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“How could you?” He grasped his remaining hair and tugged at it.
“This is Merlin,” said Sarah. “He lives in a cave behind the house.”
“Thisis why you wanted my razor?” asked Kenver at the same time.
Tamara turned to stare at him and then at Sarah. “Is this some sort of prank? I am as happy to be amused as anyone, but I don’t see…”
“Oliver Welden!” shouted Merlin. “The boy, man, you abandoned for some mincing coxcomb you met in London.”
Tamara laughed. “I can’t imagine anyone who waslessa coxcomb than my Donald.”
“You call him yours,” Merlin accused.
“Of course I do. He was my husband for eleven years. And I…” Her voice wavered. “I miss him very much.”
Merlin—or Oliver, apparently—moaned.
“Oliver Welden,” Tamara repeated. She gazed at the transformed Merlin with a slight frown. “Welden. Oh, are you…were you the tutor at Tess Tremarthen’s house?”
“You know I was,” he declared fierily.
Tamara nodded. “I do remember you now.” She examined him. “I hardly dare ask how you are.”
“Heartbroken!” he shouted, tossing his arms.
Kenver’s sister gave Sarah a sidelong glance. “Did you say he was living in a cave?” she murmured. “Is he perhaps a bit…” She gestured at her temple.
“We went riding together,” the man interrupted. “We picnicked. You can’t have forgotten. You kissed me!”
Sarah noticed that Merlin’s rustic accent had completely disappeared and that Kenver looked shocked at this revelation.
Merlin walked over to the window and pointed outside with a stabbing gesture. “Right over there! You wanted to see the haunted house, and I brought you. I showed you the cave. You said it was deliciously mysterious. And you kissed me!”
Tamara shrugged apologetically. “I did that sort of thing, back then.”
Their visitor gaped at her. “Sort of thing. Sort of thing!”
“Here and there, to annoy my mother, you know.”
“Here and there,” he echoed, as if he couldn’t believe she’d used that phrase. “That implies…others?”
“It was a game,” she added. “I meant nothing by it.”
“Nothing,” he repeated. “Nothing!” The fire drained out of him. He looked as if someone had landed a heavy blow that left him dazed. “You led me to believe…to hope.” His eyes grew tragic. His shoulders slumped, and his arms hung at his sides.
“Are you saying I trifled with your affections?” Tamara pressed her lips together as if hiding a smile.
“Is this a joke to you?” Merlin/Oliver shouted, so loudly that Sarah winced. “Are you so cruel?”
Tamara held up a defensive hand. “I had no idea that you…” She let her hand fall and sat straighter. “I did not encourage you to think that I was in love with you.”
“You played fast and loose with my heart,” he replied.
Kenver’s sister laughed. “That sounds so odd coming from a man. How many women have said as much?”
“And this is your answer to me? This?”
She stopped smiling. “I was taught that men would steal kisses, and more if they could, whenever an opportunity arose. Mama always said that these…attentions were empty and meaningless. A snare for foolish girls and an invitation to ruin. So I didn’t imagine that you actually cared.”
