Whispering Read Online Free Page B

really. And I repaid them with mockery. I sometimes think I am not a very civilised person, Cousin Jeremy.’
    â€˜Of course you’re not,’ put in Harriet lovingly. ‘You’re a savage, Cat, but sometimes in this world one needs to be.’
    â€˜You’re certainly a chameleon,’ Jeremy said. ‘A man does not know where he is with you.’ It was true. He found her profoundly disturbing. He wanted no truck with women, never had, not since the childhood night when his adored mother came to his bedside, cried over him, kissed him passionately, and was gone in the morning. She had eloped with his father’s best friend, and he had promised himself, as he grew painfully up, that he would never let a woman get under his guard again. Now he shepherded his little party briskly off to an early bed and retired himself hoping strongly that they would be able to sail next morning.
    But they woke to the still, clear light of what felt almost like an autumn day, and a message from the
Anthea
confirmedthat there was no hope of sailing until that evening at the earliest.
    â€˜Wonderful.’ Caterina smiled across the breakfast table at him. ‘Harryo and I had to waste all yesterday shopping, today we can explore this nice town. Do you know it used to be called Pennycomequick, Cousin Jeremy? The girl who brought our water told us.’
    â€˜And how you understood her is a mystery to me,’ said Harriet. ‘So broad as she speaks.’
    â€˜I love languages, they interest me. I even contrived to persuade one of the nuns to teach me a little Latin until Reverend Mother found out and put a stop to it. A waste of everyone’s time, she called it. But, come, cousin, where shall we start? Out on the cliff walk or over to the castle?’
    â€˜The cliffs, perhaps, if your shoes are stout enough for such walking.’ He had been very much aware of curious glances at their little party and had even wondered whether he should not hire a local girl to go along as abigail, but something Caterina had said about her father had made him baulk at this extra expense.
    It was a happy day. The girls proved good walkers with none of the squealing and demands for help he expected from young ladies. They found a broad turf path along the cliff overlooking Falmouth Bay where they could walk three abreast and listen to larks singing high above them. ‘This is better than the castle.’ Caterina turned to look back at Pendennis Castle on its headland. ‘I needed this air. And so did you, Harryo love, though you were never one to grumble as I do. But you begin to look yourself again today, I am glad to say. Oh –’ She turned impulsively to Jeremy. ‘I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am, Cousin Jeremy.’ And then: ‘But what a wretch I am. I never thought to ask whether you felt well enough to climb up here. You don’t talk about yourself much, do you?’
    â€˜It’s a dull subject.’ Half of him wished Harriet away and the other half was deeply grateful that she was there.
    â€˜Then we will talk about something else,’ said Caterina cheerfully. ‘What shall it be?’
    Inevitably, this meant a little silence, which was just becoming awkward when they came on a cliff-top tavern and stopped to drink mugs of strong local cider and eat cold beef and pickles. ‘Oh, what a happy day,’ said Caterina as they turned back towards their inn.
    But Jeremy had resolved that he would suffer from seasickness on the crossing. To his relief, they were summoned on board that evening and sailed with the dawn wind. He had been glad to find that there were a few other women on board, soldiers’ wives on their way to join their husbands in Oporto or up river. Consigning his charges to the women’s quarters, he made a painful apology. ‘I am so very sorry; I don’t feel quite the thing.’ The ship was listing sluggishly this way