Marigold Chain Read Online Free PDF Page B

likely to be received. When uncertain, a wise man always
protects his flank by taking the lady’s hands – so!’ And before the
youthful pair had any idea of his intention, he had imprisoned the
girl’s hands and pulled her against him to hold them behind her
back.
    ‘ I say!
What the --’
    ‘ Watch
and learn,’ reproved Alex. ‘You’ll find it worthwhile. Now, where
was I? Ah yes. One hand should suffice – now darling, don’t
struggle – and with the other you may lift her chin.’ He smiled
fleetingly into the girl’s startled face, very little of which
could be seen for her enveloping hood, and then bent his head till
his mouth found hers.
    Hovering
uncertainly, the young man watched in astonishment, his mouth
opening and closing as he formulated and discarded a variety of
objections. He was naturally reluctant to lay hands on a fellow
wearing a sword, but he knew he ought to defend his companion, who
was fighting to free herself. Only then, in the seconds he spent
hesitating, she stopped struggling. He watched in rising
indignation as her hands, now released, showed no inclination to
attack but slid up the gentleman’s arms to his shoulders and on
till they clasped each other around his neck. And Alex, finding
both arms suddenly free, used them to gather the girl still closer.
It was more than their outraged spectator could tolerate and he
surged forward to grasp the audacious gentleman’s arm.
    With an easy
action, Alex shrugged him off but retained his hold on the girl.
Startled and somewhat unsettled by the surprising depth and
sweetness of her response, he was more than a little tempted to
kiss her again in order to find out if he’d imagined it. But, even
as the thought occurred, her hands disentangled themselves from his
hair and moved to pull her hood more closely around her face again.
Slowly, Alex released her murmuring softly, ‘Well … that was
unexpected. But extremely enjoyable, I must say.’
    Then, removing
his hat, he swept a deep bow that encompassed both the girl and her
would-be swain and said, ‘It seems we’ve all learned something
tonight.’
    And with that,
continued on his way, leaving the stunned pair to stare wordlessly
after him – one with sulky anger and the other with shaken and
confused blankness.
    *
    Having spent a
pleasant hour in the Acorn without starting a fight, Alex duly made
his way to James Ashton’s house just off St John’s Gardens whence
he had been invited for a bachelor supper to be followed by a
little gaming. Had he not been in need of a distraction, it is
unlikely that he would have availed himself of this invitation for
he did not particularly like Ashton. They had first met in Paris at
the beginning of 1651 but James, though some five years older, had
let his father go alone to Worcester and then sat out his exile in
safety and comfort, living off the relatives of his despised French
stepmother. Beyond this, Alex knew only that Ralph Ashton had lost
his life in a Royalist conspiracy before the Restoration and that
his widow, having returned to Oxford in 1660 with her stepson and
young daughter, had followed him shortly after it.
    He was admitted
by an untidy manservant and had hardly removed his hat when his
host was upon him with what was surely misplaced affection. At
thirty-five, James Ashton was already putting on flesh and his
ruddy, heavy-jowled face bore the marks of soft living and
over-indulgence.
    ‘ Deveril,
m’dear fellow!’ he boomed, heartily pumping Alex’s unresponsive
hand. ‘Glad you could make it. It’ll be quite like the old days in
Paris.’
    Since Alex had
only been fifteen years old at the time, he could not imagine to
what old days James might be referring. Contenting himself with a
lift of one ironic brow, he allowed himself to be ushered into the
parlour.
    ‘ Two
friends of mine, Deveril – Bob Colne and Sam Hassall,’ said Ashton,
before moving away in response to a discreet gesture from his
servant.
    Alex bowed