beginnings of relief.
“The house won’t be habitable immediately,” the duke added. “It is full of workmen. And our resident vagabond, of course.”
“Habitable” could be a relative term, Kenver thought. He and Sarah might put up with a great deal of inconvenience to be free. Free, he thought, his spirits soaring with hope. He must find Sarah and tell her.
On the other side of the Tintagel peninsula, Sarah led Cecelia into a crevice in the rock and followed its turns and twists. “Don’t slip on the pebbles,” she warned. The boom of the ocean bounced off the rocky walls, and the air was damp with spray when they reached the end. “This is where we fell,” she told her friend. She put her arm in front of Cecelia. “Stay back. That rock is not steady.” She pointed to the opening in the cliffs below. “That is the entrance to the cave where we were trapped.”
Cecelia peered over the edge. “It’s fortunate you were not hurt.”
“The sand is soft just there,” Sarah replied. “And I landed on top of Kenver.”
The duchess examined the spot. “How loud the sea is here. I suppose no one could hear you call for help over the sound of the surf.”
“No. And he would not wake, so I had to drag him to shelter.”
“You were quite the heroine,” said Cecelia.
“That is not the term anyone used. I caused a scandal.”
“You caused it together, if scandal is the word.” Cecelia gazed at the side of her friend’s face. “You might have fought off the gossip. I would have invited you to come and stay until it passed if you’d told me.”
Sarah remembered that Cecelia too had been the target of malicious stories. She knew how it felt.Shehad married to scotch them, however. Partly. Perhaps. Sarah didn’t really know. In any case, the Terefords had been on their way to Cornwall soon after the incident. Where could Cecelia have invited Sarah to stay? Poldene? Something between a laugh and a groan escaped her. “I wanted to marry Kenver,” Sarah said. After that tender night in the cave, she really had. “Before I met his parents.”
“Well, I hope you will remember in future that friends wish to help you.”
Meeting her concerned gaze, Sarah said, “Thank you. Youhavehelped. I can hardly say how much. I don’t know what I would have done without your company at Poldene.” She shuddered to think of life under those circumstances.
“I was happy to help, but we cannot stay a great deal longer. The work at Tresigan will soon be done.”
Sarah went still. “Tresigan,” she said. “Nearly done.” She put a hand on Cecelia’s arm. “Could we stay there?” she asked.
Cecelia blinked.
“Things would be so much better if we did not live with Kenver’s parents,” Sarah went on.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” wondered Cecelia. “Of course you can.” She frowned. “But you know, Sarah, though we are making repairs, the place will be rather…rustic.”
“I could not care less.”
“Do you really understand though? There is only a hand pump in the kitchen for water and an…adequate outdoor privy.”
“I don’t mind inconvenience,” replied Sarah. She nearly added that she would live in a hovel to escape Poldene. But that wasn’tquitetrue. A worrisome snag occurred to her. “We don’t have a large income. We couldn’t pay much rent.”
Cecelia waved this aside.
“The duke won’t mind?”
“He doesn’t care about such details.” Cecelia assumed her planning expression. “I will urge the workmen on. We have found quite a bit of furniture in the cellar. It should be enough.”
“I must tell Kenver,” Sarah said, elated.
They turned away from the sea and walked out of the crevice, finding the gentlemen searching for them. Cecelia accepted her husband’s offered arm and went to examine the castle ruins. Sarah ran to Kenver, who took her outstretched hands. “I have had an idea,” they both said.
