She shot him a dark look, which made him realize she wasn’t accustomed to doing what other people told her, except perhaps his father. But she opened the door anyway and called to her team. They returned and he stepped back and watched her explain the plan to them. Their expressions of support showed they were all genuinely fond of her. It wasn’t what he was used to. He distrusted affection and love. And he only wished his father hadn’t insisted they be married for at least five years. He wanted out as soon as he could. He’d never intended to marry, and he’d certainly never intended to share his inheritance with anyone—not his brothers or a random stranger who’d walked into his father’s life one day and never left.
No, the beautiful Indra had a secret, and she was scared of being in the public eye. No doubt it was related to the reason she and her mother came to Richmond Estate in the first place. They were running from someone or something, like the law. Yes, that was most likely it. They’d fallen foul of the law and had gone into hiding with the aid of his father. All he had to do was discover her secret and then he’d be able to use it against her to make her walk away from the marriage and leave everything behind that was his.
Blackmail was a dirty word, but it was an effective way of getting what he wanted.
Chapter4
It was bank holiday weekend and the estate was deserted except for the stables some distance away, with a skeleton staff to care for the horses. Indra locked up the estate offices and walked back to the house through the stand of majestic beech trees, the buds already showing the first signs of fresh green leaf. Through the trees she caught a glimpse of the small medieval church which was nestled in their midst. She usually took her time walking through the estate but not today. Above the trees the sky had darkened, promising not only rain, but a storm. She could sense it in the air.
On entering the house Indra immediately sought her refuge in the old nursery, at the top of the house. From its many windows, she could see in all directions. She felt safe from Sebastian up here. Not that she thought he’d come after her and harm her. It was more that she was safe from her own reactions to him. Here, she could find some peace.
While there was no lock on her door, she knew all he was doing was trying to frighten her off. So long as she was out of sight he wouldn’t come after her. All that talk had been nothing more than to scare her away. No, here in the nursery, she felt safe.
When she’d first arrived at Richmond Manor and been given the nursery as her own space to do with what she liked, she’d been relieved. The house had seemed so magnificent and so unfamiliar that she’d initially taken to sleeping up there, not wanting to use any of the grand bedrooms. She no longer slept there, but she still spent a lot of time under the eaves of the house.
It had been difficult after her mother’s relationship with Charles Richmond had changed. But seeing the love between them had enabled her to cope with the gossip. It had been a gradual warming which had grown to love, and a bond between them had developed with each passing day. She hadn’t imagined the grief and tenderness which Charles had shown as he cared for her dying mother, who had never recovered from the shock of the murder of her husband and son. All her family had paid for it with their lives, except Indra. And she had to live with the guilt of surviving when her family had not.
She switched on the computer, intending to go over the accounts, to see if there was anywhere where they could make cuts. But a flash of lightning filled the darkened room, making her rise and walk toward the window. She did the thing she used to do as a girl, and counted the seconds between the lightning flash and the thunderclap to gauge how far away the storm was.
One, two, three…
A dark figure—Sebastian—emerged from the trees and walked toward the stables.
Four, five, six…
She watched as he met with the grooms who had remained behind to care for the horses. Apparently reassured, he returned to the house and she heard the front door slam far below her.
A thunderclap.
Six miles. Maybe. If the old wives’ tale was true.
As another strike of lightning split the gun-metal gray sky, Indra pulled the curtains closed against the weather theatrics, really wishing she hadn’t given staff the time off.
One, two, three…
The thunderclap came sooner than she expected, making her jump.
Three miles.
She was accustomed to spending time alone in the house, but she could always look out at the farm cottages and the apartment above the estate office to know that people weren’t far away if she needed them. On the rare occasions that something had gone wrong with the plumbing or electrics of the old house, they’d been there in an instant. But today there was no one and the air smelt of ozone and crackled with tension and electricity.
When the next flash of lightning came, it lit up the entire sky, filling it with an unearthly, colorless radiance. On one side, the trees in the woods formed a united shadow, on the other the white estate buildings were stark against the dark sky. Black and white. A place of simplicity. She wished her life could be black and white.
She switched off the computer for safety. After making herself a cup of hot chocolate, she curled up on a furry throw and opened a book. She used computers only for work. There were no social media accounts. She couldn’t risk it. Her mother had drummed into her from an early age that she had to keep a low profile, otherwise their enemies would come for them, too. And she’d been safe until now. She tossed her book to one side. The thought of Sebastian inviting all and sundry to the event, opening up her small world for anyone to enter, made her feel queasy.
They had only a few weeks before the marriage would take place. After that, her world would open up and she’d have to face whatever came her way. Because she couldn’t contemplate the alternative—of leaving Richmond. It was home. And she knew it would always be, even if she was forced to leave. She hoped Sebastian would be true to his word and allow her to co-exist with him, without having to be in each other’s company. Because there was something about him which made her feel very uncomfortable and out of control. Something which made her very nearly forget herself.
The storm must have veered away because the thunder sounded distant now. She lay back, put her hands behind her head, and watching the lightning streak across the plain white ceiling, she relaxed. The nursery was the one place where she could allow her thoughts to travel to places which were secret to her. Like her thoughts and daydreams about Sebastian.
At first she’d thought him to be exactly the man her step-father had described—cold and heartless. But she’d seen how he’d behaved with the estate animals—revealing an affection toward the dogs and horses which proved that, deep inside, there was a different Sebastian. A version of himself who, for whatever reason, he showed no one. It was almost as if he didn’t trust anyone.
She was reminded of a dog she’d once owned in India, who had been mistreated and snarled whenever anyone went near him. She’d only just begun to change his behavior by showing him constant care and kindness, when their lives had been split apart by violence. She’d never seen him again. When she and her mother had emerged in the quiet of the night to leave the place where her family had been murdered, there’d been no sign of the dog. And it had only been then that the tears had come, and she’d struggled with her mother, wailing that she needed to find him. It was the only time her mother had ever hit her. One sharp, stinging slap across the cheek had been enough to quiet her and make her obedient, and follow her mother into a new life, leaving the old one behind them, dead and buried. Gone forever.
The memory was unsettling, and she jumped up and looked out the window. The evening had darkened considerably. This time the lightning burst into the sky and was immediately followed by a thunderclap which rattled the figurines she’d collected as a child, and the lights went out, plunging her into a shadowy twilight.
Her heartbeat quickened, and she looked around for a torch, but couldn’t see one. She’d have to start the back-up generator. Usually the staff did this, but they were all away. But she’d watched them enough times to know how to do it. Wherever Sebastian was in the enormous house, she wouldn’t be looking for him, because she very much doubted if he’d know where the back-up generator was, let alone how to use it. She retrieved her phone, checked the battery, annoyed it was so low, and decided not to use the light until absolutely necessary.
Cautiously, she descended the plain white-painted staircase which led to the main landing. A flash of lightning lit the lofty hallway and its ornate ceiling, sending sparkles of light through the crystal chandelier. For a moment, she thought it had caught fire. Then the light vanished, making it darker than before. Slowly, she groped her way down the grand main stairway and then looped back to the rear exit, which would lead her to the generator in the barn behind the house.