The Mark of Tregarron

THE MARK OF TREGARRON Lucy Gillen

Toni Ashley was having a thoroughly enjoyable summer, studying art in Cornwall, under the tuition of Jake Tregarron. She found her fellow students easy to get on with-especially Gavin Brent, and Jake’s cousin Peter, but Jake himself was something of an enigma. A wonderful teacher, he was nevertheless a fascinating but disturbing man. He bore the characteristic birthmark of his disreputable ancestor Tobyn Tregarron-but did that necessarily mean that he was a disreputable character himself? And in any case, with the glamorous Mrs. Fran Casey firmly in possession, why should Toni concern herself with him at all?

CHAPTER ONE HE was too sure of himself, Toni thought. Too sure of himself and too sure of Fran Casey who had ridden over to Pentycawl three times in as many days, hoping to see him. She had ridden back sulkily disappointed each time, but it was unlikely to deter her, Toni was certain as she watched the tall blonde woman riding like fury, back along the cliff road. Jake Tregarron was as irresistible to her as cream was to a cat, and she was equally certain that he knew it. Toni sometimes wondered why she had such a low opinion of her tutor when everyone else seemed to hold him in such high regard, but she had felt a curious and quite inexplicable antagonism towards Jake Tregarron ever since she arrived at Pentycawl, almost three weeks ago. She had fallen in love with Cornwall, and with Trawley Cove in particular, although the village was little more than half a dozen houses sprawled along the cliff top, with Pentycawl perched at the highest point above the wild Atlantic, and almost perilously close to the edge. But Jake Tregarron was another matter. Toni would have been the last one to deny his talent as an artist, that was too obvious to be doubted, apart from the fact that he was far too well known for a mere amateur to criticise, but as a man she found him a discomfiting and disturbing personality. Had it not been for the fact that she had so looked forward to the summer school, and had enrolled for the whole course, she would probably have left after the first few days, no matter what anyone said. She had been keen when the idea was first mooted, and it was because her grandfather had been so encouraging and eager for her to come that she felt she could not disappoint him. For thirteen weeks each summer, a handful of amateur artists came for various lengths of time to Pentycawl for the Tregarron school, which was actually an intensive course under the guidance and

tutorship of Jake Tregarron himself. It was counted a privilege to come, and the course was expensive, varying with the length of stay, of course, with every available hour spent studying their craft under the eye of an undisputed master. Toni had no illusions about how fortunate she was to be there for the whole thirteen weeks, but things were not quite as she expected. Jake Tregarron was a strict tutor who did not encourage students to miss classes for the alternative enjoyments of basking in the cove or walking along the cliff-tops. They were expected to work, and her fellow students seemed perfectly happy with the arrangement. Beside Jake Tregarron himself, another, less brilliant but equally dedicated, artist assisted in the tutoring, and Toni's opinion of him was much more flattering, for Peter Alwyth had none of the other man's arrogance, and a great deal more patience with their pupils. He had shown a particular interest in Toni ever since her arrival, although it was an interest that was less concerned with her artistic merits than with her undoubted good looks. She was as aware of that as Jake Tregarron was, but she found it less a cause for amusement than he seemed to. She had delicate and rather childlike features that seemed at first glance to belie her twenty-one years, and usually inspired the opposite sex to be protective as well as amorous. Thick tawny brown hair framed a face with large green eyes and a full soft mouth that lately seemed to have smiled less frequently. Not that she was unhappy, but she could not understand why it was that the brilliant and exciting artist .whom she had so long admired for his work should prove such a disquieting man at close quarters. She was not very tall and for that reason her tutor seemed even more disturbing, for he was at least six feet tall, and dark as the traditional Cornishman is supposed to be, except for his eyes.

Peter Alwyth made less impact, both physically and personally, but he was a far less disturbing character. Some two or three inches shorter, he was pleasantly good-looking, with light brown hair and grey eyes. He was a modest and comparatively ordinary man who seldom raised his voice, and he gave Toni a feeling of confidence that she needed to counteract the effect of Jake Tregarron's virile and forceful character. The sun was warm enough to have encouraged lethargy in other circumstances, but the lean rangy figure of their tutor was walking about among them, and no one even contemplated doing other than concentrate on the work in hand. He was like some great, predatory cat, Toni thought, watching him at intervals from the corner of her eye as she put a little more yellow ochre on to her palette. A large, dark and dangerous cat who would at any moment now be leaning over her, looking at her version of their barn-studio as if he could not believe they were seeing the same building. His hair was quite black and fairly long, and it had a suggestion of curl above his broad brow, and his blue eyes were quite startling in a darkly tanned face. A face that was more rugged than handsome and always suggested cruelty to Toni's biased eye. It crossed her mind that somewhere in the background of the Tregarrons there might be a trace of Spanish blood, perhaps going back to some wretched Spanish seaman lured on to the rocks by Jake Tregarron's ancestors. He was wearing light clothes, of course, he always did, never anything dark. Today it was a pair of fawn slacks and a cream shirt, open at the neck to show a slash of brown throat and a suggestion of dark hair where his broad chest began, and Toni suspected he knew exactly how stunningly dark and virile he looked. It was his imperturbable self-confidence that was largely responsible for her reaction to him, she knew, for she had never met a man like him before and he made her warily uneasy and unsure of herself.

She hastily stifled an involuntary shiver when he came and stood behind her, and determinedly ignored him when he leaned over her, as she had known he would. Peter Alwyth had already passed an opinion on her attempt at portraying the whitewashed barn with its steep, very uncommon, thatched roof, but she knew better than to expect Jake Tregarron's view of it to be as complimentary. The warmth of his body was in contact with hers for only a few seconds, but under the thin cotton dress she was wearing her. skin flinched from the touch of him, while the now familiar mixture of paint, spirit and after-shave tingled in her nostrils for a moment even after he straightened up. 'A little more burnt sienna would improve your thatch,' he remarked in his deep quiet voice, not suggesting but stating it firmly as a fact. 'It looks rather more like straw than reeds at the moment.' Toni could feel the colour that flooded into her face. It was not that she resented criticism, or thought her work did not warrant it, for she took it willingly enough from Peter Alwyth and from her teacher at art school, but somehow she was always more sensitive to Jake Tregarron's comments, as if she found them harder to accept. 'I'm sorry!' She picked up the tube of burnt sienna and squeezed some out on to her palette. 'It looked yellow to me!' Her response had been both impulsive and defensive, and she sensed the interest of her fellow pupils, even though they did not look up. The thin plain woman next to her cast her a swift horrified look, then immediately returned to her own version of the barn, but Toni noticed that she unhesitatingly reached for her own tube of burnt sienna. Audrey Blain never failed to follow the master's advice, whether it was given to her personally or to one of the others, and Toni looked at her in brief disgust from the corner of her eye.

'You do as you like, of course,' Jake Tregarron told her in the same cool tone, 'but don't be surprised if the barn turns out looking like the little pig's straw house.' He gave her no time to find a reply but passed on to the man the other side of her, and she glanced instinctively across at Peter Alwyth as she mixed burnt sienna' into her yellow paint. Peter was overseeing one of the other students, but he glanced up almost as if he sensed her looking at him, and smiled encouragement, a gesture that Jake Tregarron noticed and smiled over. In fact he and Peter were distant cousins, despite their being so completely different. Ever since Jake's parents died they had been brought up as brothers, so the remarkably knowledgeable Audrey had informed her in a recent flush of confidence. Whatever the truth of that, Peter quite plainly held his talented cousin in as much reverence as most other people seemed to, and Toni sometimes wondered why she seemed to be the only one who saw Jake Tregarron not only as a brilliant artist but as an unbearably arrogant man as well. 'How could you, Toni?' Audrey Blain's accusing whisper reached her almost before Jake Tregarron was out of earshot, and it was evident that yet again, Toni's response to her hero had shocked her to the core. 'He's only trying to help you, you know,' Audrey went on. 'We are here to learn, after all!' Toni knew she was right, but she always felt impatient with Audrey's blind adoration of their senior tutor and she liked to shock her sometimes by affecting disinterest in both what they were doing and in Jake Tregarron. Neither, She supposed, was true if she was perfectly honest about it, but she despised Audrey's kind of veneration and refused to copy it.

Audrey looked across at Peter who was once more giving his full attention to his pupil, and there was a hint of malice in her pale eyes when she looked back at Toni. 'You can't really prefer being taught by Peter, surely,' she said, keeping her voice low. 'I won't believe it, Toni!' Toni tried the new brown-yellow on her copy of the thatched roof of the barn, and had to admit that it did make a better match with the original. 'I happen to like Peter,' she told Audrey, without taking her attention from what she was doing. 'He's nice and friendly and he doesn't make me feel that I don't know one end of a paintbrush from the other.' 'Maybe he doesn't criticise your work enough,' Audrey suggested. It was obvious she had taken note of Peter's so far unspoken attraction and could not resist letting Toni know she had. 'Maybe he thinks that if he praises your work, you'll think better of him as a person— that you'll like him better.' 'I like him now,' Toni assured her. 'I like him even if he doesn't think of himself as the answer to every woman's prayer!' She could well imagine the shocked look in Audrey's pale eyes without turning to look at her. 'You're not suggesting that -' her half whisper was not only reproachful but actually horrified, and Toni barely resisted the temptation to laugh at her. Audrey's heroworship would have been pathetic had it not been so irritating. 'I'm suggesting that, brilliant artist or not, he's too sure of himself, too—too arrogant,' Toni insisted, the tip of her tongue poking between her lips as she concentrated on what she was doing. 'Like I said, he's convinced he's the answer to every woman's prayer and it makes him unbearably arrogant.'

Audrey did not answer, but although she expected a fierce defence of her hero, her sudden silence did not strike Toni as significant. She was unaware that the rangy, catlike stride of their tutor had brought him full circle, until she leaned back on her stool to judge the effect of the new colour on the general picture of the barn. Coming into contact with the warm and unmistakable touch of another human being startled her so much that she gasped aloud and instinctively got to her feet, knocking over the canvas stool she had been sitting on. As she spun round to face him every eye turned in their direction, curious and speculative, and she could feel the bright flush of colour in her cheeks as she stared at him for a moment, wide-eyed. Her heart was hammering wildly, for the expression on that dark, strong face was hardly reassuring. 'You startled me! ' she accused, and her voice was unconsciously husky. She knew without a doubt that later on, in the privacy of their rooms, some of the others would laugh about the incident, and she tightened her small fists at her side and blamed him for her embarrassment. It was unreasonable, perhaps, but instinctive, for she knew he must have heard that last scathing opinion, and he was not the kind of man to let her get away with it. Jake Tregarron's incredibly blue eyes glittered with something she could not quite identify as laughter, but there was a tight and conceivably cruel smile tugging at the corners t>f his wide mouth as he looked at her steadily. With his back to the sun his darkness was exaggerated and the small shiver that slid along her spine was, she told herself, because he looked too much like the portrait of one of his ancestors that hung in the big dining-room. She had never yet discovered who he was, but he always made her shudder.

'Is it me or Peter who considers himself the answer to every woman's prayer?' he asked. His voice was cool -and quiet and he showed no sign of embarrassment even though it could prove to be him she referred to.. Audrey was staring quite openly, as fascinated as a rabbit with a snake. Toni said nothing for the moment, and that deep, quiet voice went on relentlessly. 'It's obvious you think one of us does,' he said, 'and I'm interested to know which, Toni.' She was embarrassed, appallingly so, for he had made no attempt to keep his voice down and those interested faces were still turned in their direction and now showed frank curiosity. Toni had a sudden and almost irresistible longing to run off somewhere and hide, but that steady blue gaze was remorseless and she knew she would never have the nerve to simply walk away from him. She guessed Peter would be watching too, but for a different reason than the others. He would be anxious to lend his support but hesitant about interfering in something his autocratic cousin had firmly in hand. She could not really blame him, but she felt horribly vulnerable and uneasy, and would have welcomed his support. 'You weren't meant to hear,' she said, moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue. 'If you -' 'If you're going to tell me that listeners hear no good of themselves,' he warned her with another brief glimpse of that tight smile, 'don't bother!' He looked at the other students, all those interested faces and curious eyes, as if he had only just realised they were there. 'O.K., everybody,' he said, 'heads down and let's make the most of this light, shall we?' Almost as one, they turned obediently and began work again, and Toni wondered yet again at his power of authority. She would have sat down again herself and thankfully brought the incident to an end, but apparently he was not entirely satisfied yet. He stood for a

second looking at her steadily with those curiously compelling eyes, and when he spoke it was on a much lower level, so as to be inaudible to everyone but Audrey Blain, who was bound to catch a word or two. 'I think it might be a good idea for us to have a talk, Toni,' he said, and her heart leapt uneasily as she glanced up at him. It was possible he might suggest she cut the rest of the course. She supposed he had the right to do so, if he decided she was a disruptive element, but she was surprised to discover how reluctant she was to go now that the possibility was there. From his expression he might almost have guessed what was going through her mind, for once more that tight, slightly cruel smile briefly touched his mouth as he looked down at her. 'Will you come and see me in my studio when this session's over?' he asked. The expression on her small face was both defiant and appealing, and she wondered if he really meant to send her packing, or if he intended simply giving her a lecture and letting her go on with the rest of the course. 'What do you want to see me about?' she asked. He was already turned away from her when she asked the question, and he turned briefly and looked over his shoulder at her. 'We can go into that when you come and see me,' he told her. 'At the moment I have other students who are entitled to a share of my time. I'll see you after dinner—O.K.?' There was nothing to do-but agree, though she did so silently, by simply nodding her head. From the corner of her eye she could see Audrey's thin face flushed with envy as she stared over her shoulder at her, making no pretence about having heard it all. Toni had little

doubt that she would willingly have changed places with her even if it meant being censured.

There was no doubt that Pentycawl was an ideal home for an artist, for it was so superbly grand and picturesque; perched above the sea on its rocky summit, it must have had a certain beauty even in the depth of winter. The grounds were extensive, but bore little resemblance to formal gardens. Shrubs that had managed to survive the winter winds off the sea, grew to enormous size and flourished in the sandy soil until they attained the impenetrable thickness of a jungle in places, concealing unexpected turns in the straggly paths that led to the cliff top and down into the sandy cove below. A small secret cove, cradled round by ragged grey rocks where the sea hurled itself in periodic fury at each high tide. The lawns, back and front of the house, were kept shorn and a couple of scrawny-armed beeches gave shade when the summer sun was too hot, or became the roof of an open-air studio for the summer artists when need be. The house itself was huge. Built by some Regency Tregarron to house his ever-increasing family, it easily absorbed the six or seven extra people it was required to take during the thirteen-week season, and the one-time barn adjacent to it gave plenty of room and light when the weather prevented outdoor working. It was elegant but at the same time solid-looking, as if nothing the elements could turn against it would disturb its indisputable right to be there, and in some curious way it reminded Toni of its current owner, stubborn and proud and yet possessed of a curious grace that was undeniably attractive.

Toni thought it a wonderful old place and she had more than once wished she could see the rest of it. The students were given free use of a huge and comfortably furnished sitting-room, and they shared the dining- room with their host and his cousin. They each had their own bedroom and there were enough bathrooms to make the accommodation quite luxurious, but the rest of the house was private, although no one, to Toni's knowledge, had yet tested their host's reaction by straying further than the acknowledged limits. Dinner at Pentycawl was a substantial meal of old- fashioned proportions, and it took some time to consume so that it was well after nine o'clock before they left the table. Jake Tregarron seemed to have disappeared, along with Peter and her fellow students, when Toni came down again from her room, and she was in something of a quandary when it came to deciding which door was the one belonging to Jake Tregarron's studio. She was agitated enough without wandering into the wrong room, and the sound of dinner things being cleared away in the diningroom offered a possible solution, for she had no hesitation in asking Plaxy Trent which room was the right one. Jake Tregarron's housekeeper was a wonderfully tolerant woman—Cornish to the core and with the kind of character that met every setback with a stolid faith that it would all come right in the end. She wasn't alone when Toni put her head round the door, but was talking with Gavin Brant, one of the students. By far the most talented of the present group, he earned the respect of both his tutors as well as his fellow students and he was the only other one to be taking the whole thirteen-week course. Both he and Plaxy Trent looked up inquiringly when she came into the room, and Mrs Trent smiled encouragingly. 'Is there somethin' I can do for you, Miss Ashley?' she asked. 'Did you lose somethin'?'

Toni hesitated. She felt rather silly having to ask which was the great man's studio but, unlike her fellow students, she had never taken the trouble to find out. She glanced from the housekeeper to Gavin Brant and laughed a little uncertainly. 'I know it sounds silly,' she said, 'but I'm not sure exactly which is the door into Mr Tregarron's studio. Could you help me, please, Mrs Trent?' They exchanged glances, the woman and the young man, and Gavin Brant raised a querying brow while Mrs Trent paused in her task of stacking dirty dishes to wipe her spotless hands on the print apron she wore about her ample waist. 'Are you gatecrashing the great man?' Gavin Brant asked, and shook his head. 'I shouldn't try it, Toni!' 'It's a rule, Miss Ashley dear,' Mrs Trent told her firmly but kindly. 'Mr Tregarron don't like people visiting the studio without he says so. He's very particular about that.' Smilingly Toni shook her head, knowing the ruling on that as well as anyone else. That was why the invitation had been doubly surprising. 'Oh, it's quite all right in this instance, Mrs Trent. Mr Tregarron told me to see him in his studio this evening, after dinner—he is expecting me.' Gavin Brant looked pointedly surprised and Plaxy Trent was regarding her curiously, almost as if she was inclined not to believe her, but then she nodded, coming across the room to her. She led the way out into the hall again and pointed to a door that was half concealed by the long curving sweep of the staircase. 'If that be so, my dear, then 'tis that door there.' 'Thank you, Mrs Trent.'

She was aware that Gavin Brant was watching her still from the dining-room and it was plain that the summons from their tutor was as puzzling to him as to the housekeeper. Plaxy Trent regarded her for a second or two, quite obviously interested. ' 'Tis the first time I knew him ask a student to visit his studio to see him!' Bright dark eyes gleamed. 'Then we haven't had such a pretty one before,' she observed, 'might be that's got somethin' to do with it, eh?' Toni declined to rise to such obvious bait. She murmured her thanks and walked across to the door she had indicated with a curious mixture of emotions churning away inside her. She had no doubt that Jake Tregarron had a taste for the opposite sex, but she did not class herself as the type he was likely to find attractive. Someone more smooth and sophisticated, she guessed, and older too, for he must be in his middle thirties at least. Someone like Fran Casey, in fact, although his attitude towards his elegant and very available neighbour had scarcely suggested he was enamoured of her -—not by what Toni had seen so far. She glanced briefly over her shoulder to see if Plaxy Trent was still taking an interest, but she had apparently seen no reason to doubt her claim that Jake Tregarron wanted to see her and had gone back to her work. Toni knocked hesitantly on the door and felt her heart give a great lurch when that deep and unmistakable voice bade her come in almost before she had finished knocking, and she shook herself impatiently when she noticed how her hand was trembling as she turned the knob. The room was bigger than she expected, and came as quite a surprise to her. The rooms she had seen so far rather matched the character of the house in that they were rather grand and sombre, but here there was light and air, with wide french windows opening on to a lawn at the back of the house.

It was a part of the garden that the students were unlikely to see, for it was hedged in with more of those massively overgrown shrubs and screened from the main part of the lawn by them, giving the big room added privacy without depriving the occupant of access to the outdoors. Beyond the patch of uneven lawn and the screen of shrubs, the sky appeared to sweep upwards almost from ground level and it took Toni a moment to realise that the effect was caused by the edge of the cliff being very much closer here than in any other part of the grounds. There was the lawn and the few shrubs and then the ground dropped clear down to the sea and the rocks below. The evening sky was hazy with heat, for it was still quite light, and seagulls swooped and shrieked at almost window level, dyed gold by the sun and incredibly graceful as they soared in the thermal currents caused by the height of the cliffs above the cove. The man who stood by a big leather armchair over beside the window she looked at last of all, and when she did she saw that he was calling her over with one big hand, a hint of smile about his wide mouth, as if he could guess how she felt. 'Sit down, Toni.' He indicated another armchair, slightly smaller and opposite his own, but close enough for her to be alarmingly aware of him when she sat down as he said, her feet close together and her hands in her lap, not looking at him again yet. 'You're— apprehensive, aren't you?' he suggested. She looked up hastily to deny it, but one look at his face was enough to tell her that he was not likely to believe her if she did. He sat down in the big armchair, both elbows resting on the arms and his chin supported on his clasped hands, and there was a steady, challenging look in those incredibly blue eyes that dared her to deny it.

'I'm curious,' she said, suggesting an alternative without openly arguing with him, and he smiled. 'Of course you are,' he acknowledged. 'I don't usually invite students in here-—in a way you're honoured.' 'Am I?' There it was again! That swift, instinctive defensiveness that she seemed unable to do anything about, and she saw one black brow arched in comment, something that often happened. 'It's a matter of opinion, I suppose,' he allowed quietly, 'but it isn't very usual for me to have anyone in here. It's something of a holy of holies, you might say—strictly out of bounds!' 'So Mrs Trent said when I asked her which was the door of your studio,' Toni told him, and once more that black brow elevated in swift surprise. 'You had to ask Plaxy where to find me?' He sounded almost as if he did not believe her, and she wondered if she could be the only one of his students who did not know exactly where the master's studio was. Audrey Blain could have told .her, she had no doubt. 'Didn't you know, Toni?' 'I wasn't sure.' She hadn't the nerve to tell him that she had never bothered to find out, and she looked across at him for a second or two through the fringe of her lashes, wondering why it was that she felt that persistent niggle of antagonism. 'Why did you ask to see me?' she asked. It might have been supposed from the way he drew his brows into a frown that whatever it was he had to say was a matter he preferred to delay as long as possible. With his face only half illuminated by the daylight from outside, he had a dismayingly severe look.

The strong, rugged features she always found suggestive of cruelty and arrogance, and there was a disquieting hint of sensuality in the wide mouth, especially when he smiled. The black brows were drawn together in a brief moment of indecision, and the whole disturbing picture seemed to be painted .against the background of white walls and evening sunlight, so that she, shivered when she caught a glimpse of some fleeting expression in those unfittingly blue eyes, that she did not recognise. 'I don't think you're altogether happy here, are you?' he asked, but gave her no opportunity to deny it before he went on. 'It isn't hard to see that you haven't settled down as easily as the others have,' he said, 'but it's harder to understand why. Is something bothering you, Toni? Isn't your room comfortable? Or is one of the men making a nuisance of himself?' 'Oh no, of course not!' She hastened to deny that in case he included Peter in the question, and she saw the way his eyes narrowed briefly as he watched her. 'Anyone beside Peter, I mean, of course,' he amended, and so closely followed her train of thought that she was startled. 'I know Peter's taken a fancy to you,' he went on, with what she felt was embarrassing frankness, 'and I don't have to be any kind of a detective to spot that, my child, I should think it's pretty common knowledge !' Toni remembered Audrey's pointed observations on that matter, but she resented Jake Tregarron's even more. 'Peter doesn't bother me,' she said, almost as if she disliked admitting it. 'And I don't think he gives me any more attention than he does anyone else—I certainly don't encourage him to.'

His eyes gleamed for a moment while he regarded her over the top of his clasped hands, and once more she thought she sensed that innate streak of cruelty in him. 'Don't you?' he asked. 'I've never done anything meant to encourage him,' Toni insisted firmly. 'There's never been anything remotely like you're suggesting between us!' That small, disturbing smile still hovered about his mouth, and she knew he was not convinced. 'There's a —difference in Peter,' he told her, 'I've noticed it. A subtle difference, but noticeable to anyone who knows him well, and the only other female student is Audrey Blain. She's no competition for you, Toni, and I don't believe Peter's suddenly gone blind!' 'I still haven't done anything to encourage him,' Toni denied. She glanced at him, but carefully avoided his eyes, a small rebellious flick of reaction bent on defying him and his opinion. 'And if I had,' she told him, 'I don't see that it has anything to do with you, Mr Tregarron!' 'Oh, you don't?' Perhaps the quietness of his voice should have warned her. Men like Jake Tregarron did not expect to be argued with, and especially not by small, defiant females who should be too impressed to be argumentative. He would not let her get away with it, she was sure, but she was uncaring at the moment whether he did or not. 'I don't see that it's any of your business,' she told him, her voice sounding slightly breathless as she ploughed on. 'If it doesn't disrupt the running of your class, you can't claim any right to interfere!' The wonder was that he did not appear furiously angry, and she could not quite understand why he did not. There was a gleam in the blue eyes, certainly, but she did not recognise it as the anger she

expected, and the ghost of a smile still hovered around his mouth, as if to mock her. 'I claim the right to take an interest in anything that goes on under my roof,' he told her, still in the same quiet voice, 'and particularly when it concerns Peter. He isn't usually so appreciative of the form divine, not in the same way that I am, but this time he seems to have gone overboard for a pair of beautiful green eyes and a particularly divine little form! Encouraging him or not, you'd better treat him kindly, Toni, or you'll have me to answer to—I happen to be very fond of my cousin!' Toni was too stunned to answer for a moment. She sat in her chair and her green eyes were jewel-bright between thick brown lashes, a flush on her golden tanned skin that betrayed the fury she felt churning away inside her. How dared he make such personal matters his concern ? It had nothing to do with him who she liked or disliked, and her dislike was pretty evident at the moment. She got up, but her legs felt dismayingly unsteady, and she caught her breath when he stood facing her, drawing attention to the fact that she came no higher than his shoulder. 'I presumed you'd brought me here to tell me you wanted me to leave,' she said, in a small tight voice. 'Well, don't bother, Mr Tregarron—I'm going! You have absolutely no right to pass comment on my private life, nor to speak to me as if I was a schoolgirl!' Her anger left him undismayed, it was only her mention of leaving that interested him, and she saw that black brow flick swiftly upwards once more. 'You thought I wanted you to leave?' he asked.

'Didn't you? Didn't you want me out of your hair?' she challenged, and stared at him in indignant surprise when he laughed. Strong white teeth gleamed in his darkly tanned face, and the sound of his laughter did strange and disturbing things to her emotions. She was horribly unsure whether she hated him or wanted to join in his laughter for one dizzyingly uncertain moment, and she simply stared at him. 'You don't know me very well, Toni,' he told her, shaking his head at her. The stunning blue eyes gleamed at her from his craggy face, a bright challenging gleam that stirred unrecognisable responses in her. 'I don't want you to leave,' he said, 'any more than you want to leave!' Toni struggled with doubts and indecisions, with unfamiliar emotions that made her feel quiveringly uncertain of herself, and she stood facing him for several seconds while she sought to make some kind of sense of the situation she found herself in. Her eyes were wide and questioning and showed the uncertainty she felt as plainly as any words could have done. She did not want to leave, she had already admitted that to herself when he first asked that she come and see him, but she could not quite see what else he could have in mind. 'Then why,' she asked, 'did you send for me? Why did you want to see me?' He did not answer at once, but the blue eyes searched slowly every inch of her small, almost childlike face, and there was just a hint of smile at one corner of that wide expressive mouth. 'I had hoped to find out why you were so unhappy here,' he confessed. 'I must admit I hadn't realised it was because you dislike me so much.'

'Oh, but I don't!' The words broke from her lips before she gave herself time to think what she was saying, but it was the truth, she knew. She did not dislike him, although sometimes her reaction to him was something stronger than dislike. It was something she could not understand, a kind of defensiveness that she was unable to control. She saw that dark brow express surprise yet again, and a sudden warmth appeared deep in the startling blue eyes. 'Then for heaven's sake settle down,' he said in a voice whose timbre was several octaves lower than usual and made little ripples of sensation along her spine. 'Will you promise to try, Toni?' She nodded, not knowing quite how she came to be agreeing with him. It was possible that she had judged him a little too harshly, although she was still a long way from sharing her fellow students' fervent admiration of him. She made the concession, she told herself because she really did not want to leave Pentycawl. 'I'll try,' she promised, and missed his small smile of satisfaction because she was already half turned to go.

CHAPTER TWO TONI had been wanting to visit the cove ever since she arrived, and she was glad to be able to do so without the company of her fellow students, for it had a peaceful look about it that would be welcome after a rather trying week. She was unlikely to be disturbed, for all but two of the others had decided to drive into Methrian to sample the more gregarious delights of the holiday resort. Of the exceptions, one had gone to see his -girl-friend and the other, Audrey Blain, was visiting an old aunt who lived a few miles away. The tide was out and the cove was revealed as a sweeping crescent of golden sand, hugged in by guardian rocks that were worn and ravaged by the tides into ragged shapes resembling the teeth of some huge animal. The path down was precariously steep, but she felt sure the descent would be worthwhile, even though she could give no time to enjoying the view as she clambered down, for fear of falling. Little pools gathered among the lower reaches of rock, caught as if in huge dark cups—reflecting the soaring cliffs and the summer sky with its lacy clouds. Still and placid until the resurging tide washed over them again and stirred them once more into restlessness. It was Sunday and Toni felt rather at a loss. The past couple of week-ends she had accepted Peter's invitation to go for a long walk on Sunday afternoon, and they had taken the road past the front of the house, passing a farm or two on their way, not overlooking the sea nor yet far enough from it to miss the cool inshore winds. Today, however, Peter had promised to pay a duty visit to a married sister, but Toni had watched him go off with a suspicion that he would rather like to have taken her with him, only he did not like to suggest it.

In the week following that somewhat disturbing interview with Jake Tregarron in his studio, she had applied herself to work with a dedication that seemed to surprise both her tutors. She was no less aware of Jake Tregarron whenever he came and stood beside her, studying her work and offering comment, but since her outburst in his studio, she seemed better able to control her reactions to him. Peter had not yet made a more definite move to let her know how he felt towards her, but she had no doubt that he would sooner or later. If his feelings were as intense as his cousin seemed to think, she hoped he would keep them to himself for a while longer at least, for she was far from sure of her own state of mind.. No matter if Jake Tregarron had threatened to make her answerable to him, she could not pretend something she did not feel, and she would just as soon not be faced with any sort of a crisis at the moment. It was deliciously cool down on the tiny beach, and the sand felt warm under her bare feet when she took off her sandals to walk along the edge of the tide. It was impossible to go very far because before long a line of rocks rose up in front of her and barred her way— unscalable and dangerously jagged, but very impressive. A small pool, formed by a hollow in the sand, held a couple of tiny crabs as well as several stranded shrimps, transparent and definitely unappetising in their live state, and she spent several minutes sitting at its edge, watching the creatures' seemingly aimless activities. She had put on her swimsuit under her dress with the idea of enjoying a swim at long last, for the weeks she had been at Pentycawl so far had been so filled with activity she had had no opportunity to go in the water. It looked calm enough now that the tide was out, and she made up her mind suddenly and got to her feet. There was no one about that she could see as she slipped out of her dress and folded it beside her towel and sandals, and she revelled in

the feel of the sun on her skin and the softness of the breeze off the water. No matter how the sea hurled itself at the rocks when the tide was in, it was well nigh perfect for bathing at the moment and she might as well make the most of it. She was already standing in the creamy ruffles that fluttered up over the sand before the curling roll of following waves, when someone spoke behind her. Turning quickly, she stared for a moment over her shoulder, her eyes blank with surprise and her slim shape in a navy and white bikini taut with suspense because he had startled her so. Jake Tregarron stood just back from the water's edge, his feet slightly apart on the soft golden sand and a discouraging frown drawing his black brows together as he looked at her. 'You can't swim here,' he informed her without preliminary. 'It isn't safe, Toni.' The inevitable flush of resentment warmed her golden tanned cheeks and she did not move from where she was, only turned slightly so that she could look at him more squarely with doubting green eyes. 'But it's as calm as a mill pond now the tide's out,' she argued, glancing at the rocks that curved around the little cove. 'There aren't any rocks here and it's quite shallow by the look of it.' It seemed to be more resignation than anger that showed in his eyes as he studied her for a second without speaking, then he shook his head. 'Will you allow me to know what I'm talking about?' he said. 'I've spent most of my life here, you know, and I'm telling you it isn't safe to bathe from here, no matter how calm it looks.' She hesitated, looking back at the shimmering sea, so inviting in the summer sun, and its apparently smooth surface barely rippled for the most part by low easy waves running in lazily to break around her ankles. 'It looks perfectly safe,' she insisted, unwilling to be convinced, and Jake shook his head slowly.

His eyes were narrowed and there was a warning tightness about his mouth. 'Well, it isn't, take my word for it.' It could be that he misread her intention; that he took her hesitation for the preliminary step towards testing his insistence that it wasn't safe, but whatever she had in mind was given no chance to materialise, for he reached out with one large hand and fastened it around her wrist like a vice, pulling her from the water. She did not object at first, too surprised even to resist, and allowed herself to be drawn up on to dry sand with her wrist held captive in those strong, hard fingers. It dawned on her suddenly that the initiative had been forcibly taken from her and she began to struggle against his hold as wildly as if he had meant her harm. 'Let me go!' Her voice was small and breathless and she prised at the possessive fingers frantically. 'Will you let me go, Jake!' She did not even realise that for the first time since her arrival she had used his first name, a privilege that her fellow students had taken advantage of from the beginning, and his eyes gleamed with laughter as he looked down at her. He did not let her go, or even ease his hold on her, but held her as tightly as ever, while she struggled to win a contest she had no hope of winning. It was his laughter that stilled her at last, and she looked up at him with mingled anger and surprise in her green eyes, her face flushed pink as she breathed unevenly through parted lips. 'Why are you putting up such a desperate fight?' he asked, his eyes on her soft mouth. 'What do you suspect me of, Toni?' She did not move, but held the gaze of those stunning blue eyes as if she was hypnotised by them, then slowly shook her head, trying once more to free her wrist, though with less agitation than before. 'Just—let me go,' she said huskily.

'If I do you'll go straight back into the water,' Jake guessed quietvoiced, and shook his head at her. 'Believe me, it's dangerous, Toni. There's a whirlpool out there only about ten yards from the beach.' Horrified, she turned her head and looked at the apparently calm sea. It was not easy to spot at first, but after a moment or two she could see where the surface of the water differed from that around it—a vortex that swirled and eddied in a trap that could have sucked her • under, too helpless to save herself. Jake let go her wrist at last, and she looked back at him, one hand rubbing at the marks on her wrist. 'I—I didn't know,' she said in a small unsteady voice, and his wide mouth smiled briefly, showing white teeth in his dark craggy face. 'I tried to tell you,' he reminded her. 'If I hadn't grabbed you, you'd never have stayed and listened to me, would you?' She was shaking her head, unable to deny it, and looking around for her dress. 'I'd better dress,' she said. Her mouth showed, unconsciously, how disappointed she was. 'I was looking forward to a swim,' she told him. 'I haven't been swimming since I got here.' Jake was watching her and his eyes missed nothing of the slender shape of her as she slipped the thin cotton dress over her bikini again. He made her feel self- conscious suddenly and she did not look up at him, even when he spoke, brushing her hands over her tawny brown hair in an effort to steady them. 'If you want to go swimming,' he said, 'there's always Frayley Cove—that's safe enough.' Something in his voice seemed to suggest that if she swam in Frayley Cove she would not go alone, and her heart was hammering hard and fast as she considered the idea. He normally kept his offduty time quite detached from his pupils and she could hardly

believe that he meant to make an exception to his rule, and yet his voice and a certain look in his eyes seemed to be suggesting that he might have it in mind. 'Is—it it far?' she ventured, and he smiled. 'No distance at all by car,' he told her. 'Or if you're feeling energetic it's not too far to walk.' His eyes held hers steadily for a moment, faintly quizzical. 'You usually walk with Peter, don't you?' he asked. She nodded, wondering if he would decide not to go after all because he might be doing something that his cousin could take exception to. 'We've walked inland a couple of Sunday afternoons,' she told him, giving it only casual importance, 'we've never walked along the cliffs—I don't know where Frayley Cove is.' 'Then I'd better show you, hadn't I?' He gave her no time to answer, but took her arm and helped her back up the steep cliff, making much less of the climb than she did herself, but then he was probably much more used to it. They did not return to the house but walked on the path that ran along behind the shrubs in the grounds, to where another joined it coming from the direction of the public road. It was high up and the wind was fresh, blowing in off the sea and lifting her hair from her neck, taking the heat from the sun as it cooled her skin. The gulls soared overhead, sometimes even below them, along the face of the cliff, shrilling their awful cries and gliding with fantastic grace among the eddying winds off the sea. It was a head-spinning sensation, being so high up and looking down at the rocks and the sea pounding away at them as it had done for thousands of years:—a sensation she had never been quite so aware of before. She felt curiously shy of the man beside her, and not at all as if they had shared the same roof for close on a month, and she wondered

what on earth there was about him that got to her. He said little, but there was an air of peace about him, a relaxed look on his craggy features below wind-tossed black hair, that she almost envied. He fitted so well into his environment that she could not imagine him in any other. They had gone some distance before she began to wonder if he was simply acting as her guide, or if he intended swimming himself. He was wearing a pair of light grey slacks and a white shirt that fitted smoothly over the darkly tanned body beneath it, but it was possible that he had swimming trunks on under his clothes, as she did herself, although he had not brought himself a towel to dry off with as she had. They had left the main path and he was leading the way down what appeared to be little more than a gash in the steep cliff face before she ventured to question him about it. 'Are you—did you come prepared for a swim?' she asked, following him unhesitatingly. The staggeringly steep incline was taking them down into a small sandy cove and Toni's heart was in her mouth as they negotiated the uneven track, but her hand was tightly held in Jake's and his strong fingers inspired confidence. He turned for a moment when she asked her question and looked at her over his shoulder, a ghost of a smile just touching his mouth. 'I'll have to share your towel,' he told her. 'I didn't have time to collect all my gear before I came chasing after you.' Startled, Toni stared down at the top of his black head. Her heart was playing her tricks again and she could feel it hammering hard and fast at her ribs, making her breathless. 'You mean you came after me?'

He nodded without turning his head this time. 'That's right. I was getting ready to go for a swim myself when Plaxy said she'd seen you, heading for the cove, she thought, and I guessed you might decide to try swimming from there, so I took off after you before you got swallowed by our local whirly.' It was hard to imagine him racing down the cliff face after her in case she came to harm, and it did curious things to her senses when she thought about it. 'I didn't know.' She thought of the ungracious reception she had given him and the obvious resentment she had shown when he first advised her against swimming. 'I'm sorry, but I had no idea you'd followed me to—to stop me getting into trouble.' 'Or you wouldn't have acted as if you thought I was -' Briefly the blue eyes laughed at her over his shoulder. 'Well, never mind what you thought I was there for. It was too much to hope that you would find anything as safe and mundane to do as the rest of them; like driving into Methrian or visiting an old aunt, as Audrey's doing!' 'I don't have an old aunt,' Toni informed him pertly, 'and driving into Methrian with four men was something I felt sure you'd frown on!' She gasped when his hard fingers squeezed hers with sufficient force to hurt, and she hastily avoided meeting his eyes when he looked back at her again. 'What you mean is you didn't want to go,' he told her. 'I don't fool myself that your decision had anything at all to do with whether or not I would approve of the outing. If you'd wanted to go, you'd have gone regardless of what I thought about it!' Toni did not argue with that, although she wondered if it was entirely true. If she sounded a little breathless, she told herself, it was because she was anxious about the steepness of the descent, and had nothing whatever to do with the thought of him racing down to the cove because he thought she might drown.

'I wasn't invited, as it happens,' she told him. 'Not that I expected to be. They'd probably have found me something of an embarrassment—an all-male party making the most of a day out!' 'Possibly!' They walked on to the little sandy beach at last, but he still retained his hold on her hand, and she did nothing to alter the situation. Frayley Cove was very little bigger than the one they had just left, and it was hedged in all round by rocks in exactly the same way. It was quiet and secluded with no one else about and they might have been on a desert island for all the sign there was of other life. There were no houses in sight and not even a boat. Only the screaming gulls swooping over the bright sea. Jake stood for a moment, studying her face, and his eyes were narrowed slightly, as if something about her made him curious. He was not really frowning, but there was a slight crease between his black brows, so that she wondered what was on his mind. 'Do you get along with the others, Toni?' 'Oh yes, of course I do!' She answered unhesitatingly, because it was true in the broadest sense. She got along with them well enough, although , they were for the most part slightly older than she was and rather inclined to stick together, apart from Audrey, of course. 'They're nice people, but we don't really have much in common, though.' Jake smiled. -'Except for an interest in painting, surely you all have that in common?' 'Oh, that, naturally, or we shouldn't be here. Although none of us can ever hope to be as good as Gavin Brant, of course—-he's brilliant.'

He nodded, his rugged face grave for a moment. 'Gavin is brilliant, and he shows signs of becoming even better as he gets older.' The blue eyes looked at her, bright with laughter and a hint of challenge. 'Unfortunately he's not dedicated to his art to the exclusion of everything else—like lovely little green-eyed fellow students!' Toni felt herself flush as she hastened to deny an interest in his favourite student. 'I haven't given a thought to him in that direction! Gavin's younger than I am, for one thing—he's only about eighteen, isn't he?' 'Three years?' Jake teased. 'Well, whether Gavin has an all-absorbing interest in his art or not, I don't really mind, you know! We're all here to paint, not for—for -' 'Fun and games?' Jake suggested softly, and once more she felt her cheeks flush warmly under that bright, provoking gaze. 'If you like! Except for Gavin, they all have—well, outside interests, I suppose you'd call it, but we mainly concentrate on painting. It's probably easier for me than some of the others because I've no outside influence to detract me. Apart from Gavin, two of the men are married, one is engaged and the other one -' She pulled a rueful face. 'Paul Kilby is so wrapped up in his Julia that I'm surprised he found time to come here at all!' 'He's only here for four weeks and it was all arranged before he even met Julia.' Jake looked as if her lack of tolerance both amused and surprised him. 'I'm rather surprised to find you so out of sympathy with the cause of true love, Toni—or is it that you really don't like not being the centre of attraction?' 'If you're suggesting that I'm -'

'I'm merely suggesting that you're accustomed to the undivided attention of every male within smiling distance,' Jake stated, 'and 'the present situation must be rather demoralising for you.' 'Not at all!' Her gaze travelled swiftly over the dark, craggy face and she noted that there was a glow in his eyes that could have been laughter. 'You must have noticed how Paul goes on about his girlfriend, everyone else has, in fact they tease him unmercifully about it! Anyway, if it comes down to it, I don't really see that it matters whether I get on with most of them or not. Apart from Gavin, none of the others are here for the whole thirteen weeks course.' 'As you say, Gavin is the only one who is here for the whole thirteen weeks—except you.' His voice was pitched in that low key that seemed to arouse the most disturbing and unexpected reactions in her, and she felt a strange sense of isolation suddenly. Standing there alone with him in the quiet little cove, surrounded by rocks and the tall cliffs behind them, and that now almost familiar little thread of a shiver ran along her spine. There was something on his mind, she felt certain of it, and he studied her for a few seconds before he spoke. 'I wish I knew whether you're regretting the fact that you've arranged to stay the full thirteen weeks.' A hand slid under her chin and he lifted her face to him while he contemplated the softness of her mouth and the shadow made by thick brown lashes on her cheeks. 'Are you, Toni?' She could not imagine why- she did not do something positive about the strong fingers that cradled her chin, instead of simply standing before him with her eyes downcast, while her heart beat urgently at her ribs. Her own sense of helplessness both surprised and alarmed her, and she raised her eyes, bright as jewels in the golden tanned

smallness of her face, to look at him steadily for a moment, until she found the words she wanted. 'I shouldn't be here if I didn't want to stay,' she told him. 'I thought you knew that, Jake—you told me so— remember?' 'Yes. Yes, I did.' His eyes gleamed down at her and for a moment her heart raced like a wild thing while she held her hands close and tight at her sides. Then he glanced at the shimmering summer green of the sea, and smiled. 'Shall we have that swim?' he asked.

The water had an almost stunning chill at first, but after a while Toni found it wonderfully relaxing. She was a good swimmer, thanks to early coaching by her older brother, and it was wonderful to be in the water at last, although she had to admit herself well outclassed by her companion in this instance. Jake had the advantage, of course, that he could swim all the year round if he chose to, and he probably did. He had the stamina that would brave almost any conditions if he put his mind to doing something. He moved with the same effortless grace in the water as he did on land, and he left her far behind when she attempted to keep pace with him, waving a mocking hand to her when she eventually gave up and trod water while she recovered her breath. He was gone for several minutes, out of her sight except for occasional glimpses she had of brown arms and a black head much further out than she dared to venture, but she contented herself with the lesser effort until he came back to join her. They emerged from the water side by side, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to take her hand as they walked up the tiny beach together to where they had left their things. Jake

shook the water from his hair and smiled down at her when she jumped back from the shower he made, her laughter instinctive. 'You're good—for a little 'un!' Still laughing, she shook out her own tawny hair from the confines of a cap, and glanced up at him, alarmingly responsive to the strong clasp of his fingers over hers. 'I couldn't keep up with you!' 'Did you expect to?' She hadn't expected to and her shaking head admitted it. Anything Jake Tregarron did he would do well, she somehow knew that without further evidence and, quite inexplicably, she wondered if Peter ever resented it. It must be hard for him to live always in the shadow of his famous cousin, and for the first time it surprised her that Peter was so lacking in jealousy. She offered him first use of the towel they had to share, but he declined with another shake of his head and sat facing the sea, with his back half turned to her. It was hard not to notice and become tinglingly aware of that darkly tanned body that gleamed like polished mahogany, and the rippling strength of the brown arms that supported him. Bronzed and muscular, he had an essential maleness that was irresistible and, suddenly realising it, Toni gave herself a shake and hastily gave her attention to less disturbing matters. It was when she bent to rub her legs with the towel that he lifted both hands and ran them through the thick blackness of his hair, and something caught her eye that immediately distracted her from what she was doing. High up on his right shoulder blade, and barely visible on the dark golden tan, was a curious star-shaped mark, something like a mole, but much larger and more definitely shaped.

At first she thought of a tattoo, but then decided it was more like a scar, although heaven knew what kind of a scar. It looked as if the smooth dark skin might have been burned with a brand and then healed until it blended and matched the surrounding area. Fascinated by possible explanations, Toni had been staring at the mark for several moments when Jake turned suddenly and looked over his shoulder, as if he sensed her interest. Hastily she bent once more to the task of drying her legs, rubbing them vigorously and refusing to meet his eyes. But that inquiring black brow was already questioning her interest, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth—the kind of smile that seemed always to hint at cruelty, she thought, and made her uneasy. 'Are you curious, Toni?' His voice was pitched low, and had that curiously disturbing timbre she had noticed before, so that she thanked heaven when he turned his head again and could not see the flush that warmed her cheeks at the- thought of being caught in such a situation. She stood upright behind him, towelling her body, drying off the glistening sheen of salt from her skin. 'Not at all,' she denied, 'just puzzled, that's all. I'm sorry I stared.' The broad shoulders shrugged briefly and he cast another brief glance, but it was obvious that he was not sensitive about the mark, whatever it was. 'The mark of Tregarron,' he said, and Toni frowned curiously. 'The—the mark of Tregarron?' Jake's blue eyes noted the flush in her cheeks with a certain satisfaction, she thought. 'It's a fascinating story —I'll tell you about it some time.'

'You don't have to!' She scrubbed the towel over her already dry shoulders, wishing she had never allowed her curiosity to get the better of her: 'Please don't think I'm inquisitive, Jake, I'm not.' His laugh, as always, took her by surprise, and she hesitated for a second when he reached round for her with one big hand. 'Why don't you come and sit down?' he asked. 'You must be as dry as a bone by now!' Obediently she did as he said, curling up on the sand beside him with her legs tucked under her; alarmingly aware of the dark, glistening body beside her. 'Shouldn't you dry off?' she ventured. His smile seemed to suggest that it was simply to please her that he reached for the towel and took off most of the salt water, and while he was doing it she tried to keep her attention on the breaking waves just below them, rather than on the disturbing figure beside her. He took her by surprise and she drew a sharp, audible breath when he leaned across suddenly and pressed his lips to the soft damp skin just below her jaw, looking at him with wide, inquiring eyes. 'Should I apologise?' A hint of smile touched his mouth, suggesting that he found her reaction amusing, and she felt a curl of embarrassment in her stomach as she hastily turned away again. 'Don't you like being kissed?' She looked at the ocean, shrugging her shoulders with studied carelessness, for it surprised her to realise just how much she had liked being kissed by Jake, however lightly. Taking up a handful of sand, she allowed it to trickle slowly through her fingers. 'Last week you implied that Peter was in love with me,' she reminded him, 'and you threatened me with heaven knows what if I didn't—treat him kindly. Don't you think the same rules should apply to you, Jake?'

She wished it gave her more satisfaction to witness his momentary discomfiture, but instead she felt rather small, and she found it very hard to meet his eyes. It was only a second or two, however, before he laughed shortly and shook his head. 'Oh, don't get any wrong ideas, Toni,' he told her softly. 'I've no intention of doing anything that Peter could object to! You're a little honey and you happened to be here—that's all!' Toni felt rather as if she had been slapped and she could feel herself grow increasingly angry. It was a humiliating experience, having the tables turned on her, and bright colour flamed in her cheeks as she sat curled up on the sand beside him, a small, tight, angry figure with resentment in every inch. She had not for one minute expected him to kiss her at all, but nor had she imagined it to be more than an impulsive gesture made on the spur of the moment, and she hated the idea of him thinking she attributed any more to it than that. She said nothing, but got to her feet and brushed the sand from her still damp skin with unsteady hands, thanking heaven that they had the cove to themselves. Reaching down for her dress, she shook the sand from it, still without saying a word, but before she could pull it over her head, Jake too was on his feet and standing facing her. He seemed so tall, hovering over her, that she shivered in response to some inexplicable sense of warning, even before he spoke. 'Now, Toni!' His hands gripped her arms firmly until his fingers dug into her flesh. 'You can't mean to stalk off in high dudgeon simply because I teased you—can you?' She did not move, she did not even raise her head, but her heart was beating hard and fast and her head had a strange lightness she made no attempt to understand. 'Toni!'

He shook her lightly, bringing her back to reality, and she looked up at him at last. That was perhaps her mistake, for she found the blue eyes disturbingly close and gleaming with a warmth of expression she made no pretence of recognising, and for a breathless second they filled her vision. Her lips, parted in some form of silent protest, but before she could make a sound, he snatched her to the fierce, hard length of him and crushed her mouth with a ruthless urgency that drove every vestige of will power from her. His arms folded her to the damp warmth of his body and she slid her hands around him, spreading them, flatpalmed, over his broad back. It had seemed that such a kiss could never end, but when it did it was merely to exchange one sensation for another. His mouth left hers, warm and trembling, and pressed firmly but gently to the hollow of her throat, and when she opened her eyes at last it was almost a shock to discover that he was smiling. She could have wished to feel more sure of herself, more in control, instead of so shiveringly conscious of him. His hands lingered lightly oft her skin for a few seconds more, then slid away as if he was reluctant to lose contact, and he was shaking his head. 'I shouldn't have done that, Toni.' He ran both hands through the thickness of his still wet hair and smiled ruefully. 'I guess you're more of a temptation than I realised, little one—-I must watch my step!' 'Jake -' A firm finger over her lips silenced her, and he laughed softly as he shook his head. 'You'd better get dressed, Toni.' He turned away almost abruptly and left her standing, a small confused figure with a slightly dazed look in her eyes. She could

scarcely believe Jake Tregarron had kissed her like that, let alone find excuses for her own willing submission. She looked at him, as he used the towel with an almost angry vigour on his broad shoulders, and hastily turned away again. Picking up her dress once more, she pulled it on over her head, fumbling in its pocket for the comb she knew to be there. Pulling it through her hair with short nervous strokes, she shook it back from her face, carefully avoiding any glance in Jake's direction. She simply could not get the thought out of her mind that he was probably no stranger to such situations, and she told herself she should have had more sense than to let it happen to her. She should have been on her guard against it. She did not stop to consider that her anger was unreasonable, or that she had been kissed before in similar circumstances. Without waiting for him, she started back towards the cliff path, that narrow steep gash in the rock that he had guided her down so expertly. Jake Tregarron was not like any man she had ever known before, and she did not like the effect he could have on her. 'Toni!' She did not turn and look at him but simply stopped where she was until he caught up with her. He reached out and turned her to face him, then studied her for several seconds with a curious intensity. It was- almost like something from another world when a woman's voice called out to him suddenly, and Toni started, her head turning swiftly in the direction of the caller. The tall blonde figure was familiar, although it was the first time Toni ever remembered seeing Mrs Fran Casey in anything other than riding clothes. A divorcee and incredibly wealthy, according to the ever-knowledgeable Audrey, she had her sights set on Jake Tregarron, but so far without much success, apparently.

She was impressive by any standards, and her present attitude of haughty disapproval gave her a hard, autocratic look that was discouraging. Her pale eyes were narrowed, though not against the sun, and her malice seemed for the most part to be directed against Toni, although she addressed herself to Jake, in a voice that was flat and harsh with anger. 'Jake!' She came nearer, every step betraying the anger that consumed her at seeing him there with Toni. 'When I rang Pentycawl your housekeeper said you were out somewhere—I thought I might find you here.' The pale eyes swept over Toni with scornful distaste. 'I expected you to be alone!' 'And as you see—I'm not!' 'You said you'd call me!' That too Jake dismissed with a smile that barely touched the corners of his wide mouth so that, almost unbelievably, Toni began to feel sorry for her. 'Then I will, but you know I hate being pinned down, Fran.' Toni glanced up at him, wondering how he could sound so matterof-fact when he was capable of arousing such violent emotions in others. She had no way of knowing just how much right Mrs Casey had to be angry, and that troubled her, so that she felt she could at least give her a chance to speak to him alone. 'Jake -' The hand on her arm squeezed lightly, and she fell silent. He looked at Fran Casey for a second, steadily, almost challengingly, Toni thought, but not in the least apologetically, then he walked past her, taking Toni with him. 'We're just leaving,' he said. 'I'll call you, Fran!'

CHAPTER THREE THE past two days had been wet. There had been several stormy downpours that drenched everything within sight, but when the sun eventually came out again, as hot and bright as ever, there was so much moisture about that it made a golden haze over the whole countryside as it dried out, and the sea merged mistily with the horizon. Craggy rocks were softened and reformed, and distances became deceptive. It was Peter's idea that they should utilise a clearing on the cliff top as a studio, and try to capture some of that hazy, mystic quality. Jake always left the choice of subject to his cousin and simply made it his job to see that they produced the best possible impressions of it. Toni, with the rest of the students, found a place overlooking the ocean and with a breathtaking view of the cove and the rocky shore. Jake had not yet put in an appearance since breakfast, but Peter accompanied them, giving attention to everyone but, as so often happened, hovering longest wherever Toni happened to be. When she discovered that she had brought everything else, but left her canvas stool behind in the house, it was inevitable that he should offer to fetch it for her, although she knew quite well that any of the others would have been allowed to do the same chore for themselves. It was for that reason that she insisted on doing the same. 'You know I'll willingly fetch it for you, Toni.' It was inevitable too that Audrey Blain would be taking ah interest, and her plain earnest face was half turned in their direction. It was partly that too that made Toni shake her head. 'I'll go, Peter, thank you —you don't have to run around after me.'

She would have hurried off without further discussion, but Peter caught her hand as she turned to go and held her in an unexpectedly tight grip, drawing her to his side and looking directly into her eyes as he spoke. 'I rather like the idea of running around after you,' he told her. 'In fact I'd like nothing better, Toni.' Such an approach from Peter was not exactly unexpected, but she was unprepared for it at that moment and she was aware that Audrey's gaze was by now frankly interested? She could, Toni realised with a start, develop an intense dislike for her fellow student. 'That's very sweet of you, but I'd rather you didn't,' she told Peter. 'Especially with Audrey's all-seeing eye on us. It won't take me a minute to run back to the house for the wretched thing, and it'll cause far less comment.' It seemed incredible that he had not noticed Audrey's interest in them whenever they were together, but apparently he hadn't, judging by his reaction. He cast a swift and almost startled glance over his shoulder, then frowned. 'I didn't realise.' He stared so hard that Toni had the satisfaction of seeing Audrey indulge in a sudden frenzy of activity, her thin face tinged faintly pink. When he looked at Toni again there was a vaguely apologetic look in his eyes, as if he felt in some way to blame. 'I'd no idea,' he said. 'Does that wretched woman watch everything you do?' She pulled a face, making light of it because she was afraid he might take it too seriously. 'Almost—but I don't let her bother me too much. I feel a bit sorry for her, actually.' 'Because she's so—homely?'

'Oh no!' She denied it hastily because it wasn't true. She did not pity Audrey for her plainness but rather for her inability to make herself pleasant and likable. 'She's just so—awkward, and rather lonely. She doesn't seem to make friends very easily and I suppose she rather turns to me because I'm the only other female in the party, but she doesn't really like me very much, I'm sure of it. On the other hand she openly adores Jake!' She made the adjoinder light-heartedly, but Peter's pleasantly friendly face was quite serious, and there was a sober look in his eyes as he looked down at her. 'That's pretty usual among females,' he told her. 'Plain or not.' 'I can imagine!' She tried to subdue the memory of that disturbing and unexpected kiss in Frayley Cove, but it was not an easy thing to forget— particularly when she remembered Fran Casey's arrival and her reaction to seeing them together. Hastily bringing herself back to earth, she smiled up at Peter ruefully. 'I'd better go and fetch my stool,' she said, 'before Audrey sees something significant in our talking so long together!' 'Do we care?' She looked up at him, sensing how much harder it would have been for him to ask a question like that. Jake would have taken Audrey's interest in his stride; he would probably have been amused by it, but not Peter. He was a quieter and much less extrovert personality than his cousin, and she liked him for it, though at the moment it was no more than that. She smiled and there was a warmth in her green eyes as she looked at him. 'Not really,' she said. 'But if I don't fetch my stool and start doing something, Jake will be after me for slacking!'

As she hurried across the clearing she knew Peter's eyes were following her, and Audrey's too, almost inevitably. She would be wondering what their conversation had been about, and probably put quite the wrong construction on it. It was wonderful to feel the sun again after two days of chilling rain. It warmed her bare arms and legs and brought golden highlights to her tawny hair as she tossed it back from her face, until the light wind, soothing as balm as it blew in off the sea, tossed it back across her face again, making her smile to herself resignedly. She ran the last few yards across the lawn, for no other reason than that she felt like doing it, and because she was feeling quite amazingly light-hearted this morning. The wide french windows in to the students' sitting-room stood open, and it was there she had left her stool, propped against one of the reading lamps, so she had no hesitation about going straight in and across the big bright room, with the confidence of familiarity. She was barely half way across the room when she heard voices out in the hall, and she instinctively looked across at the open door. One voice was unmistakably Jake's and the other, she was almost sure, belonged to Mrs Fran Casey—that was the one that was raised in anger. Hard and flat, like the last time Toni had heard it at Frayley Cove. She came to a halt in the middle of the room, anxiously uncertain, for to go any further meant that she would be clearly visible to anyone standing in the hall. Not that she felt she had no right to be there, but she was not anxious to be seen by Fran Casey, or Jake for that matter, in these circumstances. She could go back without her stool, but that would mean she could not work, and she did not relish explaining her reasons, even to Peter's sympathetic ear.

'I don't care!' The brittle voice almost cracked with anger, and Toni could all too easily imagine the glitter of those pale blue eyes. 'You can't treat me like one of your students, Jake—I hope I mean more to you than that! I keep coming over to see you and each time you make some excuse about having to work. I wouldn't mind if you were working, but you're not!' 'I won't indulge your taste for slanging matches, Fran. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I do have work to do.' 'Your precious students!' 'My students. Those people pay to have my personal attention, and I don't see spending time talking to you as part of my job.' His voice was cool, controlled and even, but to Toni's sensitive ear there was an underlying hardness that would have warned anyone less bent on making her own point than Fran Casey was. She felt a shivering sensation run through her body as she debated her chances of retrieving the stool without being seen and making a hasty withdrawal. 'Was it part of your job—flirting with that girl you were with on Sunday?' Toni froze on the spot. Her face flooded with hot colour and she held her breath while her heart thudded at her ribs. She could have hurried out then, realising that she was about to become personally involved, but somehow her legs seemed incapable of movement and she listened for Jake's reply with her hands held in front of her and tightly rolled into fists. His laugh, as always, caught her unawares and her eyes widened when the sound of it reached her from the hall. Deep and soft, it nevertheless was scornful enough to make a mockery of Fran

Casey's implication. 'Oh, for God's sake, Fran, you're surely not jealous of a child like Toni? You must be out of your mind!' His sudden appearance was even more unexpected than his laughter had been, and it was only when he came striding through the door of the sitting-room that Toni remembered he always wore soft-soled shoes that made no sound at all on carpeted floors. He could have caught no more than a glimpse of her as she turned and ran from the room, but she could almost feel those narrowed and glittering blue eyes following her progress as she fled into the concealment of the shrubbery. She had not stopped to use the path but pushed her way through the thick-growing laurels almost to the other side before she paused, still concealed by the screen of evergreens, to recover her breath. She could not face her fellow students again, flushed and panting for breath, so she stood, well hidden from both directions, one hand pushing back the long strands of hair from her face. A child like Toni! The words rang in her ears and she felt the first stirrings of a more familiar reaction as she stood there—the familiar resentment she had felt towards Jake Tregarron from the beginning, and which she had hoped no longer existed. The voices of the other students on the ocean side of the barrier reached her, thin and flat on the warm air, and it was her attention to them that deafened her once more to Jake's silent approach. He came behind her suddenly and startled her so much that she nearly cried out. Spinning round, she snatched her arm from the light touch of his fingers and looked at him with eyes that made it plain enough she had overheard him. He stood with her in the dense concealment of the shrubbery, dose enough for that discomfiting aura of maleness to be effective, but

saying nothing for the moment. It was only when she would have moved away that he reached out and gripped her arm, giving her no chance to break his hold this time. For a second the blue eyes looked down at her, although she refused to meet them long enough to be sure whether they showed laughter or not—she doubted it after that encounter with Fran Casey. 'You're angry.' He made the statement with a certain resignation, and in the brief second that she glanced upward his mouth betrayed a hint of smile at its corners. 'It seems the tables have been turned, Toni. The last time, you were talking about me, remember?' How could she forget? That rash statement she had made to Audrey about him which he had overheard. But she saw no cause to amend the opinion she had expressed then. He was too arrogant and too sure of himself. As for his attitude towards women, the women themselves seemed to go out of their way to confirm that, not least that elegant and angry woman he had apparently just abandoned to come after Toni. 'I wasn't listening!' 'Did I suggest you were?' A dark brow mocked her defensiveness. 'But if you didn't hear what was said, why did you take off like a little jack-rabbit the minute you saw me?' Her glance over one shoulder to where the others still worked, unaware of their proximity, made him smile and the fingers holding her arm tightened fractionally as if to forestall any attempt to escape them. Those quiet, almost lazy voices the other side of the shrubbery were like something in another world, and she wished with, all her heart that Peter would come looking for her. 'I—I forgot my stool when I came out this morning —I came back to the house for it.'

'And walked into one of Fran's firework displays!' He seemed so unconcerned that she felt herself inexplicably on Fran Casey's side. He was, far too sure of himself! 'I had no intention of overhearing you and Mrs Casey, but I couldn't help it. I was just going to leave again when -' 'When you heard yourself mentioned!' She looked up, hastily defensive, and found the blue eyes laughing at her, making her feel quite incredibly foolish for taking it all so seriously. To hear him, she could well imagine that he had found the whole episode amusing, and yet she was prepared to swear she had not imagined that underlying hardness in his voice, back there in the hall. 'I couldn't help hearing, though heaven knows I didn't want to hear myself referred to as a child!' 'Is that any worse than being called conceited enough to think myself the answer to every woman's prayer?' Jake inquired, softvoiced, and she heard a thread of laughter in his voice. He let go her arm suddenly and held out a large hand which she gazed at for a second in confusion. 'Let's call it quits, shall we?' he suggested. She accepted the offer, only half aware of what she was doing, and her hand was enfolded in long, strong fingers that curved around hers and sent a little flutter of sensation along her spine which she did her best to ignore. 'I have to go back for my stool, I didn't -' He showed her the stool in his free hand, handing it to her with a smile. 'I saw this in the sitting-room after you ran off. I wonder Peter didn't offer to fetch it for you.'

'He did.' 'Ah-hah!'.Without giving Toni time to speculate on the meaning of that he took her arm and pushed a way through' the crowding shrubs on to the clearing. Without fail, as they emerged, Audrey's head came round. She took a long and meaningful look at them, then turned to look across at Peter, as if trying to draw his attention to them. Audrey, Toni thought bitterly, would have been quite happy being referred to as a child, just as long as Fran Casey saw her with Jake! Peter came over, looking vaguely uncertain as he so often did around his cousin, and Jake smiled at him amiably. 'You lost one of your flock!' 'Did you find your stool?' Toni smiled, holding it up for him to see. 'I can start work now!' She went off, leaving him with Jake, making her way to where the rest of her things were, and as she passed Audrey she caught the expression in her pale eyes and recognised not only curiosity but envy. She pushed back a stray lock of hair from her face and Toni thought her smile was more strained than usual, her voice scarcely more than a confidential whisper, although there was little chance of being overheard by either of their tutors. 'I don't know how you have the nerve to do it, Toni, honestly! Suddenly appearing out of the bushes like that, with Jake of all people! Don't you mind if people talk?' 'Oh, Audrey, for heaven's sake!' She had not meant to sound quite so impatient, but such an allusion coming so soon after Jake's dismissal of her as a child touched her

on a sensitive spot. She moved on to her own place and set up her stool and easel, but she was-uneasily aware that Audrey's pale, curious eyes were still watching her as she studied the scene she was to paint. 'You don't appreciate how lucky you are!' The voice was dull; flattened by the open air, certainly, but more than that. A dull lack of expression that was somehow oddly touching, and Toni looked across at her despairingly. She felt impatience but sympathy too; for Audrey's dreams about Jake had no chance at all of materialising, which was something she seemed unable to accept. It was not simply her looks that were unprepossessing, but her character too, and to a man like Jake Tregarron that was just as important, perhaps even more so, than looks. 'Audrey, if you -' As she sought for the right words, she saw Peter making his way towards her, and shook her head. It would do no good to say anything to Audrey anyway; she was blind in her devotion and would listen to no one. Toni had already decided to include a small white- sailed sailing dinghy in her picture when Peter came and stood beside her, although she would have to do most of it from memory, for it would be long gone before she reached that stage. 'What have you decided on, Toni?' She glanced up at him, seeking his approval, but knowing instinctively that he would give it. 'I thought a horizon view, with that little sailing boat in the foreground.'

Peter nodded. 'The sailing dinghy: to give it focus—- yes, that's an idea.' 'It looks so pretty against the sky like that.' Apparently more conscious of being observed since he had learned about Audrey's interest, Peter leaned just a little nearer, his face closer to hers, so that when she turned she looked straight into his friendly grey eyes. 'Do you like sailing?' he asked, and his voice was much lower than usual to defeat anyone trying to listen. 'Or have you never tried it, Toni?' 'I never have, but I'd love to!' She looked out again at the dinghy with its white sails like elongated triangles, toylike against the misty horizon, and sighed enviously. 'It looks so peaceful.' 'It can be,' Peter agreed. 'Then again it can be quite hectic, it depends on the conditions.' Painting was forgotten for the moment and she looked at him eagerly. It was obvious from his enthusiasm that he had done some sailing, perhaps still did, and she was genuinely interested. 'You actually do some sailing yourself?' she asked, and he nodded. 'I have a dinghy I keep in Methrian harbour—how about joining me one day, Toni? I'm sure you'd enjoy it!' 'I'm sure I would!' She actually believed he had expected her to refuse, for he looked quite stunned for a moment when she accepted. Then his grey eyes warmed and glistened with enthusiasm as he looked at her and smiled. 'That's wonderful !' he said. 'I'll take you out on Sunday, weather permitting! Is that O.K. with you?' 'Perfectly O.K.! I'll look forward to it!'

Peter laughed—a happy, uninhibited sound that was infectious. 'So shall I!' he said. Sunday was bright and warm, a perfect day, Toni thought, and looked forward to her first taste of sailing with a flutter of excitement. The sky was a clear bright blue and the sun shone so brightly on the surface of the water that it was like a myriad flashing lights. She felt quite nautical in blue linen trousers and a white shirt and both she and Peter laughed unrestrainedly when he appeared dressed almost identically. The heavenly twins, Jake called them, and seemed to view their enthusiasm with a tolerance that Toni was not altogether happy about. 'Enjoy your first sail, Toni,' he told her, just before they left. 'I hope the breeze lasts!' To her surprise Peter looked vaguely annoyed, as if he resented the comment. 'Oh, it'll last,' he assured him, and took Toni's arm. 'Let's go, shall we, Toni?' The wind was fresh along the coast road and Toni found the drive exhilarating in Peter's open car. She felt completely relaxed as she sat back and watched for glimpses of the sea between twists and turns in the road that took them on a switchback route past farms, cottages and hotels. The latter becoming more numerous as they neared Methrian. Like quite a lot of Cornish resorts, it was tucked away snugly among the rocky cliffs and accessible down a steep narrow road between rows of stone cottages. It was so different from Trawley Cove, more noisy and crowded, but still unmistakably Cornish in character, with a row of stone houses and shops along the quay, and the main part

of the town straggling back inland in a series of steep roads with the houses half hidden by colourful gardens. The harbour made a wide sweep, enclosing rocks, beach and town in its embrace, with jetties built out from the quay where boats could be moored. Most of them were small sailing craft of the type Toni had featured in her painting, but there were a few more powerful ones too. Sleek and expensive-looking and with a jetty to themselves. 'Doesn't Jake sail?' Toni asked, as they got out of the car, and Peter smiled—an unusually wry smile for him. 'If you can call it sailing—he drives a car on water!' Toni laughed. 'You mean he has a motor-boat?' 'Exactly!' He took her arm as they walked along the quay and on to one of the jetties. 'He calls it sailing, I don't!' 'I suppose he hasn't the patience for sailing boats?' That was how she saw Jake. Impatient and without the-necessary forbearance to depend upon the vagaries of the wind for his pleasure, but Peter was shaking his head. 'Oh, heavens no, it isn't that! Nobody's more patient than Jake; he's as good as he is because he's so painstaking with his work. No—he just prefers driving that glossy monster of his to coping with sail, that's all. It's a matter of taste, but we make a thing of it between us.' 'Oh, I see!' It should not really have surprised her that he defended his cousin so readily, for they were every bit as close as brothers, and nobody admired Jake more than he did. Their characters were so completely

different and that, Toni guessed, was the reason they got on so well, for no household could possibly have contained two personalities of Jake Tregarron's calibre. 'Here she is—Kitty!' Peter exhibited it with every sign of proud ownership, and the little dinghy was every bit as pretty as the one she had admired from a distance a couple of days ago, even with her sails furled. What struck Toni was that it looked so small close to, and its size gave her a moment of doubt as Peter helped her aboard. He stood facing her, the glint of the enthusiast in his eyes as he first looked around at his craft and then at Toni. 'Isn't she lovely?' 'She's beautiful,' Toni agreed. Peter's hands reached out for hers, holding them lightly while he looked at her face, and the small telltale line of doubt between her brows. 'You aren't having second thoughts, are you, Toni?' 'Oh no, of course not!' He squeezed her fingers gently, looking earnestly into her eyes. 'I wouldn't take you if there was the slightest element of risk, you know that, don't you?' Toni looked at him and smiled. 'I know that,' she said. 'Good!' She thought for a second that he might be going to kiss her, but he had not yet reached the stage when he took her consent for granted, and unlike his cousin he would not think of kissing her anyway, whether she agreed or not. Instead he laughed and helped her to a small seat in the stern.

'Let's see what kind of a sailor you make!'

It was blissful on the water, just as peaceful as Toni had imagined, as they tacked to and fro following the breeze, and she felt the sting of salt-laden air on her cheeks as she enjoyed every minute. They were some distance off shore, and she was fascinated by an entirely new aspect of Trawley Cove, seen from the sea. Pentycawl sat like a castle in the clouds at the highest point of the cliffs, only half visible because of the thickness of the shrubbery that surrounded it, and the rest of the village sprawled along the cliff tops, with Fran Casey's huge whitewashed Victorian mansion standing out among the mellow Cornish granite of the rest. She wished she could paint it from this side, and wondered if it was possible to remember the impression of it with sufficient clarity to put it on to canvas when she got back. They seemed to have a good long time to admire it too, for, although she had not yet realised it, they were now barely moving, no more than a gentle rocking on the swell. 'It looks beautiful from here,' she said. 'Even better than it does close to.' She turned to smile at him and saw him frowning, looking up at the sails and pulling a face. 'You might have some time to sit and admire it,' he told her. 'We seem to have lost the breeze!' She too looked up at the limp sails that had, only minutes ago it seemed, been billowing in the breeze. 'You mean we're likely to be—becalmed?—is that the word?'

'That's the word!' He shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders resignedly. 'I'm afraid it's happened, Toni, we are becalmed, so we'll just have to sit it out until we can catch the breeze again.' 'You mean we just sit here?' Her heart lurched. 'That whirlpool -' 'We're perfectly safe, Toni, it's much further inshore !' She glanced across at Pentycawl in the distance and wondered if they were visible from the clearing on top of the cliff. It was unlikely that anyone would realise who they were, even if they were spotted, for one small sailing dinghy looked very like another at such a distance, and to the untutored eye. She shrugged not altogether reassured. 'Oh well, at least the view's worthwhile.' He too looked across the water and smiled. 'It is lovely from here, isn't it?' From the angle at which they saw it, the clearing wasn't evident, but she thought she caught a glimpse of movement briefly against the background of shrubs, and it set her thinking. 'Would anyone realise, if they saw us out here, that we were becalmed?' He was sitting further forward than she was and she supposed that to move down to her in the stern could upset the balance of the boat or something, but he looked as if he might have it in mind when she asked the question about being seen. 'Probably not,' he said. It was a new experience for Toni, being stranded on the open sea with no means of propulsion, and she felt a sudden moment of panic

when she thought of how much they were likely to drift before there was sufficient wind to get them under way again. She laughed, shaking her head as she leaned back in the stern and closed her eyes against the sun. 'I only ask because I'd hate to miss my dinner!'

It was nearly half an hour later and Toni began to worry about more than her dinner. They had not moved an inch except to drift on the tide and she was finding the experience of being completely helpless rather less exciting than alarming. She glanced at her watch and looked across at Peter. They had been discussing painting and sailing, subjects which she found absorbing, but her mind was becoming less concentrated on what she was saying and more on looking for the least whisper of wind in the empty sails. 'It's half an hour now.' Peter looked at her for a second with his brows drawn, then he got up and picked his way carefully along the shallow bottom of the little craft, but it began to sway so alarmingly that she begged him to stay where he was. Instead he stood by the mast, and looked at her anxiously. 'You don't have to worry, Toni, it isn't unknown for sailing boats to be becalmed in weather like this, and we're quite safe.' 'But suppose we're here for—hours!' 'We won't be!' He leaned across and took her hands in his, his fingers gently reassuring. 'Please—won't you trust me, Toni?'

It was hard not to trust him when he sounded so confident, and there really wasn't anything to worry about. All she had to do was to sitthere in the sunshine and wait for the wind to rise and carry them back to Methrian again. She looked up at him and smiled. 'I trust you,' she said. Making an effort to relax again, she leaned back once more in the stern and looked at the dazzling surface of the water. 'I wanted peace and quiet and I've got it, haven't I?'

It was now more than an hour and Toni was far more anxious than she let Peter see. It wasn't easy for her simply to accept the situation as calmly as he did, and she began to feel as if the wind would never rise again to the brisk breeze that had brought them this far. She wanted nothing so much as to set foot ,on firm ground again and she looked across at Peter through the thickness of her lashes. 'What happens if we're here after dark?' she asked, and he looked at her narrowly for a moment as if he suspected how she was feeling. 'We won't be, Toni, it -' He broke oft when she leaned to one side suddenly and looked past him, her green eyes shining eagerly as she followed the approach of a speeding motor launch heading in their direction. 'Someone's coming!' She sat forward, but remembered not to leap to her feet as she felt inclined to do, in case she capsized them. 'Peter, take a look! Is it Jake?' The figure in the cockpit of the launch was not easy to identify because of the screening windshield in front of him, but somehow she felt sure it was Jake and her reaction was far more enthusiastic than Peter's. When he turned and she saw him frown, she knew she was right.

'It's Jake!' he agreed shortly. 'Then he can take us in tow!' Peter looked at her with an unaccustomed resentment in his eyes, and he was frowning still. 'We don't need a tow in, Toni, we can make it under our own sail sooner or later.' His voice was quiet, but she knew he wasn't pleased at seeing his cousin, and even less pleased that she had suggested going back with him. Then she- remembered that friendly battle he had mentioned that he and Jake had between them, about the merits of sail or power. In the meantime the launch was approaching rapidly, a big shiny monster, as Peter had said, and Toni's mind was in turmoil as she tried to decide which should come foremost in her choice. She had to decide whether or not she had the necessary stamina so sit out there any longer and wait for the breeze to materialise. The little dinghy rocked alarmingly on the wash when the motor launch came closer, and it was then that Toni reached a conclusion, made easier by the fact that one glance at the dark face of the man behind the wheel confirmed that it was indeed Jake.. He cut the engine and drifted alongside, a hint of smile about his mouth as he leaned across to speak to them. 'The pleasures of sail?' Peter's face betrayed how much he hated having to admit that in this instance his sails had failed him. 'We've been becalmed for the best part of an hour,' he admitted morosely, and glanced at Toni regretfully. 'I'm afraid Toni's had a very discouraging introduction to sailing. She's worried about getting her dinner!'

'Then you'd better let me take you in!' Jake's blue eyes were concealed behind dark glasses, but he took them off and looked directly at Toni. 'Is that what you want, Toni?' She hated having to come right out and say that she had had quite enough of sailing for one time, and she hesitated. Peter's expression showed plainly how he felt about being rescued, and he spoke up hastily, as if to forestall her giving in. 'I've promised we'll be back by dinner time, Jake, we don't need help, thanks all the same.' 'Oh, but, Peter, please can't we -' Jake's shaking head cut her short and she looked at him in confusion. Just how he felt was difficult to define, but there was a suggestion of smile about his mouth that she wasn't happy about either. It seemed to suggest that, while he was satisfied that he had scored off his cousin in the matter of power versus sail, he viewed her obvious anxiety to give in as a mild form of treachery. 'Your crew is ready to mutiny, Pete,' he told his cousin. 'You'd better haul down your flag and let me take you in.' 'Is that what you want, Toni?' Peter's usually open and friendly face had a curiously closed look about it, and it was there in his eyes for her to see, that he felt she was letting him down. If Jake had not been there she might have made some effort to reassure him, but Jake made her self-conscious, and she did nothing. Peter turned away from her and was already preparing a tow when she looked at him again, his movements quick and jerky, almost automatic. 'I thought you trusted me!' He nodded to his cousin. 'O.K., Jake—it seems it's your round this time!'

Jake manoeuvred the launch stern first, then caught the painter Peter threw to him and fastened it firmly. He glanced across at Toni before he turned away, then flashed a brief consoling smile at his cousin. 'Cheer up, old son—you can't win 'em all!'

CHAPTER FOUR PETER'S pride took another blow when they berthed again, for another of the students happened to be on the quay when they came in and witnessed the Kitty's humiliation. His being there made it inevitable that the story would have circulated among the rest of the party by dinner-time, and Toni felt badly about it because she had been at least partly responsible for their ignominious return. If she had agreed to wait with Peter until they could come in as they had left, under sail, she knew Peter would have been much happier. He had minded very much her asking Jake to bring them in, even more than the fact of being towed in, she thought, and he had said little while he drove them back to Pentycawl. She was as yet unfamiliar with a sailing man's pride in his craft. There was bound to be talk that evening among the others, and it was to avoid the possibility of being teased about it that Toni wanted to miss the customary gathering in the sitting-room for predinner drinks. Maybe it was cowardly of her, but she felt badly about letting Peter down and she wanted to justify herself to him before she felt ready to reply to her fellow students' teasing. When she came downstairs she noticed that the door of the diningroom was ajar and impulsively decided on an alternative to joining the rest of the party. No one else was likely to be there yet, and she could wait in the dining-room until the others came in for dinner. She would have to put up with being teased during the meal, but at least she could delay the moment as long as possible. The big portrait in oils that hung over the fireplace in the diningroom had always intrigued her, but she had never before had an opportunity to study it at leisure, and she took the chance now. Standing in front of it with her head tilted to one side, she noted yet again that vague but undeniable likeness to Jake.

A small brass plate attached to the bottom of the frame identified the sitter as Sir Giles Tregarron, and gave the date as 1774. Whoever he was he looked a fiercely proud and intolerant man and, despite the likeness to Jake, there was no glimmer of humour in the stern features such as lightened the effect of pride and arrogance in Jake's. Severe blue broadcloth and a white stock added to the overall suggestion of pious sobriety, and Toni wondered who he could be. She had often thought about asking someone, but had never yet done so. It was a small, barely audible sound behind her that brought her spinning round hastily and she stared at the newcomer wide-eyed for a moment, hastily searching for words to explain her being there ahead of her companions. Jake's black brows rose in surprise and the blue eyes swept in a swift, penetrating scrutiny over a slim shape flattered by a soft pink voile that clung closely to it. Her heart was hammering hard at her ribs as he walked the width of the big room to a huge old-fashioned sideboard, then briefly turned his back to her. Turning again, he held up both hands, one holding a sherry glass and the other a decanter. 'You do indulge, don't you?' The invitation took her by surprise, and she nodded only vaguely, then almost immediately remembered that she should offer some sort of explanation for having avoided the customary gathering in the sitting- room. 'I do, but usually—I mean, I usually have it with the others.' 'Well, tonight you're not in the sitting-room with the others.' He poured out sherry for her, then poured himself a whisky and carried both drinks over to where she stood in front of the painting. A smile hovered about his mouth as he handed her the glass. 'Tonight you're hiding in the dining-room, so you have your sherry in here.'

Toni took the glass and was appalled to realise how her hands were shaking. 'I'm not exactly hiding,' she denied. 'I just didn't feel like joining them, that's all. I hope it doesn't matter my coming in here.' 'Why on earth should it?' She found the question unanswerable, and Jake took a tentative sip of whisky while he leaned back against one of the dining chairs. 'You didn't fancy being teased about this afternoon's little adventure, is that it, Toni?' She didn't look at him, but instead studied the amber liquid in her glass. If only she did. not feel as if he despised her for not having the patience or the stamina to sit out the calm with Peter. 'I—I feel awful about Peter, I mean I hate to think how disappointed he was in me. I didn't want to spoil his sailing, but I -' She glanced at him, and her green eyes were huge with appeal. 'I didn't like sitting out there just—waiting for the breeze to get up again. I felt so— helpless, but I wish I could make Peter understand that.' Jake took a drink from his glass, then levelled that blue gaze at her with disconcerting steadiness. 'Have you tried telling him, as you've just told me?' She still studied her drink, twisting the glass round and round in restless fingers, watching the light as it caught the liquid amber. 'We didn't say much driving back here. Peter seemed -' She shrugged uneasily. 'I didn't think he wanted me to say anything because he felt I'd let him down, so we hardly spoke at all.' There was a curious gentleness in his face for a second or two, and he shook his head slowly, as if in despair. 'You're a funny girl, Toni! Don't you know that Peter would have been only too anxious for you to explain? He's probably still thoroughly miserable—not because he was towed in, but because you haven't told him why you

wanted to be brought in. He's far less likely to blame you for giving up than I should be in his place!' 'You think so?' 'Good heavens, girl, I know so!' Toni fought to steady her voice. Being lectured by Jake was not exactly what she had had in mind when she shunned the company of the other students, and she wondered why anything to do with him always seemed to somehow become exaggerated out of all proportion. She looked up at him at last. 'You think I should have sat it out, don't you, Jake?' 'What I think doesn't matter!' He took another long drink from the glass of whisky. 'It's what Peter thinks that matters—he's the one most concerned.' 'Yes, of course.' He was more or less politely telling her, she thought, that he was not interested in what she did, and she felt quite absurdly hurt by the fact. He laughed shortly. 'You'd better tell him before he goes in to dinner, or he probably won't eat a thing for worrying about it. He thinks you didn't trust him!' 'Oh, but that's not true!' Her mouth looked softly reproachful, and he fixed his eyes on it for a moment before he took another drink. 'Then tell him so, little one!' There was a curious sense of anticipation about the following silence that made her seek solace in her glass at last. They stood side by side before the fierce old man in the portrait and she glanced up at Jake from the concealment of her thick lashes. 'I didn't realise it was so important,' she ventured. 'Being towed back, I mean. Peter

took it very much to heart, and yet it seemed to me that all that mattered was to get back, no matter how.' Jake's half smile condemned her lack of understanding. 'You made that pretty clear; but then you're not a sailing man, are you? Peter's spent all his life messing about in sailing boats and to him there's something very ignominious about being towed in when all you have to do is wait for a breeze to get up—if you've the patience, of course.' 'You don't sail, do you? I asked Peter and he said you preferred a power boat. Could it be that you haven't the patience either, Jake?' 'Could be!' He took another drink, leaned back casually against the upright chair, his ankles crossed one over the other as he looked up at the portrait of Sir Giles Tregarron. 'You were admiring the old boy when I came in, weren't you?' Toni thankfully changed the subject—there was time enough to speak to Peter, and she saw no point in saying anything more about it to Jake. Looking up at the stern, unrelenting features in .the portrait, she doubted whether admiration was the right word for her reaction to that eighteenth-century knight, pious though he might be. 'He looks very—unforgiving, and I'm not sure I admire him.' Jake too regarded the harsh likeness of his ancestor with a quirk of amusement. 'Intolerant-looking old devil, isn't he?' A steady glance from blue eyes noted her faint look of surprise at his bluntness, and he laughed. 'I'm supposed to look a bit like him, though I'm not sure I'm very flattered by the comparison!' Toni glanced from one to the other, not sure whether he wanted the likeness confirmed or denied. 'I can see a likeness,' she told him. 'I've noticed it before, but of course if he's an ancestor of yours it's not very surprising, is it?'

Jake smiled up at the portrait, one arm folded across his chest, the other hand holding his glass, and he took another drink before he turned his head and looked at her. There was a bright gleam in his eyes that was somehow disturbing and which she hastily avoided, and laughter threaded his voice sending little responsive shivers up and down her spine. 'Oh, he's Peter's ancestor, not mine. My side of the family comes from a younger brother, not dear old Sir Giles.' 'Oh, I see.' She instinctively looked around the big room, although she knew there were no other portraits on the walls. 'Isn't there a painting of him too?' Jake finished his whisky, then sat with the empty glass pressed to his mouth while he regarded the painting. 'Oh, dear me, no,' he said, his eyes gleaming at her while he spoke, 'Tobyn was much too disreputable to have his portrait painted! Sir Giles was a paragon of all the virtues—a Justice of the Peace and the local squire.' 'And Tobyn?' The blue eyes gleamed more brightly than ever, as if he challenged her to remark on the fact. 'Oh, Tobyn was hanged as a smuggler; the same year that portrait was painted, as it happens.' 'Oh!' 'Are you shocked, -Toni?' Shocked was not exactly the word Toni would have used, but it was somewhere near the truth, she supposed. She had thought the Tregarrons an old and proud family, but she was not completely surprised to learn that they, like a good many, other such families, had produced a black sheep among their more reputable members.

What had surprised her more than hearing that Tobyn Tregarron had been hanged was the near-pride with which Jake announced the fact. Determinedly casual, she shrugged her shoulders. 'Not exactly shocked—those things often happened, didn't they?' Jake nodded. He seemed unconscious of the fact that at any moment the rest of his pupils might come in and put an end to the conversation, or that Toni was eager to hear the rest of it before that happened. He still leaned casually against the chair with his empty glass in his hand, watching her with those disconcertingly steady eyes. 'I said I'd tell you the story behind the mark of Tregarron didn't I; Toni? You remember when you saw it on me the other day?' 'Yes, I remember!' The sudden reminder of their visit to Frayley Cove brought another, more emotive, recollection to mind and she felt her heart beating harder and faster suddenly. She remembered the broad tinned back with a faint, star-shaped mark just below the right shoulder. 'Are you interested?' She glanced at the door, anxious not to be interrupted. 'Yes, of course I'm interested, Jake, but if you don't tell me now, the others will be in here and I'll never hear the story!' 'Impatience!' His smile teased her. 'I didn't realise you had such an absorbing interest in our family history, Toni.' 'I'm—intrigued. What you call the mark of Tregarron sounds as if it should have a—a romantic story attached. If you hadn't whetted my appetite by mentioning that there was a story to it, I might not have been so fascinated.'

'It's the way the Tregarrons tell their black sheep from their lambs— the symbol that distinguishes Tobyn's bad blood from the rest of the tribe.' Toni's huge green eyes were frankly curious and Jake noted the fact with a smile before he left the support of the chair back and crossed to the sideboard again to refill his glass. She found herself fervently hoping that the bell would not sound for dinner before she had learned more about Tobyn Tregarron and that intriguing star- shaped mark that branded Jake as his descendant. 'He had it too?' she asked, and Jake shook his head as he came, with his drink, back to take up his old position in front of the painting. 'Not Tobyn—his son was the first one to carry it.' He took a drink from his glass and Toni scarcely contained her impatience. 'The widow Tregarron had a son several months after her husband was— legally disposed of, and it isn't hard to imagine that she lived in fear of her son following in his father's footsteps, so she took precautions to see that he didn't.' Once more she glanced in the direction of the door, listening for the dinner bell. 'What sort of precautions?' The blue eyes taunted her for her impatience. 'What intrigues you most, Toni? The story of Tobyn Tregarron, or the satisfaction of knowing that you were right about me being disreputable as well as conceited?' 'Oh, Jake, please don't keep reminding me! I'm dying to hear this story and you're simply keeping me in suspense!' He was laughing at her, his blue eyes bright and glittering in the tanned face, and she felt her own cheeks flushed pink as she met his eyes, her heart beating rapidly at her ribs.

'Very well, little Miss Curious, I'll give you the abbreviated version before they invade us! Jenny Tregarron took her baby to the local holy well and had him baptised in its water as an insurance against hanging, but going home she felt that to make quite sure perhaps he should have the protection of both christian and pagan ceremonies, and she called on the local witch.' 'A witch?' Jake's smile acknowledged her doubt. 'They practised, you know, even though they took the chance of being horribly done to death if they were caught. This particular night-hag worked her magic to some effect, apparently, for when Jenny got the babe home she found a curious star-shaped mark on his right shoulder, just as the old woman had told her there would be, although she had never touched his bare skin. Well— christian or pagan, something worked for young Jan, because he became an upright pillar of society, exactly like his Uncle Giles.' 'And they've—you've had the same mark in the family ever since then?' Jake was smiling, one black brow arched above gleaming eyes. 'I wish I could tell you that we've been clean-living paragons ever since too,' he told her. 'But in 1846 there was a family scandal involving Tobyn's grandson and a cousin's wife. She apparently cast a flirtatious eye at young Inigo Tregarron and he, being the man he was, returned the compliment with interest. Victorianism being in its prime, the promising liaison was nipped in the bud, of course, but—well, you won't be too surprised that it happened, will you, Toni?' It was a direct challenge, and Toni met it with a slight shrug of her shoulders, 'Should I be?'

He said nothing for several moments, then, in one long swallow, he finished the whisky in his glass and put it down on the table behind him. He looked at her steadily while she finished her own drink, then reached out and took the glass from her, his strong fingers curving to enclose her hand as well as the stem of the sherry glass. 'I guess I must follow in Inigo's footsteps,' he said in a voice that quivered warmly along her spine. 'I find it hard to resist a pretty woman.' He put down her empty glass on the table with his, then left the support of the chair he was leaning against and bent over her, his darkly rugged face coming close until his mouth pressed over hers, so lightly that it was hard to believe it could send such a thrill of sensation through her whole body. 'Whether I have the right to them or not!' There was a soft flush in her golden tanned cheeks; and her mouth had a warm tremulous look, while long dark lashes concealed her eyes as she instinctively leaned towards him. Jake's large hand curved to the nape of her neck and held her for a moment, then he brushed her mouth again briefly with his and the strong fingers let go their hold, slowly and reluctantly, it seemed. 'And I don't have the right to you, little one!' Toni looked up at him swiftly, perhaps to deny it, she could not be sure, and found, besides the bright look of laughter in his blue eyes, something else that she did not recognise, but which recalled the little shiver of pleasure his kiss had aroused. She started almost guiltily when the dinner bell suddenly shrilled its summons through the quiet house, and the sound of voices a second later swelled into a chorus as the sitting-room door opened and Audrey and the others came across the hall. Whatever it was she had wanted to say to him, it was too late now.

They came in, chattering together, with Audrey slightly ahead of the others as she usually was. Without exception every eye followed her and Jake as they moved apart, and the two empty glasses that Jake deposited on the sideboard told their own story. Toni turned, startled, when her chair was held for her and she realised that Peter had followed the others in. He said nothing when she looked up at him to thank him, but a brief smile encouraged her, and when he sat down beside her she leaned across, her voice low so as not to be overheard. 'Peter—I'm sorry about this afternoon.' He would have reached out and taken her hand, she thought, if they had been alone. Instead he smiled and shook his head, a warm glow in his grey eyes that told her unmistakably she had been forgiven, and she sighed her relief. 'You don't have to apologise, for heaven's sake,' he told her. 'You weren't to know how easily a sailing man's pride can be hurt, were you? I could have cursed myself for not checking before we went out whether there was a likelihood of there being a drop in the wind.' 'Can you foretell?' Peter laughed. 'Not always, but is pays to give some notice to the weather forecast, especially the local boatmen's version.' 'Oh well, we'll know next time, won't we?' He gave her his full attention, his eyes sweeping over her small flushed face for a second before he spoke. 'Will there be a next time, Toni?' 'If you ask me!'

He smiled and shook his head. 'I will, don't you worry!' Once more his eyes swept over her features and he laughed. 'You look quite— glowing,' he told her. 'There's a kind of radiance about you this evening that makes you look even lovelier than usual!' The glance she gave in Jake's direction was purely instinctive and Toni hoped Peter would not notice it, but her heart was beating hard as she provided her own reasons for the radiant glow that Peter remarked on. 'It must be the effect of all that sea air,' she said.

It seemed that, having been encouraged, Peter was suddenly much less reticent about asking her to go out with him again, and he suggested one day that they have dinner in Methrian, a proposal that Toni was only too pleased to agree to. She seemed to have been out so little since she came to Pentycawl, as Jake had suggested, she was used to a certain amount of attention from the young men of her own circle. She sometimes missed the fairly active social life she was used to at home, although she was not unhappy in the quieter environs of Pentycawl. She chose a pale green dress that she felt sure he would like and which lent added depth to the colour of her eyes. It flattered her tawny hair too,. and the feminine softness of her figure, and the expression in Peter's eyes when he caught sight of her was assurance enough that she had made the right choice. 'You look lovely, Toni!' He whispered the words as they went out to the car, and she smiled up at him, her eyes shining at the prospect of an evening out. 'Thank you, Peter—that's the very best start to an evening!'

It was when they went down the front steps that she noticed Jake's car was missing from its usual place on the drive, and she remarked on the fact almost without realising she was doing it. 'Is Jake going out for the evening too?' Peter's brows drew together in a fleeting frown as he too noted the car's absence, and he shrugged. 'The dinner table's going to look a bit deserted tonight, I'm afraid. You and-I will be missing, and Jake's off somewhere with Fran for the evening.' Toni tried to ignore the little flutter of sensation that registered dislike and momentarily marred her excited anticipation, but she was not very successful. She had to admit a certain admiration for Fran Casey's persistence, and it seemed to have paid off eventually. It had so nearly involved Toni in a couple of embarrassing situations, but she had a tenacity that could, in time, even wear down Jake's indomitable resistance. Recalling that emotional scene she had Overheard between them, she smiled ruefully, unable to do other than regret that Jake had presumably given in eventually. 'So she managed to pin him down at last!' She thought Peter looked vaguely surprised as he opened the car door for her, and he shook his head as if he too regretted his cousin's choice. 'So you've noticed, have you, Toni?' 'It isn't difficult, is it? Mrs Casey rides over every day to see him and I think most of us have commented on it at some time or other.' 'I suppose so.' He saw her into the car, then hovered for a second or two after he closed the door on her, as if he had something more to say on the subject. Then, shrugging his shoulders, he smiled down at her rather ruefully. 'Oh well, that's Jake's problem, thank heaven.

not ours, and I've no doubt lie can cope!' Coming round he got in beside her. 'He's welcome to Fran Casey, just as long as you don't say no when I ask you to come with me' Toni frowned, genuinely puzzled. 'Why on earth would I say no, Peter?' Laughing and shaking her head, she settled back in her seat, her hands smoothing the pale green dress over her knees. 'You must have a pretty good idea that I like you—Audrey Blain spotted it some time ago!' 'Audrey!' His good-looking features were distorted by a grimace for a moment as he started up the engine and released the brake. 'I get the feeling we're under constant surveillance ever since you tipped me off about her, and I don't like the feeling. That's why I thought it would make a break for us to come out to dinner tonight where she can't keep tabs on us!' 'You mean that's the only reason you asked me out?' She was not serious, of course, but Peter was never as quick to laughter as Jake, and he turned a serious face to her as they took off along the short open driveway to the road. 'Oh, Toni, you know it isn't! It's just that I've become horribly selfconscious about even talking to you when I know she's watching every move!' 'Oh, Peter!' Her smile was encouraging, but she could not help wondering if there was some other reason why he had taken so long to ask her to come out with him when, according to Jake, he had been interested in her for some time. It almost seemed as if he was psychic, for he provided the answer a few moments later without any prompting.

'As it happens, it doesn't matter in your case whether Jake knows I'm seeing you or not. If I'd known how he felt I would have asked you out some time ago.' 'Jake?' Her eyes looked wide and puzzled in the small oval of her face. 'But what has Jake to do with it?' 'Rule of the house,' he said, pulling a face. 'No fraternising!' Toni remembered Jake giving her a lecture of treating his cousin kindly, but she found it remarkable that Peter had seemingly had to get Jake's approval before asking her out. His clean-cut profile was silhouetted against the car window, crowned by thick brown hair that looked darker this evening with some dressing he had used to control its normal unruliness. He looked a strong enough character, but it could be that his customary air of quiet reticence was due in part to Jake's much stronger personality. Glancing over his shoulder at her, he smiled. 'Jake doesn't encourage too much out-of-class socialising with the female students, he says it can lead to complications and he's probably right, of course—he usually is!' Toni thought about Audrey and her barely concealed ardour for Jake, and she had to admit that it made sense to some extent, although she resented it in her own case. 'I suppose there's some sense in it,' she allowed. Obviously he detected criticism, for he glanced at her once more and laughed a little uneasily. 'Don't get me wrong—Jake isn't a dictator, but it can be difficult if one becomes too personally involved when there's little likelihood of seeing the students again, at least until next year.' Toni thought of that visit to Frayley Cove with Jake, and those breathtaking few moments when she had been close in his arms and

kissed as she never had been before. She liked to think that she was the first one he had taken there, but she had few illusions about Jake, and she raised a doubting brow when she asked: 'Does he make the same rule for himself—or is it only you who's expected to behave?' Peter looked at her for a moment as if. he suspected there was a meaning behind the question that he did not follow. 'He stands by his own ruling, naturally.' A smile flickered briefly across his face. 'He has to with women like Audrey Blain about!' 'Poor Audrey!' Her sympathy seemed to puzzle him and he frowned for a moment, giving his attention to the road once more. 'You feel sorry for her?' Toni tried to imagine how Audrey was going to feel when the rest of her eight weeks was gone and she had to leave the undeniably exciting proximity of a man like Jake Tregarron and return to what Toni believed to be a dull and not very happy home life. 'In a way I do—she really is mad about Jake, you know, Peter.' 'Then she's a fool!' His voice suggested impatience rather than sympathy and it was not quite the reaction she expected of him. Once or twice lately she had pondered on the possibility of there being more to Peter than she had first suspected. His present attitude towards Audrey, for instance, suggested a ruthlessness that was more typical of Jake, and seemed out of character for quiet, gentle Peter. 'Anyway,' he added with a sudden and slightly uneasy laugh, 'as long as Jake doesn't object to our fraternising I shan't question his motives, whatever he does about anyone else!' Another brief smile showed strong even teeth. 'I shall make the most of the next couple

of months, while you're here—if you've no objection, of course, Toni!' Toni shook her head, but her manner was a little vague, her mind occupied with the thought of Jake, off somewhere with Fran Casey for the evening. 'I've no objection,' she said.

There was only one really good restaurant in Methrian, so Peter said, and took her into an intriguing, candlelit eighteenth-century inn. It was charming and attractive and not too overpowered by the twentieth-century 'improvements' that had been installed for the greater comfort of its clientele. Originally quite small, what had once been stables had been incorporated into the main body of the inn and allowed for a small area of floor for dancing. Toni found it delightful. and was even more enthusiastic about the delicious lobster they were served with fresh- made mayonnaise. She chose an exquisitely light and frothy syllabub to finish with, and smiled contentedly across at Peter as she ate. the last mouthful. 'This is a wonderful place, Peter, and very romantic!' His features appeared much darker in the soft light of the candles and she once or twice caught an uncanny glimpse of Jake in his look. There was no physical resemblance at all, but something indefinable that was common to both men. He leaned across the table towards her, and his grey eyes glowed warmly. 'Would you like to dance, Toni?' It seemed ages since she had. danced and she responded eagerly. 'I'd love to!'

She found being in his arms every bit as pleasant as she expected and they danced in the old-fashioned way —the only possible response to the rather dreamy music provided by a discreetly disguised recording. She had never seen Peter smile as often as he had tonight and, as they circled slowly around the tiny dance floor, she wondered if he would take her obvious enjoyment of their evening together as an encouragement, and suggest further outings. They had completed no more than half the circuit when Toni missed her step suddenly and caught her breath. Dreamily dancing in Peter's arms, the last thing she expected was to find herself suddenly looking directly into Jake's bright, steady gaze, and her heart beat hard and fast in her breast as she gazed at him for the few seconds before he was out of sight again when she turned. It was easy to realise why she hadn't noticed him before. The lighting was so dim and his table some distance away on the opposite side of the restaurant. Briefly she thanked heaven that she hadn't known he was there, or she would not have enjoyed her evening as much, knowing he was sitting there with Fran Casey. His elbows resting easily on the little table, he regarded her through a hazy screen of cigarette smoke, not in the least surprised to see her. Heaven knew why, but the lighthearted mood she had enjoyed all evening, deserted her suddenly, and she resented the fact, without quite realising why. There was no good reason why seeing him should change her mood so dramatically. Fran Casey with her bright blonde hair was a vivid figure even in the softening glow of candlelight, and Toni could not miss the brief narrowing of those pale blue eyes when they recognised her. It was only when they moved on round the floor a little further that she was once more in a position to see them again.

Looking past Peter's shoulder she noted the slight curve of the other woman's tall figure as she leaned towards her companion, and the animated way she was talking, using her hands a lot and laughing, as if she was excited about something. She hastily shifted her gaze when she saw that Fran Casey now had Jake's full attention, but she refused to admit that it mattered. Peter eyed her rather curiously as they returned to their table, and looked quite startled when she asked to leave. 'Could we move on somewhere else, do you think, Peter? Maybe go for a drive?' He looked for a moment as if he might question her reasons, but instead he agreed, apparently quite willingly and they went for a drive, as she suggested, along the coast road. It was at Toni's suggestion that they turned on to a deserted layby, lonely and quiet in the moonlight but giving a breathtaking view from its breezy height. For several seconds she stood at the edge of the cliff looking down at the sea and pondering on why she was suddenly so restless. Her face was cooled by a soft refreshing inshore breeze that brought the tang of salt and seaweed with it and lifted her hair from her neck to blow in stinging strands across her face. It was peaceful and quiet, save for the shush of the breakers with not even the cries of the gulls to disturb it. To their left the lights of Methrian were cupped in the hollow of the rocks and to their right the darker, less . populated coastline towards Trawley Cove sprawled off into the night; Standing close beside her, Peter lit a cigarette. He was puzzled, she thought, but not so much as to make an issue of her request to leave, and after a second or two she turned and smiled at him, making a face that was half apologetic.

'I'm sorry, Peter—I hope I didn't spoil your evening by asking to leave.' His grey eyes had a deep luminous darkness in the moonlight, and he smiled briefly as he shook his head. 'We'd had dinner, if you felt like leaving I didn't mind.' She tried to read something, anything, in his face from the shadow of her lashes, but found nothing. 'I'm out of practice for town life after more than a month at Pentycawl!' Peter examined the tip of his cigarette, silent for a second as if the study absorbed him completely. 'I wondered if seeing Jake had put you out of humour,' he said, and she made no attempt to deny it, but laughed rather uneasily. 'Does he bother you so much, Toni?' His quiet voice might have been taken for matter-of- fact, being low and slightly flattened by the night air, but something about his manner told her how much he wanted to know the answer. Toni looked down at the breakers foaming creamily on the rocks below and when she shook her head it was merely by instinct. 'Jake doesn't bother me,' she denied. 'I just felt like a moonlight drive, that's all.' She looked at him over one shoulder, her green eyes faintly challenging, like the tilt of her chin. 'Although I feel pretty much the same about Jake as you do about Audrey—I feel he's keeping an eye on me and I don't much like the feeling!' 'You feel that?' She gave that small uneasy laugh again. 'Oh, I'm probably quite wrong—it's more than likely!' He neither concurred nor denied, and she turned again at last and smiled. 'I can never quite get you and Jake into perspective,' she confessed. 'He told me about Tobyn Tregarron, but he didn't explain

how, if Sir Giles was the eldest brother and owned Pentycawl, Jake comes to be the present owner instead of you., It would make more sense to me if you'd inherited it all, surely, since you're the one who's descended from Sir Giles.' She laughed, denying herself the right to an answer. 'You don't have to tell me, of course—I'm simply being inquisitive! Tell me to mind my own business, I shan't mind, I promise!' 'I shan't do anything of the sort.' He examined the lighted end of the cigarette for a second, thoughtfully, as if he had something on his mind, then he sent it flying over the edge of the cliff into the sea. 'I hope you don't suspect Jake of—villainy, Toni. He came by Pentycawl because he has as strong a sense of family as any of us— Tobyn Tregarron's bad blood never got as far as Jake.' 'You think a lot of him, don't you?' He seemed to find the question somewhat surprising, but he nodded agreement after a second, and went on: 'Pentycawl would have come to me eventually, but several years ago my father made some very unwise investments and lost everything. It wasn't a case of being able to blame anyone else, he simply hadn't any experience where investments were concerned and he gambled and lost.' Toni looked up at him, anxious not to be made too close a confidant, but fearing it was too late now. 'Peter, you don't have to tell me any of this, really.' 'I'd like to—I think it might make you feel differently about Jake. I know you don't—well, not exactly dislike him, but you don't see him in such a good light as most people do, though I can never understand why.' Toni smiled ruefully as she admitted the truth. 'I wish I knew myself!'

'But for Jake we—my family, would have been in a pretty bad way. He offered help, unconditional help, but my father wouldn't hear of that, even though Jake pointed out that he felt he owed a lot more than he could ever repay for the way my parents took him when his own .folks died. What was agreed, however, was that Jake could buy Pentycawl rather than let it go out of the Tregarron family.' 'Oh yes, of course, you're not Tregarron, are you?' Peter seemed not to mind her obvious curiosity and answered her willingly enough. 'The last Tregarron on old Sir Giles' branch of the family is my mother, so in a way with Jake taking it on, it actually restores it to the family name.' 'And you don't mind ?' He did not answer right away and she wondered just how much he did dislike the idea of his autocratic cousin owning the home that had been his family's for over two hundred years. 'No,' he said at last, 'I don't think I mind, Toni. The present arrangement's worked out very well and I'm sure Jake has no regrets —he feels as much for Pentycawl as any of us do.' 'I know that's true!' Peter smiled at last and reached out to put a fairly confident arm about her shoulders. 'Then don't think of him as some kind of an ogre, hmm? I don't like to think of you—disliking him. He isn't nearly as wicked and dangerous as he gives the impression of being.' Toni, with Jake's warning in mind about being kind to his cousin but unable to, as he put it, resist a pretty woman, wondered if Peterknew his cousin quite as well as he thought he did.

CHAPTER FIVE IT was one of the newer students who suggested a barbecue on the beach might be a good idea, and others fell in with the idea enthusiastically. All except Audrey, that is, and she viewed the proposed picnic with as much suspicion as doubt. 'Don't worry, Toni, you won't be a solitary rose among the thorns—a couple of the wives are coming down for the week-end, so you can count on some feminine support!' The instigator of the plan winked at her broadly, and it was obvious that he shared his fellow students' feelings for Audrey. He said no more about it, made no move to encourage her to go, and it was to Toni that Audrey, as usual, turned with her opinion, her flat voice edged with uncertainty. 'It seems such a childish thing for adults to indulge in—I would have thought beach picnics were for teenagers, not grown men! I don't imagine Jake will be going, will he?' That would be the deciding factor, Toni guessed ruefully. If Jake wasn't going Audrey would not consider it worth going either, and he was unlikely to accept the invitation, for he stuck fairly rigidly to his rule of keeping his social life apart from his tutoring duties. 'I imagine Jake will be otherwise engaged,' she guessed, and saw Audrey's swift frown, 'but Peter might come.' 'Of course he will, if you're there!' 'Then why don't you come and complete the party, Audrey?' She ignored the acid reference to Peter's now more open attentiveness, and wished she felt less impatient and more understanding. 'I'm sure you'd enjoy it once you were there, and it's easy enough to change your mind.'

Audrey's pale eyes scanned her face for a second. 'And sit and watch a lot of adults behaving like teenagers? No, thank you, Toni—like Jake, I have other things to do!' Toni doubted if there was much similarity between Jake's plans for the evening in question and Audrey's, but she said nothing about that, merely-shrugged and shook her head. 'It's up to you,' she said.

There was a moon, bright as a silver disc above the gaunt raggedness of the rocks, and the wind was little more than a light breeze that blew in softly off the water to cool bare arms and legs, and fluttered Toni's hair about her neck. A fire had been lit, more for the novelty of it than for the heat it would provide, and to provide a focal point for the gathering. It had settled now into a bright, ruddy glow at its heart, but new, brighter flames licked up from it each time another piece of wood was thrown into it. Toni was barefoot, like most of the others, and wearing a light cotton dress that was scooped low in front and exposed her arms to the cool of the breeze as she sat curled up on the sand, close enough to the fire for its glow to touch her cheeks with warmth, and catch bright little flecks of light in her green eyes. The lingering smell of their barbecued supper still savoured the night air, although the charcoal fire on which it was cooked had long since died, and there was a general air of pleasant lethargy—a suggestion of idyll that no one was prepared to disturb. Peter was beside her, relaxed and casual in slacks and an opennecked shirt with its short sleeves doubled back to expose more of his arms to the night cool. He sat with his long legs pulled up in front of him, and one arm laid lightly across Toni's shoulders and, in

common with some of the others, he was half singing, half humming to himself, as if he hadn't a care in the world. The group of young faces round the fire had an oddly primitive look in the fitful glow of the firelight, aged by the deep-etched lines of moonlight, shadows and fireglow, but placid and satisfied, as if the evening had been well up to expectation. Someone had a guitar, strumming it idly; sometimes producing a recognisable tune, sometimes not, and when a tune emerged, voices joined in for a few moments, to fade again when the solitary musician strummed away into mere scribbles of sound once more. It was Gavin Brant who broke the mood, as if he found the tranquillity and peace too much to bear. He got to his feet suddenly and announced his intention of taking a dip, needing only to take off his shirt to be ready, but Peter sought hastily to deter him—shaking his head and frowning discouragingly. 'You know you can't swim from here, Gavin, it isn't safe, however good you are.' Gavin smiled. For his eighteen years he was exceptionally tall and strong, and almost as .arrogant as his senior tutor sometimes. He stood looking down at Peter, his body bronzed by the firelight, his eyes showing a hint of mockery for such caution. 'Oh, don't worry about me, Peter, I shan't go far enough out to get caught in the whirly! I'll just laze about in the surf for a bit.' 'Gavin, for heaven's sake!' Peter got to his feet, standing beside Toni so that she could sense him tense with anxiety. 'Don't be a fool, you know it isn't safe to go in from here, no matter how well you think you know the water!'

But Gavin's mind was set on going in and, from what she had learned of him in the weeks they had both been at Pentycawl, Toni did not hold much hope for Peter persuading him to change his mind. Jake might have prevailed on him to show more sense, or, in the event of his insisting, ordered him to stay out of the water, but Peter hadn't Jake's force of character, and Gavin knew it as well as anyone. 'Cool it, Peter!' Gavin's smile recognised no other ruling but his own, and the brash Americanism was used deliberately to provoke. 'I've promised to stay well away from the whirly, so you've nothing to worry about. Take it easy, I'm big enough to take care of myself! ' 'Gavin!' With a last defiant smile over his shoulder, Gavin walked off down the beach, his body tall and slim in silhouette against the moonlit sea. He walked straight into the water without hesitation so that to the watchers on shore he seemed to disappear with almost alarming swiftness, as if he had been swallowed by the shimmering waves, and for a moment no one said anything. It was quiet, with only the subdued voices of the few who were as yet unaware of- anything wrong breaking the stillness. Then Toni got to her feet and stood beside Peter and it was suddenly completely quiet. The guitar player stopped his strumming, and one or two others got up too, standing uneasily, as if they were waiting for something to happen. From the beach it wasn't possible to locate the whirlpool, even less easy in the deceptiveness of moonlight than in the daytime. Unless Gavin was very alert, and better able to pinpoint it, the consequences could be tragic.

Jake had been almost brutally forceful in preventing her from swimming there, and he was unlikely to be any less concerned with the safety of his star pupil, so that Toni found herself wishing fervently that he was there to do something about it. 'Peter! I think I can see him!' She pointed to what appeared as no more than a small black dot, shifting on the glittering surface of the water, and Peter squinted his eyes to follow her direction, then nodded. 'It could be him—if so, he's all right for the moment, he's not too far out, though what the hell Jake will say, I daren't think!' Toni glanced up at him hastily. The idea of Jake coming after all was unexpected and, in some curious way, disturbing. 'But I thought -' She shrugged and laughed a little uncertainly. 'I don't know, I thought he'd be off somewhere, with Mrs Casey perhaps. Or whatever Jake does with his evenings! I've certainly never imagined him as the barbecue on the beach type!' Briefly Peter's mouth twitched into a wry smile. 'Another misconception you have about him! He is with Fran, in fact, but he said they might walk down later and see how it was going.' He glanced past her and pulled a face. 'And it looks as if he's kept his word!' Toni turned and looked over her shoulder. The granite cliffs cast huge grey shadows nearly half the width of the little beach and the two figures coming from the shadows side by side had a curiously unreal look. Jake's tall, rangy shape striding along easily, his height exaggerated by the length of his shadow, and Fran Casey beside him with her blonde head shiningly pale in the moonlight. They were a handsome pair, she rather reluctantly allowed, but somewhat awe-inspiring.

Beside her Peter stirred uneasily, then strode off down the beach towards the water, with Toni staring after him, startled by his sudden move. 'I'll go and call that young fool in,' he murmured for her ears alone. 'Jake will go mad if he knows he's gone in swimming!' 'But he can't blame you!' Peter was apparently not prepared to stay and find out; he went to the water's edge and she saw him using his hands to signal, his voice reaching her faintly above the softness of the wind. She turned swiftly when Jake spoke almost immediately behind her, and she saw him frowning at his cousin curiously. His blue eyes were shadowed to the darkness of coals and he looked back narrowly at Toni, a gaze she hastily avoided. 'Is something wrong, Toni?' Fran Casey stuck close to his side, one hand tucked under his left arm, the long slim fingers of her hand curled over his sleeve, and her light eyes looked at Toni with undisguised dislike. She spared barely a glance for Peter, nor was she concerned about anything but holding Jake's attention. 'Gavin went in for a swim.' Jake stared, momentarily startled, then he swore softly under his breath. 'Of all the -Why on earth didn't Peter stop him?' 'He tried!' She felt bound to defend Peter since he was not there to defend himself, and she saw a slight lift in Jake's dark brows as if her response surprised him. 'You can't blame Peter,' she insisted. 'Gavin said he was going swimming and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.'

Jake looked out at the seemingly tranquil ocean watching as his cousin turned to come back, with the slower and obviously reluctant figure of Gavin emerging from the water some distance behind him. There was a tautness about him as he watched them come nearer and he looked at Peter with dark, glittering eyes when he. joined them. 'Gavin took himself off for a swim!' His look challenged Jake to pass any opinion as to who was to blame, and Jake frowned. 'So Toni told me—and you let him go!' The accusation was soft-voiced so that no one but the four of them heard it. Even in the heat of the moment Jake was careful not to pass such personal remarks in front of their students, but even so Toni was stung to retort, though she had no time to voice it. Peter faced him, narrow-eyed and defensive. 'He isn't easy to stop, as you should know—he's got too much stubborn Tregarron blood in him!' Jake apparently saw nothing surprising in the declaration, but Toni blinked in surprise and looked curiously at Peter's face, then at Jake. His hard mouth eased slightly in a matter of seconds, and he reached out to press a hand consolingly on his cousin's arm. 'I'm sorry, Peter—you're right, of course, I can't blame you, but I'll have something to say to that young idiot when he comes in!' A couple of the party went to meet Gavin, obviously intrigued by the unmistakable disapproval of Jake and Peter, but they turned off before he joined the four who stood' waiting for him, and Toni felt a curious little quiver of sensation in her stomach that could, she felt, only be accounted for by that extraordinary statement of Peter's.

It was obvious that the information was new to Fran Casey too, for she was looking from one to the other with unmistakable curiosity and her light eyes narrowed slightly, as if she speculated on possible explanations. Gavin himself seemed quite undeterred by possible recriminations as he joined them, and he shook his dark head like a puppy, showering water over Peter with a faint grin that was possibly a little defensive: 'You young idiot!' Jake was giving him no time to say anything. He looked at him with the kind of steady, disconcerting gaze that Toni was familiar with, a firm tight look about his mouth. Gavin, almost as tall, despite his youth, did not even look slightly shamefaced and there was a hint of smile at the corners of his mouth, a glint of defiance in his eyes. Tregarron blood, Peter had said, and seeing him now it was not hard to believe it. There was a similarity about the two of them, him and Jake, that she had not noticed before, and yet, apart from the fact that both were dark and rather above average height, there were few physical similarities. The semblance was more subtle than that, but it was there. The arrogance and self-confidence and, she realised, their skill with a paintbrush. Yes, Gavin could very well be a Tregarron, but what she found odd was the reason for his being at Pentycawl as an ordinary student, and not a member of the family. Gavin put both hands through his wet black hair and grinned disarmingly. 'I didn't know you were expected to join this shindig, Jake!'

'Obviously, or you'd never have behaved so idiotically! You'd havetoed the line if I'd been here, you young fool, I'd have made sure of that!' Gavin took it to heart, she could see that, although he did his best to disguise the fact. 'But I'm all in one piece, as you can see!' He chuckled and shook his head at Jake's angry frown. 'Don't worry, Jake, you know I can't come to a sticky end—I'm insured!' Jake's reply was a short, harsh laugh that shattered the still quiet, and he looked at Gavin with bright, warning eyes. 'Don't bank on it, my lad—you might get a shock!' Still smiling, and apparently undeterred by the warning, Gavin turned away, and it was as he turned that Toni saw something that made her catch her breath and stare wide-eyed at his departing back. There was only the moonlight and the still flickering light of the fire to see by, but Gavin's skin was not as darkly tanned as Jake's, and it was quite clear to see. High up on his right shoulder-blade was a curious star-shaped mark exactly as she had seen on Jake just a couple of weeks ago, and she knew what Gavin meant by his insurance. Looking up, drawn by some instinct she was unaware of until she met Jake's blue eyes, she realised he had noticed her recognition of the mark of Tregarron and identified another of Tobyn's descendants. No one else had noticed her surprise, it seemed, but Jake was still watching her with that deep, fathomless gaze that brought a sudden wild urgency to her heart beat and she hastily avoided looking at him again. The wind stirred little eddies of sand from the beach and twisted them like miniature whirlwinds across the flames of the fire, so that they flickered anxiously, then died a little. Peter looked at the sea, shimmering like silver in the moonlight and took her arm.

'We'd better pack up now,' he said, 'the tide's coming in.'

There could be any number of reasons, Toni told herself, to account for Gavin Brant having that curious and intriguing mark on his back, but if Jake was to be believed, it meant that he was undoubtedly descended from the disreputable Tobyn, just as Jake himself was, and he could therefore be nothing to do with Peter's side of the family. Just the same it was not a matter she could very well question Peter about, no matter how curious she was, and she could not visualise herself ever having the nerve to broach the subject with Jake. One thing that gave her a curious sense of satisfaction was the fact that Fran Casey had been just as surprised as she was herself to hear Gavin referred to as having Tregarron blood, and by an odd coincidence it was Fran Casey who brought the subject to notice again. Not by mentioning it to Jake, apparently, but by approaching Toni— a move that she found not only unexpected but frankly incredible. It was the following morning as Toni was about to join the other students on the cliff top for a tutorial session. She was late because she had had to go back to her room for something, and as she emerged from the house Fran Casey rode up on the big bay mare she always rode. She looked down at her from the saddle, a tall, impressive figure that was almost regal, and Toni hesitated whether or not to acknowledge her or simply ignore her as she most often did in her own case. 'Miss—Ashley, isn't it?'

She knew her name well enough, Toni thought as she stopped and looked up at her politely. Fran Casey was not the kind of woman who forgot the names of people she disliked. Toni nodded, surprised even to have been acknowledged, let alone addressed by name, and she watched the visitor dismount and drape the rein over one arm before she turned and looked across at her with that light, hard gaze before she spoke again. 'Come around to the end of the house for a moment, will you?' The request took Toni by surprise, but her consent was apparently taken for granted, for she led the horse along the gravel path and round the end of the house, obviously expecting her to follow.. Not quite sure if she could have imagined it, Toni walked more slowly, a slight frown drawing her brows as she followed the tall slim figure in trousers and shirt. 'You want to speak to me, Mrs Casey?' There was no reply, but- once out of sight around the end of the house, the animal was tethered to a convenient railing, and Fran Casey leaned back against the sun-warmed wall of the house, her arms folded across her chest. Her light gaze suggested that she was no more friendly than usual, and there was not even a hint of smile about the thin mouth, so that Toni wondered what on earth was behind such an extraordinary request. Maybe she was finding it difficult to put into words, for she was silent for several moments and Toni suspected she was having difficulty bringing herself to the point of communication. 'You get on pretty well with Peter, don't you? You're—good friends!' 'You could say that we are, yes.' She was still fencing, Toni felt sure, trying to put something into words that did not come easily. 'And I suppose you know all about

him and Jake being cousins?' Toni nodded without saying anything this time. Briefly the light eyes were lowered, as if to seek inspiration from elsewhere. 'He talks to you, of course!' Baffled, Toni frowned at her. 'I don't quite see -' An impatient hand dismissed a possible objection. 'You were there when Peter made that—that incredible remark about that boy having Tregarron blood— what do you know about him?' The question stunned Toni, but no more than the fact that Fran Casey had come seeking her out to ask her, of all people, about something to do with Jake's family, however indirectly it might concern him. 'Well?' Impatience edged the sharp voice, and the light blue eyes had an icy suspicious look, as if she suspected Toni of concealing something. 'What do you know about him?' 'About Gavin?' 'Of course! How old is he, do you know?' Without stopping to reason, Toni answered, still too dazed to object. 'He's—about eighteen, I think.' Fran Casey nodded, as if the information fitted whatever idea she had in mind. 'And?' The voice probed relentlessly, and Toni pulled herself up sharply. 'As it happens, Mrs Casey, I know very little about him, not that I'd discuss one of my fellow students with a stranger, if I did!' She could guess at the tightening of that thin mouth without looking up to see if she was right, and she could sense the angry tension that

held Fran Casey stiff as a ramrod, despite her seemingly casual stance against the house wall. 'And I know that you were as surprised as I was to hear Peter refer to that boy as having Tregarron blood!' Her voice shivered with tension and she looked across at Toni icily. 'I also know that you and Peter are—friendly enough for you to have asked him about it last night after we left the beach.' Toni flushed, looking at her -with bright indignant eyes. Heaven knew why she laid so much store by Gavin being related to Jake and Peter in some way, but she refused to let herself be used as a source of information—-even if she could have told her anything. 'I wouldn't dream of asking Peter personal questions, Mrs Casey, and our relationship is nothing like as—as intimate as you seem to think!' She held that light gaze as steadily as she was able, and her voice sounded oddly breathless when she asked the question. 'If you're so desperate to know who Gavin is, why don't you ask Jake? Surely you're on sufficiently friendly terms with him, aren't you?' 'Are you mad? How could I?' The eyes were not only scornful but malevolent, and Toni was no nearer knowing what answer she was trying to find, 'Jake's the last person I could ask, as you well realise!' Frankly confused, Toni frowned. 'I don't -' 'Tcch!' The blonde head shook impatiently, and Fran left the support of the wall at last to stand with her feet slightly apart, one thumb and forefinger pulling nervously at her lower lip. 'Don't be any more of a little fool than you have to be, girl! You know Jake well enough by now to guess what I'm getting at, you're just being deliberately obtuse!'

'I assure you I'm not, Mrs Casey! I just don't see why Gavin can't simply be a member of another branch of the Tregarron family. Peter has a sister, I know, and perhaps Jake -' 'Jake has no one, he's an only child!' 'Then Peter?' She remembered that betraying mark of the Tregarrons suddenly and blinked. 'No, of course, he doesn't come from Peter's side.' Fran Casey's light eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'You sound very sure about that—why?' Toni spread out her hands helplessly. She had no intention of saying anything on that subject. For one thing, Jake would never forgive her if he thought she was regaling all and sundry with his family history, no matter if he gave the impression of being more proud than ashamed of his disreputable ancestor. 'Why are you so sure?' The distance between them shortened suddenly when she came nearer and Toni told herself she was a fool to feel so nervous. What on earth could Fran Casey do that gave her cause for nervousness? There was a bright glitter of determination in the light blue eyes, but that was no reason for her to react as if she was likely to be attacked. She stood up, more uneasy because she had to look up at the tanned and gauntly good-looking face, and she caught her breath when fingers closed around her arm tightly. 'You know something!' The hard fingers squeezed tighter and there was a menacing softness in her voice. Her eyes scanned Toni's flushed face searchingly, as if she hoped to see the answer there. 'You know that boy is Jake's, don't you? Peter told you!'

'Jake's?' Toni stared at her, her green eyes wide and blank with disbelief. Her heart was thudding wildly at her ribs and she could feel herself shaking like a leaf. 'You—you must be mad!' The stinging blow struck her so hard and so unexpectedly that Toni almost fell, and she stared at Fran Casey's angry face for a full minute before she turned and ran. Whether it was anger or some other, more disturbing emotion that made her shake so much, she did not try to discover, she wanted only to get away from Fran Casey at the moment, and she did not stop to reason.

It was not impossible, of course, Toni told herself for the hundredth time that day. Gavin Brant could be Jake's son, no matter how unwilling she was to believe it, and she was—surprisingly unwilling. Jake must be about thirty-five years old and many men had been fathers at seventeen, it was possible, but somehow she just could not accept it as a fact, yet how could she prove it wrong? Perhaps if she asked Peter, explained her reasons for asking—but' no. It might just prove to be true, and she would feel awful for having prised it out of Peter if it was. All she could do was to try and solve the question some other way, though heaven knew how, and she was not even sure if she wanted to know for sure. An element of doubt gave Jake the benefit, but once she knew for sure she might not like the answer. Peter noticed her more quiet than usual at dinner, and he smiled at her inquiringly as they left the table. He took her hand, a familiarity he allowed himself quite often since he knew his cousin had no objection to his breaking the usual rule about fraternising with the female students.

'What's wrong, Toni?' His strong fingers squeezed hers gently and he smiled down at her encouragingly. 'And don't say nothing, because I've been watching you all day—I know something's bothering you. Won't you tell me what it is?' 'Nothing's bothering me, Peter, really!' She laughed, her eyes teasing him for his solemnity. 'Even I have quiet moments, you know!' They walked across the hall and Peter raised an inquiring brow before leading the way down the steps from the front door. He bent his head over her, almost protectively, it might have been said, and he was still serious. 'Who marked your face this morning, Toni?' She turned startled eyes, her heart thudding, seeking an answer that would satisfy him without the necessity of going into too many details. She had to tell him something, but she could hardly tell him the reason for Fran Casey's furious outburst. She shrugged lightly, as if it was of no importance, but she instinctively put a hand to her cheek and still seemed to feel the stinging force of Fran Casey's palm. 'Oh, I had a slight difference of opinion with Mrs Casey, that's all!' 'With Fran!' He turned her to face him, his brows drawn and a darkness in his grey eyes that boded ill for his cousin's paramour. 'You can't mean that she— that she actually hit you, Toni!' 'Indeed she did!' She laughed, dismissing the subject if she could. 'Oh, it isn't worth bothering about, Peter, really. She's a badtempered woman and she hit out—she's lucky I didn't hit her back!' 'But why? I mean, what possible reason could she have for attacking you like that?' He watched her slightly flushed face for a moment, and she wished she found it easier to look at him, then he slid a hand

beneath her chin and gently raised her face to him. 'Had it anything to do with Jake, Toni? Jake's the only subject I can imagine Fran Casey getting heated enough about to hit somebody!' She avoided a direct answer, as she avoided Peter's eyes, and once more she laughed, a little unsteadily it had to be admitted. 'I more or less told her to mind her own business when she asked me questions about —family things, that I couldn't answer anyway.' She looked up at him briefly, and tried not to show how important it was by the look in her eyes. 'In fact she was asking me which side of the family Gavin Brant belonged to and I told her I didn't know, and didn't consider it was any of my business—or hers.' 'Oh, I see.' It could have been her imagination, but he seemed a little less anxious to probe suddenly. He shook his head and smiled, briefly brushing her lips with his before he spoke again. 'Well; if she should ask again you can tell her he comes about half way— that should confuse her completely!' It would not only confuse Fran Casey, Toni thought, she was confused herself. Peter's answer did nothing to enlighten her about Gavin's identity, but he must belong to Jake's side, she was sure of that much, because of that inescapable mark on his back that branded him as Tobyn Tregarron's descendant—Peter did not have that.

CHAPTER SIX AUDREY had barely another week before she finished her eight weeks' course and it was obvious that leaving Pentycawl, and Jake in particular, was going to be quite an upheaval for her. She was a curiously unsympathetic type of woman, and yet to Toni there was a kind of pathos about her that she felt bound to respond to. As the only other female student, Toni did her best to be nice to her because she felt someone should care a little for such a very square peg in a round hole. She found Audrey's devotion to their tutor oddly touching and nothing like as amusing as her male colleagues seemed to. It was with the idea of making things easier for her, in view of her imminent departure, that Toni suggested she might like to accompany her to Frayley Cove for a swim. Audrey's pale eyes looked at her, more suspicious than grateful, when she suggested it. 'Aren't you off with Peter somewhere? You seem to spend most of your time with him these days.' It was an exaggeration, but Toni ignored it, tucking the towel she carried more securely under her arm rather than betray any sign of impatience. 'I go out with Peter sometimes,' she agreed, 'but not today— would you like to come with me or not, Audrey?' 'I might as well. A walk won't do me any harm, and I expect you'll be glad of the company if Peter's gone off somewhere without you.' It sounded very much as if she was conferring a favour instead of the reverse, but Toni had long since decided that she was incapable of accepting anything with other than bad grace so she refused to let it anger her. The temptation to put her right, however, was irresistible.

'He's driven into Methrian for Jake. But you don't have to come if you'd rather not, Audrey, I don't mind in the least going alone.' 'Oh, no, I'll come!' Toni felt rather mean for having goaded her, but she really was trying sometimes, and she would not have escaped so lightly had she crossed swords with one of the others. She smiled at Audrey, noting the fact that she made no move to collect a swimsuit and towel. 'Do you swim, Audrey?' Audrey shook her head. There was a faint flush on her cheeks and she put one arm across her chest, clasping the other arm in a curiously defensive way, as if she sought to hide the almost gaunt thinness of her body. 'I dislike stripping off in public—though I suppose you consider that rather old-fashioned of me!' Toni felt rather sorry for her, though she dared not let her see it. 'Not at all,' she told her, 'if that's the way you feel. Although Frayley Cove isn't exactly public, you know.' 'Just the same,' Audrey decreed firmly, 'I prefer to just sit on the beach. I can look after your things while you're in the water.' Toni's thoughts were absent as they walked along the cliff path from Pentycawl, remembering the first time she had come that way, with Jake. She had been several times since, with Peter, but somehow that first occasion always came to mind as she walked along that path, with the sea below hitting the rocks in a flurry of creamy spray, and the gulls screeching endlessly in their quarrelsome voices.

Audrey was a silent companion, but it was difficult to know if she was enjoying herself or not, since she never showed any sign of doing so. An old stone wall, half hidden by wild fluffy pink tamarisk, brought her only sign of enthusiasm. Clusters of sea-pinks grew at its base, deceptively delicate in the bright sun, and Audrey suggested that it might make a good subject to paint, but apart from that they said little, and contented themselves with covering the short distance to Frayley Cove in record time. There, was a brisk wind, usually a sign of approaching rain, but the sky was only lightly scattered with clouds and the sun was hot enough to make the skin feel sticky when it combined with the wind. It took them only ten minutes of brisk walking, but by the time they turned off the main cliff path, Toni was thinking longingly of her swim. It was the first time she had needed to go down the steep rocky path without assistance, and for the first time she appreciated how reassuring a strong masculine hand could be when making such a hazardous descent. Not that she said so, for she felt that Audrey would have scorned such an idea as she tackled the rocky path with surprising agility. The little beach was deserted, indeed Toni had never seen it any other than deserted, and she slipped out of her dress with no one but Audrey to frown over the brevity of her costume. 'I won't be long,' she promised, 'although the water looks gorgeous after that walk!' In fact it struck quite cold at first, but once adjusted to the temperature the sensation was as pleasurable as it always was. Turning to look back at the solitary and rather lonely figure on the beach she wished she could have persuaded Audrey to come too for she would surely have enjoyed it.

She waved a hand, but the gesture was barely acknowledged, and shrugging lightly, she turned once more and struck out into deeper water. She swam lazily, revelling in the sun's warmth and the almost sensual pleasure of propelling her body through the resistant swell with long easy strokes of her arms. It was something of a novelty being alone, but at least without company to distract her she could give more time to looking around her. As she looked back at the towering grey cliffs, ragged as granite teeth and enclosing the tiny cove, it seemed an awe inspiring sight; overshadowing, almost threatening and yet with a majestic beauty that was breathtaking. She dived and swam, completely forgetting about the time passing and the solitary figure waiting on the beach, aware only of the pleasure of the moment. Striking back towards shore, she found herself close to where the cliffs curved round to enclose the sunny little cove, coming in close to the overhang, where there was never any beach and the breakers were always endlessly and noisily hurling themselves against the eroding granite. Wary of coming too close for fear of being flung up with the battering breakers, she trod water for a while, trying to decide that the curious echoing sound she thought she heard was not simply her imagination. The breakers frothed and spewed her with spindrift and made it difficult to locate the sound accurately, but she made a guess at the location, then dived under water to see what she could find. The sun on the sea made for quite good visibility, but the grey rock took on a deceptively soft look under water and shimmered into distorting outlines, casting shadows that played tricks on the eyes. The need to return to the surface for air became imperative suddenly, but in that moment she thought she found the source of that strange echoing sound, and determined to follow her discovery to its end, she refilled her lungs and plunged downwards once more.

Her pulse leapt excitedly when, a second after she dived, she pinpointed the spot she was looking for. There was a large hole in the underwater rock formation and its darkness suggested it gave access to a hollow of some sort, perhaps an underwater cave, so that she went towards it with a skipping sense of excitement churning away inside her. The opening was no more than three feet below the water level, making a hasty retreat possible if the need arose. It was about four feet or so across and it yawned before her much closer than she had realised, thanks to the deceptive shimmering effect of the water. The echoing sound that had attracted her to it was louder now too, and her head rang with the volume of it as the sea surged in behind her, carrying her along into semi-darkness. Then suddenly it was quieter, and as she swam upwards, more by instinct than conscious effort, she realised that there was space and air above her head. Surfacing cautiously, she breathed in the slightly musty air, filled with the strangely antiseptic smell of seaweed. She looked around her, treading water in what appeared to be a natural rock pool with shallow sides, and realised she was in some kind of small gloomy cave. The walls rose high all around her which suggested that the tides never completely filled it, and her heart beat fast with the excitement of discovery. Hauling herself out of the water, she pushed back her dripping hair with both hands and stood looking around her, wrinkling her nose at the dank odour of seaweed. The rock floor was cold to her bare feet and she shivered as she walked a little further to the back of the cave, each step making a little slapping echo that followed a fraction of a second behind its source; as if someone was following her. She felt nervous, but not

enough to deter her from exploring at least in the immediate vicinity, and excitement was a far stronger sensation at the moment. The further back she went the darker it became, although there was still a kind of luminosity that stemmed from the sunlight on the water outside. What appeared to be the back of the cave in fact seemed to give access to some kind of tunnel, but it led into such Stygian darkness that she recoiled from it. It was as she turned away that she detected a whiff of distinctly fresh air from somewhere along its length, and even as she hesitated she caught the faint but unmistakable cry of a gull. She hadn't the nerve to search along there, but she took another step, peering into the darkness, and the sound of her own sudden scream startled her almost as much as the sight that caused it. She stood frozen to the spot for a second or two, not daring to look again, until curiosity overcame even the shivering fear that trickled like icewater through her veins. A pile of whitened bones lay at the entrance to the tunnel, and at first her mind raced with remembered tales of shipwrecks and smugglers until, at last, she recognised that there was something curiously misshapen about the skeleton, that was not quite human. A seal! Of course, it must be the skeleton of a seal! Toni all but laughed aloud in her relief, but retreated once more to the main body of the cave, on legs that shook quite alarmingly. Her discovery was proving rather disconcerting, but just the. same she experienced a strange kind of satisfaction at making it. Heaven knew how many more sea creatures had found their way in there, but she liked to think that she was the first human being to set foot in this chill little cavern. She walked around it, marvelling at the freak of nature that had produced such a secret place, and wanting suddenly to share the

discovery with someone. Maybe Peter would come with her next time they came, and they could bring a light of some sort and explore more fully. She spun round suddenly, her heart once more hammering hard in her breast as she stared into the pool. The surface rippled as if disturbed by something below water and she leaned back against the cold damp rock wall, holding her breath, waiting for whatever it was to surface. A wet black head gave her her first clue and strong brown arms, glistening with salt water, propelling the long body to the surface. 'Jake!' She said it without realising she had done so, and watched in a kind of puzzled fascination as he hauled himself out of the pool. Drops of water scattered everywhere as he threw back the thick hair from his forehead and she realised as he stood there on the stone ledge that he was fully dressed except for his shoes, a discovery that caused her to catch her breath when she thought of possible reasons. She thought of Audrey whom she had left back there on the beach and hazarded a guess at what had happened. She should not have been away so long, or else she should have told Audrey of her discovery before going further into it. It was not hard to imagine Audrey, a non-swimmer, panicking when she was gone so long, and she knew she had guessed right when Jake looked at her. Standing barefoot on the cold floor, his clothes soaked through, he eyed her with a much colder, harder gaze than she had yet seen and she almost wished she had drowned. 'What in hell are you playing at?' he demanded without preliminary. 'You came looking for me?' It was obvious, of course, and she should have known it, but in the circumstances she was playing for time while she thought of some

possible means of appeasing him. 'Well, of course I'm looking for you! Good grief, child, Audrey said you'd disappeared from the face of the earth and came racing back to Pentycawl in a panic, to get help!' He looked incredibly menacing in the eerie dimness of the little cave, and Toni found herself shivering, and not altogether because of the chill. His blue eyes looked almost black and they flashed with temper that was barely under control. 'Haven't you any more sense than you were born with, Toni?' 'How was I to know you'd dive in after me fully dressed?' The. old familiar sense of resentment surged up again and she looked at him with bright green eyes, luminescent as the sea in the strange light in the cave. 'How did you know where to find me, anyway?' 'Does it matter?' 'I'm curious, that's all!' His eyes narrowed and Toni felt herself trembling when his big hands clenched tightly at his sides. 'I suppose it was curiosity that brought you in here! Didn't you know there's a gash in the cliff face, near the bottom? When you screamed out just now I'd just arrived with Audrey and I knew where you'd got to as soon as I heard you, though screaming like that, I thought something had happened to you.' 'I found a skeleton.' She turned and indicated her grisly find with a vague wave of her hand. 'Only it was a seal or something I realised, not a man.' 'That's why you screamed?' She nodded, and his sigh of exasperation stirred her resentment once more. 'I sent Audrey to alert the coastguards and dived straight in to find you—my God, Toni, I could break your neck for causing such a—a furore! What do I tell the coastguards when they see you emerge unscathed?'

'How do I know? I didn't ask you to come and rescue me—I'm perfectly all right!' He narrowed his eyes and for a moment she wondered if he was actually going to hit her—he looked quite capable of it. Instead he ran both hands through his black hair in a gesture that she suspected was to keep his hands from the temptation of striking her, and the steady, narrowed gaze of the blue eyes took in the brief costume and the slim shape it barely covered. 'You ungrateful little devil! I've a good mind to put you across my knee!' She looked up at him, half afraid he meant what he said, and shaking her head. 'No, Jake!' He watched her for a moment in the dim watery light of the cave, and she saw the look in his eyes change slowly from harsh, uncompromising anger to something more like the familiar gleam of amusement. Once more he ran his hands carelessly through the thick blackness of his hair and shook his head. Then glancing down at his bare feet and the slacks and shirt that clung wetly to, the tall powerful length of him, he pulled a face. 'In heaven's name, let's go, before the coastguards start searching for the both of us—come on!' Toni hesitated, the idea in her mind of going back alone, denying any need to be rescued, but after only a second's hesitation she squealed in surprise when a large hand slapped her arm roughly and knocked her sideways into the water. Jake followed her in, diving cleanly and coming up beside her, grinning at her as she spluttered indignantly. She bobbed in the pool for several moments, too angry to find words, and then struck out

for the entrance suddenly with Jake close on her heels, her arms working fast and furiously as she headed for the open sea. She surfaced gratefully into the fresh air and took a second to fill her lungs with it before heading for the cove where she had left Audrey. Determined to outpace him, she struck out strongly, even though she knew she had little chance, whether he was swimming partly dressed or not. He was far too powerful for her, and much more practised. He came up close beside her as they neared the shallower water, flinging the hair back from his face in an impatient gesture that scattered rainbow drops in the bright sun, indicating the people standing on the beach. There were only three, including Audrey, but she had never seen the tiny cove look so crowded before. 'Audrey's called out Inshore Rescue,' he said, his voice sounding oddly flattened by the water. 'Are you going to throw me to the lions, Toni?' She looked' at him over her shoulder. The darkly tanned, rugged face glistening with salt water, and blue eyes that held a hint of challenge, and she felt the sudden rapid beat of her heart when she realised he was hoping to save face. She glanced once more at the people on the beach, and she could see Audrey pointing now, anxious and excited because she had spotted Jake's black head. That would be what was most important to her, Toni had no doubt. The man beside her, shading his eyes so that he could see them better, talking and using his arms to wave encouragement. Without a word, she simply stopped swimming and let herself sink down into the water, her eyes closed and her limbs limp and inactive.

'Toni!' Jake's voice reached her, muffled and barely audible as the water closed over her head, and unbelievably anxious. Then suddenly she was hauled to the surface again by strong hands and one hand held her under her chin while the length of his body floated below her. Strongly and confidently, using one arm and his legs to propel them both, he took her with him towards. the beach. It was obvious he had no idea that her sudden collapse was other than genuine, and she made no move to help herself but remained limp and helpless until he touched bottom and swept her up into his arms. Then she opened her eyes and looked up at him, her green eyes bright as jewels in a small face beaded with salt water and remarkably childlike in its mischief. 'You came out to rescue me—go ahead!' His arms held her tightly, her face against the thin wetness of his shirt and she was breathtakingly aware of the firm hardness of the body beneath it and the slash of strong brown throat in the open neck as he looked down at her. The expression in his eyes confused her, for it was neither anger nor amusement, but a bright glittering look that set her pulses racing. 'You little -' He bit off the words tightly with his lips, and the arms about her tightened fiercely. Then he brought his mouth down hard over hers, parting her lips and driving the breath from her, until she seemed to spin away from reality into a world of excitement that was almost too intense to bear. When he raised his head, Toni looked up into his eyes again, but saw only the faintly mocking hint of laughter that was so often there, and as Jake carried her up on to the beach she turned her face

to his chest, closing her eyes briefly, opening them only when someone bent over her solicitously and a richly Cornish voice inquired if she was O.K. 'She'll live!' Jake's cryptic reply roused her to reality and she struggled against the arms that held her, more conscious of curious eyes suddenly. 'I'm all right,' she insisted. 'Let me down, Jake, please.' 'Are 'ee sure, my dear?' The anxious voice questioned her insistence and she smiled at the man reassuringly. 'Oh yes, I'm fine now, thank you.' She felt much more concerned about bringing out the rescue service now than she had initially, and rather undecided about whether or not she should have played that trick on Jake, as it seemed to have been taken seriously by the other men too. 'Lucky Mr Tregarron was down-along so quick and found you!' Toni glanced at Jake through thick wet lashes, and there was a hint of challenge in the tilt of her chin. 'Yes, isn't it?' Jake stood her on her feet, but one arm retained a light hold on her for a moment or two, and she looked around at the kindly but obviously curious faces of the two coastguard men. They no doubt knew all about Jake Tregarron, and that' kiss would have given them quite the wrong impression of the way things were, but there was little she could do about it now. 'I'm sorry you were troubled,' she told them, and smiled at the one closest to her. 'It was entirely my fault, but I'd no idea I was going to cause so much trouble, please believe that!'

Two weathered brown faces beamed forgiveness,- and she knew that her rather naive apology had disarmed them. It was doubtful if they would have been so expansively good-humoured if they had known the truth, and she felt a twinge of conscience for a moment. 'Oh, that's all right, my dear! We're here to help— just happens Mr Tregarron got to 'ee first, but 'tis easy enough for accidents to happen around here, best to be sure.' 'Thank you.' Jake said nothing, except to murmur a few brief thanks before the men left, and it was only then Toni looked for Audrey. Her own dress and sandals, with the towel folded neatly beside them, lay on the sand where she had left them, but of Audrey there was no sign, and it took her a moment or two to connect her absence with that hard, impulse kiss of Jake's. Looking up at the cliff path, she saw a lone figure striding out along the skyline, a thin gaunt shape striding urgently against the background of blue sky, and she bit her lip. Audrey would have hated seeing Jake kiss her like that. A hand on her arm brought her swiftly back to earth and she looked at Jake vaguely for a second before she realised he was handing her the towel. 'You'd better get dressed.' His eyes held hers for a moment, then he too looked up at the rapidly disappearing figure on the cliff-top. 'I wonder if Audrey's being tactful!' 'Oh, Jake!' Toni had not meant to put quite so much reproach into her voice, and she saw one black brow arch swiftly upwards, the blue eyes look at her questioningly. 'You think I'm insensitive about her, Toni?' He shook his head slowly and she thought the regret that showed in his eyes was genuine, despite the hint of hardness about

his mouth. 'I can't be held responsible for every student's emotional welfare, my dear, and, no matter what you think of me, I don't have a conscience about Audrey—there's no reason why I should.' She had known him to be ruthless, but his matter-of- fact acceptance of Audrey's pathetic hero-worship stunned her rather, although it was almost certain Audrey was not the first one to react so intensely to Jake's particularly forceful brand of sex-appeal. She felt a flush of colour in her cheeks when she realised that her own attitude towards him was much the same, except that it took a different form. She suddenly pitied Audrey far more than she ever had before, and as she rubbed the towel vigorously over her hair, her voice was muffled but still quite audible. Maybe she was not making things any better, but she had to say something. 'She's in love with you, Jake!' 'She thinks she is—there's a difference, Toni!' 'Not to Audrey! Doesn't it matter to you that she's sometimes desperately unhappy because Of you?' Maybe she was not being fair, but it was too late to go back now, and Jake was looking at her with straight black brows. 'Yes, of course it matters, I hate to see anyone unhappy! But Audrey's a woman of over thirty, not a child or a young girl, and I'm damned if I'll have you hold me responsible for her unhappiness!' 'I didn't say that!' The blue eyes swept over her scornfully. 'My dear child, you say it with your eyes every time that wretched woman's name crops up!' Toni stood with the towel in her hands, wondering how true that was, and trying to decide whether or not he was really affected by Audrey's adoration. 'Damn it, Toni, I wish she'd chosen Peter as the

object of her hero-worship instead of me, but what do you imagine I can do about it? I can't just—turn her off, it isn't that simple!' He was right, of course, and perhaps she had sounded just a bit too accusing, though she hated to have to climb down. 'I suppose you could be right.' 'Thank you!' She allowed the sarcasm to go unremarked and rubbed her shoulders absently, not looking at him but all too aware that the blue eyes were watching her narrowly. 'Maybe it's as well she's going home in less than a week, then she can get back to normal.' She shrugged uneasily and bent to retrieve her dress, pulling it on over her head before she looked at him again. 'I sometimes feel a bit guilty about her myself.' 'You do?' Jake eyed her narrowly. 'For heaven's sake, why?' The last time had been when he kissed her, she remembered, and once more shrugged her shoulders uneasily. 'I don't really know. It's just that sometimes I feel—a bit conscience-stricken.' 'Like when I kissed you just now?' It was too close to the truth and Toni gazed at him for a minute with wide eyes, wishing he had not picked up her train of thought so accurately. Then she bent suddenly and slid damp feet into her sandals, pulling on the sling-backs with fingers that were not quite steady. Straightening up again she shook sand from the towel and carefully folded it, and all the time Jake stood watching her. 'Oh, for God's sake, Toni! I didn't even remember Audrey was anywhere near when I kissed you! Are you suggesting that we should both feel conscience- stricken because I acted on an impulse? You had me worried, playing such a trick on me and pretending to

pass out like that! I was so mad I had to do something —either kiss you or throw you back into the ocean— it seems I made the wrong choice!' 'Jake -' He reached out suddenly and snatched the towel from her, stripping off his shirt and rubbing vigorously at his arms and chest, and Toni watched him from the cover of her thick lashes. A brief glimpse of that intriguing mark of Tregarron on his shoulder reminded her of Gavin, and Fran Casey's astounding charge that he was Jake's son. It was something that came into her mind with dismaying regularity lately, and she wished she could decide whether or not to believe it, or, if she did, why it should matter so much. There was a stunning and vigorous masculinity about Jake that most women would find attractive, and it might always have been so—maybe at seventeen he had already been a strong and forceful personality with that irresistible male arrogance that Gavin's mother, whoever she was, had been unable to resist. 'See if you can find my shoes, will you? They should be around here somewhere!' Toni looked startled for a second, brought so abruptly out of her reverie, and he looked at her curiously when she stared at him. 'Oh—oh yes, where -' It did not occur to her to question the peremptory tone he used, nor the brusque way he told her to find his shoes for him, but she recovered her wits sufficiently to cast him a swift, half defiant glance before she looked for them. A pair of slip-on casuals lay on their sides, scattered untidily where Jake had kicked them off in such a hurry to come and find her, and

Toni brought them back to him and handed them over without a word. It was curious and infinitely disturbing, the effect his moods could have on her, and she looked at him with a hint of reproach in the softness of her mouth. She was quite unprepared for the sudden light pressure of his mouth on hers, and her breath caught in her throat with a sound like a sigh, but when she looked up at him a second later he was casually shaking sand from his shoes and did not even smile. It Was merely an idle gesture, she thought ruefully, something he did, often without realising he was doing it, and she only wished she could accept his kisses with the same casual equanimity with which he gave them. 'Are you always so—liberal with your kisses?' He looked round at her briefly, one black brow raised, and she thought there was a hint of mockery in his eyes before he went back to emptying his shoes. 'Not always—no!' She supposed she could simply have walked off and gone back to Pentycawl alone, as Audrey had done, but she didn't. Instead, she waited while he put on his shoes and rolled up the towel before he tucked it under his arm, his wet shirt hanging limply from one finger. Looking up, she saw that mocking gleam still in his eyes and he held out one large hand in invitation to her. 'Come on, little 'un, let's go back before Peter comes looking for us too!'

Peter had heard the story by the time they went in to lunch and, although he said nothing during the meal, he caught up with Toni as soon as it was over, looking far more anxious than the exploit

merited. Taking her hand in his, he searched her face for signs of her ordeal, shaking his head when he saw none. 'What happened, Toni? I couldn't believe it when I heard! The coastguards called out, and Jake diving in fully clothed to pull you out! What on earth happened?' It could only have been Audrey who had started the tale, Toni thought, for even by the time she and Jake got back to Pentycawl rumour was rife, and she wondered just how explicit her explanation had been. Jake had gone off to change, leaving her to face the inevitable questions, but giving her a broad wink as he walked off, still carrying his wet shirt on the end of one finger. She smiled at Peter, hastily seeking some half truth that would not be a complete lie, and yet would give him some idea of what had happened. 'It wasn't anything very dramatic, Peter, really. Rather a storm in a tea-cup, in fact. You know how people exaggerate!' He took her arm as they walked across the lawn at the back of the house, a familiarity he had indulged in with more frequency lately, and she sensed his determination to find out the whole story. His strength of will was something that had surprised her at first, but if one looked closely there were quite a number of characteristics that he shared with Jake. 'Audrey says you almost drowned, and Jake saved you—is that right?' Toni hesitated. Her pride wanted her to tell him that she had in fact never been in any danger that she was aware of, but on the other hand she hated to make Jake's impulsive dash to her rescue appear other than as gallant as he had intended it to be. Though heaven

knew why she should be so anxious to shield an already very healthy ego. 'It's partly right.' 'Only partly? Did Jake rescue you?' 'He heard me scream. I was in a little cave I found below the water line, and he came down for me. It was Audrey who started the panic by thinking I was missing.' 'She ran up here for Jake, didn't she? I wasn't around, or I'd have been there instead, although Jake does know more about these underwater rocks than I do, I have to admit. He's like a seal in the water!' 'He knew about the one I found, obviously, he came straight there. Apparently there's an outlet of some sort in the cliff face and it's possible to hear sounds from under the rock—like me screaming.' Once more the anxious grey eyes scanned her face, seeking evidence of hurt. 'Why, Toni? I mean, what made you scream? Were you hurt or trapped?' 'I—I found a skeleton.' She looked rather shamefaced and Peter stared at her for a moment in disbelief. 'Good God! Does Jake know about that?' She was smiling and shaking her head, remembering how she had been fooled by those whitened bones in the darkness of the tunnel. 'It was only a seal or something,' she confessed, 'but it gave me a bit of a scare when I saw it first.' 'You weren't hurt?'

Toni hesitated once more. She did not want to lie to him and yet she was still reluctant to make Jake's part in the incident appear completely unnecessary. 'I—I was very scared, and I couldn't have tackled that noisy entrance tunnel again on my own.' 'So scared that you fainted before you could get ashore.' He looked down at her earnestly and the hand on her arm tightened its hold suddenly. 'I wish you wouldn't go off-like that on your own, Toni, I'm afraid of what might happen to you. It was sheer chance that Audrey was with you and had enough sense to realise how long you'd been gone. Otherwise you might have been there and no one any the wiser until it was too late.' 'I suppose so.' 'Then promise me you won't do it again?' Jake had extracted no such promise from her, but then Jake had probably had other things on his mind. 'But I like swimming.' Peter's firm fingers squeezed on her arm again. 'Yes, I know, my dear, but don't go alone, please.' She smiled up at him, trying to erase the seriousness from his face and bring a smile to the grey eyes again. 'I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, Peter, honestly, but I won't go alone, I promise. I'll wait until either you or Jake is free to go with me—how's that?' He didn't smile, he frowned, and she realised too late why it was, when he recalled her last few words. 'I'd rather you waited for me,' he told her quietly. 'Jake has quite enough with Fran Casey and poor old Audrey, he doesn't need you to swell the ranks of his harem, my dear.' Toni realised suddenly that all the time she had been with Jake on the beach she had not given Fran Casey a thought, and she wished

she did not dislike the idea so much of being reminded about her. Peter was quite right when he said that Jake had quite enough to keep him occupied with Fran Casey and Audrey, although it was doubtful if he spared much thought for Audrey. 'Poor Audrey!' She remembered Jake's not quite callous dismissal of her, and felt even more sorry for her. 'She's so much in love with Jake and he doesn't even know she's alive.' 'He knows,' Peter argued gently, and the hand on her arm was suddenly around her waist, pulling her closer against him as they walked beyond the boundary of the shrubbery and out of sight of the house. 'He feels sorry for her, Toni, but there's nothing Jake or anyone else can do about women like Audrey.' 'I suppose not.' Her heart was hammering away at her side, almost as if in warning, and she found herself praying that Peter was hot going to make some kind of declaration, for she was quite unready to cope with it at the moment. The inshore wind whipped about them as they passed on to the seaward side of the shrubs, and Peter smiled down at her, a little warily she thought. 'I'm really not very concerned with Audrey's problems at the moment, Toni, I'm more concerned with my own.' If she could have slipped away from him without appearing to deliberately evade him, she would have done so, but his arm was firm about her waist and his head bowed over her. She knew that if she looked up she would see warmth in the grey eyes that was too appealing to be lightly ignored, and she felt her heart rapidly increase its beat until she was breathless.

'Toni.' He brought them to a halt and for a second contented himself with simply looking down at her, her hands in his. 'You know how I feel about you, don't you, Toni?' It was hard to look at him and not feel something, and she shook her head slowly. 'I—I wish you wouldn't —not yet, Peter. I'm too unsure.' 'Of me?' He smiled, a curious twitch of movement at one corner of his mouth. 'I know you can't be unsure of my feelings, Toni—I've been falling in love with you ever since you came here.' He laughed a little uncertainly, because it wasn't in his nature to take anything like falling in love as lightly as his cousin did. 'Even Jake's noticed it!' Toni recalled Jake's threat, there was no other word for it. That if she did anything to hurt his cousin, she would have to answer to him, but he had done little since then to treat her as if he considered Peter had any kind of claim to her affections. She said nothing for several moments, but she looked down at their clasped hands, seeking words that would let him know how she felt without being too hurtful. There seemed no way it could be said. 'I—I like you a lot, Peter, I have done ever since I came here, but -' 'But!' He echoed the word ruefully, and when she chanced an upward glance she saw that his mouth was smiling, though not his eyes. 'Have I spoken out of turn, Toni? Have I spoiled everything by being too impatient?' 'Oh, no, it isn't that!' He frowned over her denial, and the fingers holding hers were so tight about hers that she winced and tried to free them. 'Oh now, Toni! Don't tell me that you've —oh no, not you too! Tell me you haven't fallen for Jake!'

Her laugh had a curiously hollow sound, but she was sure she was telling the truth when she denied it. 'Good heavens, Peter, give me credit for a bit more sense than that!' 'Of course, I'm sorry.' He gazed at her for a second longer, then drew her into his arms, holding her lightly, and with none of Jake's fiercely aggressive force. He bent his head, his grey eyes casting swiftly over her face before his mouth touched hers, and she closed her eyes, trying to respond as she had to Jake. She put her arms up around his neck and his mouth pressed more firmly over hers, his arms drawing her closer, eager and persuasive. The gulls screamed and chortled over the sea and swooped on the warm thermals that took them high over their heads, but there was nothing else the same as when Jake had kissed her, and Toni wished with all her heart it wasn't so.

CHAPTER SEVEN IT seemed almost symbolic that the day Audrey was to leave Pentycawl and go home it should be wet and stormy, and while Toni bathed and dressed she imagined how she must be feeling. Her eight weeks' stay could have been so much happier if only she had simply made an effort to make it so. Toni grimaced ruefully at her reflection while she brushed her hair, wishing there had been some way she could have helped. If only Audrey could have been persuaded to make her adoration of their tutor less obvious she would have given her fellow students no cause for amusement and her stay would have been much happier. Well, it was over now, and it was because she wanted to make a last gesture of friendship that Toni had bought her a small gift. Nothing elaborate, but something she felt Audrey would like, and which she planned to give to her before they went down to breakfast. She went across and peered round the edge of her door, both ways along the landing, to make sure there was no one else about before she went along to Audrey's room. The carpeted landing deadened her footsteps, and she rapped only lightly on Audrey's door—no need to let the others know what she had done, they just would riot understand. There was no reply to her knock; more, there was no sound of movement at all, only a silence so complete that it suggested an empty room, and Toni frowned. It was not like Audrey to go down to breakfast quite so early. She tapped again and bent her head to listen. There was still no sound from the other side of the door, and she stood for a moment while some instinct fluttered a warning finger of coldness along her spine as she pressed her ear to the wood panel. Uneasy without really knowing why, except that Audrey had so hated the idea of leaving Pentycawl—and Jake.

With a hand on the door handle she rapped again, louder and more insistently. 'Audrey? Audrey, are you there?' She clutched the small package she carried and hesitated, unsure what she should do, then she rapped again, much harder, so that there could be no doubt she would be heard, if Audrey was there. Turning the handle, she hesitated before pushing the door open and putting her head round the edge, feeling horribly obtrusive as she looked around the room. It was much the same as her own room, and there was nothing at all to suggest cause for concern. Audrey was not there, but the unmade bed had been tidily concealed with the throw-over cover, and a couple of suitcases stood side by side just inside the door. Toni stepped back and carefully closed the door, and somewhere along the landing another door opened and closed, and she sensed eyes watching her even before she turned. 'Toni? Is something the matter?' She turned to Jake uncertainly and looking rather sheepish. She dared not even think what he would do if she involved him in another wild goose chase, and she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before she spoke. 'Good morning, Jake. I was looking for Audrey, but she isn't in her room.' A steady gaze questioned her obvious concern and it was evident he did not understand it. 'Well then, perhaps she's already gone down to breakfast—have you thought of that?' It should have been easy enough to accept the seeming logic of what he said, but a niggle of uncertainty still persisted and she doubted if

Jake would see cause for anxiety. She glanced at the door of the empty room and shrugged uneasily. 'I suppose so,' she said, 'but -' The doubt was clear in her eyes when she looked up at him and she saw his quick frown of impatience. 'Jake, I—I have a feeling that something isn't quite right here. I can't explain, I just feel it, that's all. It isn't like Audrey to go down early, she usually comes down after I do, and I was early this morning.' Jake's rugged features softened into a smile, although there was a suggestion of the familiar mockery in his eyes as he shook his head at her. 'Oh, come on, Toni! You haven't become so Cornish that you think yourself psychic, surely! There's no need to start a panic just because Audrey isn't in her room—she probably decided on an early breakfast so that she could start early for home.' 'And if she isn't downstairs?' Jake frowned. 'Find out first, little one, before you set up a hare like that! You're making a mountain out of a molehill and you know it— nothing's happened to Audrey, how could it?' 'Oh, you're as bad as the rest! You'll be glad when Audrey's gone!' A quizzical brow questioned her own feelings, and she hastily avoided his eyes. 'Won't you?' 'I—suppose so,' she admitted, but was swift to add, 'but at least I care a little about how she feels, and so should you!' Jake said nothing for several seconds, then he shook his head slowly. 'We've been over all that, Toni, and you won't succeed in making any more impression on my conscience, I promise you.' She looked up at him reproachfully, then down again at the package in her hand. She had wanted to catch Audrey before she went

downstairs, but there was no chance of that now and she was rather at a loss to know what to do about it. 'You bought her a parting gift?' She felt the colour in her cheeks, prepared to defend her motives. 'I wanted to—I thought I'd like to give her something to remember.' He recognised the hint of defensiveness with a faint smile, and, reaching out, he cupped her solemn face in one hand while the blue eyes fastened their gaze on her mouth. 'Do you think she'll need to be reminded, Toni?' His meaning was clear, and her eyes reproached him for it when she looked up at him. 'I wanted to let her know, somehow, that someone noticed her going. It seemed so—so heartless to let her just go home without even the usual farewell drink.' 'Oh, Toni!' He bent his head and pressed his mouth lightly over hers and he was smiling when he looked at her again. 'You're such a confusing little mix-up of emotions, I never quite know what to make of you.' 'I don't see how you can say that!' 'Don't you?' He studied her for a moment with a slow, searching gaze that stirred her pulses into urgent response without her being able to do a thing about it. 'I wonder if you'd be so anxious if you discovered I was missing one morning—or Peter, for that matter.' Toni felt very small suddenly, standing there on the quiet landing with him, and at any moment someone might come out from one of the other rooms and see them—put their own construction on what they saw.

When she looked up at him for a moment he noticed how childlike her small face looked with its huge eyes and slightly tremulous mouth. 'I wouldn't need to worry about you, Jake. You're not lonely and—and unhappy like Audrey.' A slightly sardonic smile tugged at his wide mouth for a moment. 'If you say so, little one! But before we start mourning her, I suggest we find out first whether she is missing! If she's having breakfast, as I'm almost certain she is, then we'll join her and I'll say no more about it.' He slid a large hand under her arm and pressed her to his side for a moment, .scanning her face with a faintly mocking gaze. He was so sure they would find Audrey downstairs and Toni was only too willing to be convinced. There was no one in the dining-room. The table was laid with a snowy white cloth and gleaming silver, but there was no sign of anyone breakfasting, and Toni's heart skipped urgently. The big room had a curiously chill feeling, with the wind buffeting the windows like someone beating to get in, and the rain rattling like gravel against the panes. Toni looked up at Jake, her eyes wide and questioning, and she saw his mouth tighten. 'It seems you might be right!' He turned suddenly and strode back across the room. 'I'll check the sitting-room!' He came back moments later with a darker, more serious look in his eyes and Toni looked at him anxiously. 'She isn't there?' He shook his head impatiently as he came across the room and she caught her breath when he gripped her arms tightly. 'Toni, did she say anything about—going out for a walk this morning? About— taking a last look at the sea or something like that?' He glanced over her head at the grey skies and the hard driving rain outside, and

dismissed his own question impatiently. 'Oh, no one's fool enough to go walking in this!' 'She wouldn't, I'm sure of it.' 'There's got to be a simple answer, we're probably chasing shadows, Toni, and if you've -' He ran one hand through his hair. 'Oh damn it, you've got me believing that something's happened to the wretched woman! Toni, you share a bathroom with her, are you sure she isn't there?' It was clutching at straws, and now that she had him believing that Audrey really was missing, she almost hoped she was, for he would be furiously angry with her for starting the hunt if it all proved unnecessary. 'I know she wasn't in there,, because I was in there myself only just before I went along to her room.' 'Oh, damn the woman!' His vehemence startled her, and she looked at the strong dark face uncertainly. The fact that today was Audrey's last day at Pentycawl was, she felt certain, the biggest factor to be considered if Audrey was missing, but she was not sure how to say so to Jake. 'She—she didn't want to leave today, Jake.' 'Do you think I haven't thought of that?' He shook his head, as if to clear it, then looked at her and half- smiled as he curled his strong fingers around her arms again, his thumbs moving slowly over her soft skin, unconscious of what he was doing. 'I'm sorry, Toni, I shouldn't bark at you, but someone like Audrey can cause such a heck of a lot of trouble! I'm always saying I won't take female students again, they're far more bother than the men!'

'Thank you!' Jake laughed shortly and shook his head. 'Oh, don't think you're exempt, little one! You just help to prove my point!' The door opening suddenly made them both turn sharply, and Toni almost unconsciously registered Peter's frown of dislike when he saw how Jake's hands were holding her, but Jake did nothing about it and she was loath to make too obvious an evasion. 'Jake!' Peter's voice was short and flat and he delivered his message with a curious jerkiness that suggested nervousness. 'Jan Barkwyth's been on the phone —one of his boats was taken this morning and broken up on the rocks at Trawley Point. He wants you to go to the hospital in Methrian and identify the woman they've got there— she's still unconscious.' The cold little niggle in Toni's stomach became a chilling certainty suddenly and she looked at Jake with her hands tightly rolled, her nails digging into her palms. 'Jake -' He nodded, one hand running through his hair. 'In God's name, why?' Peter shook his head, all his sympathies with Jake, despite that initial frown of dislike. 'It has to be Audrey Blain, of course, doesn't it?' Jake nodded. 'Toni was concerned about her—she couldn't find her in her room, and I thought she was making a fuss about nothing, but she wasn't down here either. It never occurred to me that she was likely to do anything so damned silly as this!' 'She's pretty bad, apparently, and the hospital have no idea yet who she is, but when she was brought in she was rambling, saying the name Jake over and over, and the hospital people thought it might

be her own name. Jan Barkwyth brought her in and called the ambulance and it was he who put the hospital on to another track. He said she might be from the school, and offered to ring here to find out if we were anyone missing—it just has to be Audrey!' He looked at his cousin almost apologetically. 'You'll go and make sure, Jake?' Toni watched him, her eyes huge in the small paleness of her face, and she did not see how he could refuse. 'Yes, of Course I'll go, what else can I do? But I'll take Toni with me!' 'Toni?' Peter frowned. 'Is that necessary, Jake?' 'I think so!' Possible arguments were summarily dismissed and he looked at Toni. 'You'll be ready by the time I get the car, Toni?' She nodded. If the woman in the hospital was Audrey, Toni was probably the only one who fully understood her reason for making that pathetically futile gesture. Twice Jake had gone to Toni's rescue; once when she was becalmed with Peter in his boat, and again when she discovered the underwater cave. Neither time had she been in danger, but Audrey's object was obvious. However foolhardy she might be, Toni felt a profound pity for her in her last desperate attempt to attract Jake's attention to her. 'I'll be ready.' She looked again at Peter and saw that he was still frowning. 'I'm the nearest she has to a friend here, Peter, I'd want to see her even if Jake hadn't asked me to go with him.' 'I know.' Jake was already gone and she looked after him, anxious not to delay, but it was difficult when Peter seemed bent on keeping her there. 'But do you really want to play chaperone to Jake, Toni? That's all he needs you for, you know—Plaxy Trent could go instead.'

'I want to see Audrey.' She half smiled and pulled a wry face as she looked up at him. 'Me playing chaperone and Jake being chaperoned will be a novel role for both of us, won't it?'

They drove along the coast road through pouring rain and with the wind snatching at the car as if it would hurl it over the cliffs on to the breakers below. There was something wildly exciting about a storm on this ruggedly beautiful coast, but it was less exciting to think of Audrey venturing out into it in a small boat, and she glanced at Jake more than once as he drove in silence. There was an unfamiliar air of apprehension about him that was quite out of character for him, and she wished she could say something to ease the tension that kept his lean body taut in the seat beside her, and the strong hands white-boned on the steering wheel. 'You're worried about Audrey?' She ventured the question as they drove down the steep cobbled road into Methrian, and Jake glanced briefly over his shoulder at her. 'You'll no doubt find it characteristically selfish of me if I tell you that I'm as much concerned about my part in this situation as I am about poor old Audrey. I'm damned if I know how it's going to end, Toni, and I feel somehow responsible, even though I'm not.' 'Of course you're not!' A brief smile flickered across the rugged features and he shook his head as he turned the car into the car park of Methrian General Hospital. He switched off the engine and half turned in his seat to look at her, one hand rubbing absently at his chin and a dark, troubled look in the depth of the blue eyes.

'Then can you tell me how I'm going to—disown Audrey without making the wretched woman even more miserable than she is already?' It wasn't going to be easy, she could see that, and there was no more doubt in her own mind than apparently was in Jake's, as to the cause of Audrey's stupid venture, but she felt bound to seek some other reason. 'You—you have no doubt why she did it?' The blue eyes raked swiftly over her face, suddenly flushed and half turned away, and he narrowed them slightly. 'You think I'm being conceited again, Toni?' 'Oh no—no, of course not!' She used her hands in a small and oddly helpless gesture as she sought for words to explain. 'I just thought perhaps there might be——' 'A way out?' He smiled ruefully, reaching out to curve one hand to her face, the hard palm warm against her cheek. 'There isn't one, Toni. Somehow I have to make sense out of this mess and I'm depending on you to help me do it. You know Audrey better than anyone else at Pentycawl, and somehow she has to be convinced that—well, you put it into words! You tell me what I can say to her and I'll try and get it across as best I can.' He leaned across and pressed his mouth lightly over hers, his breath warm on her lips. 'I'm sorry, little one, but I need you.' 'If she's—if it is Audrey, and she's able to talk, couldn't I—help, Jake?' 'Help?' One long finger lightly brushed back a strand of hair from her brow and she hastily suppressed the shiver of sensation that it caused. 'I don't want to involve you any more than I can help, Toni, it isn't really your problem, although I would welcome your help.'

'Then, if it is Audrey, let me talk to her when she's able. I—I might be able to do some thing.' He studied her gravely for a moment, then leaned across once more and lightly touched her mouth with his. 'We'll see, little one.' The ward Sister welcomed them gravely, but it was plain from her expression that she could not quite decide what connection they had with her patient, until Jake explained. The shrewd eyes narrowed in realisation and she nodded. 'Ah, now I understand, Mr Tregarron—the patient is a student of yours!' 'If your patient is Miss Blain. Miss Ashley is a fellow student and I asked her to come with me because she was closer to Miss Blain than anyone else in the group. She can identify her as easily as I could and her presence might perhaps -' 'I understand, Mr Tregarron!' The rather severe features showed sufficient comprehension to suggest the Sister knew exactly how often women became infatuated with him. A brief smile in Toni's direction recognised her existence for the first time, and she reached for a buzzer on her desk. 'I'll get one of my nurses to take you along there, Miss Ashley. The patient is still unconscious, although I believe she showed signs of coming round just before you arrived.' Toni glanced from one to the other, her final appeal to Jake, and his blue eyes quizzed her for a moment. 'I'll come with you, Toni, I can't lay all this at your feet.' 'No!' She flicked a glance at the Sister's frankly curious face and shook her head. 'There's no need, Jake, I can see her, honestly, I'll be fine.'

His eyes watched her, darkly serious, and she smiled as reassuringly as she knew how! 'You're sure?' 'I'm sure! If it is Audrey and she's come round, she might be glad to see me.' They both knew Audrey, if she had come round, would far rather find Jake at her bedside, but neither said it, and the Sister took matters firmly into her own capable hands. 'Oh, I'm quite sure Miss Ashley's cap- - able of identifying her friend, Mr Tregarron! Nurse will show you the way, Miss Ashley.' A stiffly polite smile dismissed Toni from the tiny office, and she did not even look back to see how Jake was taking to such a determined attempt to dictate matters, though she sensed his eyes following her as she followed the nurse along the corridor to a small side ward. The patient was conscious and it was Audrey, though Toni barely recognised her at first. A pale face was turned swiftly towards the door when they came in, and lowered lids briefly concealed the look of disappointment in her light eyes. While the nurse stood by, smiling encouragement, Toni walked across to the bed. 'Audrey?' It was a second or two before the pale bruised face turned to her again and there was a blank- ness in the eyes that made Toni shudder. 'Audrey, how are you feeling now?' Her lips were bruised too, and her plainness was even more apparent against the snowy hospital pillows, with her straight hair limp and dank from the effect of too much sea-water. She looked dull and even less prepossessing than normal, and Toni was shocked at the sight of her—shocked and torn with pity. 'Jake? Is Jake here?'

It was hard not to be affected by the thread of hope in the husky voice, and Toni hated having to shake her head. 'He drove me to the hospital, but he's with the Sister. He's—he's shattered by all this, Audrey, but he -' 'He wouldn't even come in and see me!' 'But he couldn't—don't you see that?' The pale eyes looked at her dully and Toni thanked heaven that at least she seemed perfectly lucid, even though she had obviously been badly shaken by her ordeal and was lucky to be alive. It was clear, however, that she did not understand the implications of her actions where Jake was concerned, and her brows were drawn as she slowly shook her head. 'He doesn't want to see me, does he? I—embarrass him.' It was the truth, and Toni felt some kind of relief that she realised it, but it did nothing to make her own task any less hurtful. 'It isn't you personally who embarrasses him, Audrey, it's -' She sought words desperately. 'You know how well known Jake is, and the kind of reputation he has with -' Hastily she rephrased her answer, but she knew Audrey was perfectly well aware of her meaning. Toni looked down at her hands, unable to bear the look in those pale eyes. 'Can you imagine what the newspapers would make of this?' 'The press? But why would they be interested in anyone as—as unimportant as me? I'm not news!' Audrey was no longer looking at her, and Toni realised with a start that she actually believed her pathetic little charade had gone undetected for what it really was. Gently she touched one of the limp hands. 'It's why you did it that will interest them, Audrey— didn't you realise that? Jake's—affairs are news.'

'Oh, my God!' Audrey turned away her head, and the depth of her despair was stark in the flat, toneless voice. The young nurse still hovered and Toni glanced at her. 'I—I'd like some time to talk to my friend, nurse, could I have a few minutes alone with her?' The nurse withdrew with a rustle of starched skirts, no doubt to report to the Sister, and Toni sat cautiously on the edge of the bed. It was even harder than she expected, trying to talk to Audrey coolly and calmly, when she felt so much like weeping. Audrey's was a lost cause, it had been so from the very beginning, but she thought Audrey had come closer to believing it in the past few minutes. Toni's problem, now, was how to offer comfort without offering hope. Gently she took Audrey's limp cold hands in her own, taking heart from the fact that they were not immediately snatched away. 'Audrey—Audrey, listen to me.'

The rain had stopped and there was even a glimpse of sunshine behind the slowly dispersing clouds, but Toni's heart was too heavy for her to appreciate any such optimism. She had left Audrey, knowing she had disposed of every last hope she had regarding Jake, and she felt emotionally shattered. Audrey had listened, blank-eyed and listless, and yet, income curious way, Toni felt certain she had understood every word and, what was more important, accepted the facts she. heard. Her silent acceptance had been more touching than an outburst of hysterics would have been and Toni had to admire her for it.

She was not lacking in moral courage, no matter if she did behave with quite incredible stupidity occasionally, and there had been no intent to take her own life when she took out that small, unstable boat into the storm, only a single-minded effort to be the object of Jake's concern—just once. She had at last faced the futility of her feelings for Jake, but it had been a harsh awakening, and Toni thought she would never forget the look in her eyes. Toni had said nothing about it to Jake as yet, and he had not questioned her, although she knew that was not from lack of concern. He had asked how Audrey was, but contented himself with the information that she was conscious, when he saw the look on Toni's face. She looked out of the window of the car at the heaving surface of the sea, and the white horses that sped inshore on the still blustery wind, and felt a lump in her throat that made it difficult for her to swallow. The tears that had threatened for so long became a stinging reality at last, and she did not even care whether Jake saw them or not. She was unaware of the swift glance at her face, and the frown that drew his black brows when he saw the great rolling tears that coursed down her cheeks. She did not even turn her head to question his reason for driving on to the grass border beside the road, high above the ocean, and the mournful whine of the wind across the headland was somehow merely an extension of her own emotion. 'Toni!' His voice was little more than a whisper of sound, but she turned to him instinctively and buried her face against his chest as his arms closed around her, drawing her close, until his face nestled in the tawny softness of her hair. His strength helped to ease the ache she felt from holding back her tears for so long, and she let herself cry

like a child while he held her, his big hands gently stroking her hair and the shuddering curve of her shoulder. 'Oh, Toni, I'd no idea you were so upset! Why did you keep it to yourself, you silly girl? You know I'd never have let you go in alone, no matter what that dragon of a Sister said, if I'd any idea it was going to affect you like this! What on earth happened? Was Audrey very bad—did she make a big scene?' 'Oh no, it wasn't like that at all! She was quiet, very quiet and she— she didn't even cry!' 'And you're breaking your heart!' Briefly his lips were pressed to her brow. 'Oh, you're a funny child, Toni! Tell me what did happen, then perhaps you'll feel better about it.' 'I—I talked to her about—I explained that if the press got the story—if they got a hint of why she'd done —what she did -' Her breath caught in her throat and shuddered through her, and she clenched her hands against his chest. 'She just sounded so—so despairing when she realised, and I wished—Oh, Jake, I hurt her, I know I did!' Her words were muffled and shiveringly unsteady, and she clung to him desperately, trying to erase Audrey's resigned, unhappy face from her mind, turning her own face to the steady, reassuring beat of his heart. There was something infinitely comforting about the firm vigour of his body, and the powerful arms that held her so close, that she felt she wanted to stay there for ever. His voice, above her head, was quiet and soft,, each word fluttering her hair with the warmth of his breath. 'Why didn't you let me come with you, little one? I didn't want you upset like this, and you must know I'd never have let you take on the whole wretched business alone if I'd any idea how involved you'd get.'

'I—I didn't really know until—it just happened.' Gently Jake eased her away from him, lifting her face with one hand, looking down at the tear-stained cheeks and the thick wet lashes that concealed her eyes. She avoided looking at him for several moments, then slowly raised her eyes, though no farther than the firm wide mouth. 'I—I think she accepted it at last, but -' She glanced up swiftly at his eyes, holding them for a second before she looked away again. 'She looked so lonely, Jake, so horribly lonely!' 'I know, I know!' He brushed back the tendrils of hair from her forehead with a light caressing finger that sent little shivers of sensation through her. 'But you have nothing to reproach yourself with, Toni—you less than anyone.' She wished she could believe that as wholeheartedly as he seemed to, but she said nothing for a moment, keeping her eyes on the length of brown throat where it emerged from the open neck of a pale blue shirt. One comforting arm still encircled her and she let herself lean against him almost without realising she was doing it. 'You don't have to blame yourself either,' she told him, and he smiled briefly. 'I told you my conscience was clear, do you remember, Toni?' 'Yes—yes, so you did.' She shook her head slowly. 'As Peter says, there isn't much you can do about people like Audrey.' He smiled and the hand' under her chin moved caressingly over her soft skin. 'Peter wasn't very happy about me bringing you with me— what's he going to say when you arrive home with a tear-stained face?' He handed her a big white handkerchief from his pocket. 'Have this and do something about drying those tears.'

She turned her face away, sitting round straight in her seat and dabbing at her eyes with the borrowed handkerchief. She wished he hadn't said that about Peter—it sounded too much as if he was reminding her that Peter had some kind of right to object to his taking her with him, and she did not admit that. 'Peter doesn't interfere in what I do, Jake—he won't say anything about my coming with you.' He reached out once more and turned her face to him, his hand hard and firm under her chin. 'Are you still so blind about him, Toni?' 'No, I'm not.' She looked up at him at last and tried to hold her gaze steady. 'I—I know how Peter feels, Jake, he's told me.' 'But you don't want to know—is that it?' Briefly the old familiar resentment flicked into being again, although she hastily subdued it, and kept her voice steady. 'If Peter can accept that I know my own feelings best, then you'll have to as well, Jake!' 'I see!' 'You must see that I can't—pretend something I don't feel, Jake, any more than you could with -' She bit off the last word and cast a swift look at the rugged dark face that looked down at her. A long gentle finger brushed her wet lashes, and his wide mouth smiled sardonically. 'Any more than I could with Audrey! Touché, little one—but I think I'd better take you home before we get any more deeply involved!' 'Jake -'

He started the engine and cast her a swift, sardonic look from his blue eyes as he put the car into reverse. 'Shh! There's been quite enough said on that subject for one day!'

CHAPTER EIGHT TONI found it increasingly difficult, whenever she was near Gavin Brant, not to look for similarities between him and Jake. There were enough of them to make Fran Casey's furious outburst of indiscretion a possible truth, but Toni had more than once regretted that she had been the one to be burdened with such a discomfiting confidence. She would have been quite happy to remain in ignorance, thinking of Gavin simply as a fellow student who just happened to be a member of the Tregarron family—the thought of his possibly being Jake's son was strangely unsettling. Fran Casey, she suspected, must be in much the same frustrating situation, being unable to find out how true it was without risking a bitter snub, and probably neither of them would ever know the truth. One characteristic Gavin had in common with their tutor was a boldly roving eye, and it had more than once been cast in Toni's direction, when he was sure Peter was not on hand. This morning he knew, as everyone else did, that Peter had driven into Methrian to collect the newest student from the station, and he had inveigled Toni into staying on to talk with him when breakfast was over. His dark eyes had a boldness that belied his youth, and his easy, adept charm was discomfitingly reminiscent of Jake, so that she glanced swiftly up at the portrait of Sir Giles Tregarron and thought once more about his brother Tobyn, and that strange, intriguing mark that branded both Gavin and Jake as his descendants. Toni admitted to finding him quite attractive, although he was three years her junior, but she had never yet been out with him. His reticence in asking her, she guessed, had something to do with the way Peter felt about her. Gavin was shrewd too, he wouldn't have missed that.

This morning, however, he seemed to have fewer qualms about it, and he invited her to go out with him in Jake's boat. Toni stared at him for a moment unbelievingly. 'In—Jake's boat?' 'That's right, will you come?' 'But—does he know?' 'Well, of course he knows, and I'm quite used to handling one of my own, you know!' To her knowledge Jake never let anyone at all handle the sleek powerful launch but himself, although of course in Gavin's case, it Was possible he might make an exception. His dark eyes mocked her cautiousness, and laughter threaded his voice. 'Oh, come on, Toni—what are you dithering tot}' 'Because I find it hard to believe that Jake's given you permission to take his boat! He's so—attached to it that I just can't see him giving anyone else permission to use it unless he's going along too.' 'I told you, I'm used to handling one of my own— Jake knows I'm not an idiot!' His grin had all the impudence of a schoolboy, and his eyes twinkled at her wickedly from below black brows. 'Is it taking out Jake's boat that's bothering you, Toni, or what Peter might say if he thinks you've been out with me?' Peter would not be very happy about it, she knew, but had she really wanted to go with Gavin, it would not have stopped her. 'Why should Peter object to my going out with you for a sail—or whatever it is one does in a power boat?' Gavin's dark gaze quizzed her mockingly. 'Are you serious? You and he are -aren't you?' He used one hand in a curiously fluttering motion, and Toni flushed as she hastily denied it. 'We're friends,' she informed him shortly, 'that's all!'

'Ah-hah!' He was laughing, making it obvious he did not believe her. 'That's an awful old cliché, Toni— we're just good friends—you don't really expect me to believe it, do you?' 'Frankly I don't care whether you believe it or not! But I'd rather not go out in Jake's boat unless I'm sure he approves.' 'Coward!' She glanced hopefully at the door, wishing Plaxy Trent would interrupt them. It must surely be time she cleared away the breakfast dishes and if she came in, Toni could simply slip out and close the conversation. Plaxy, however, seemed in less hurry than usual, and instead Gavin went on watching her with that amused, half mocking glint in his eyes. 'I've no intention of taking chances,' she told him. 'I've been on the receiving end of Jake's temper!' Gavin sat perched on the edge of the table, with a heel hooked into the lower rung of one of the dining- room chairs, and he was eyeing her speculatively, his gaze bright and curious. 'Really? What did he do to you?' Toni remembered Jake's unexpected' appearance in the underwater cave she had discovered, and how he had stood, tall and menacing, on the stone ledge beside the pool. Fully clothed, his clothes dripping water and his eyes dark and angry because she did not need rescuing after all, and had rather ungraciously told him so. He had threatened to put her across his knee then, she recalled, and in retrospect she still believed he meant it. Later, when he had discovered how she had fooled him with that mock faint, his reaction had been startlingly different, and remembering his kiss and her own response to it, she hastily avoided Gavin's curious gaze.'

'He—he didn't actually do anything,' she said. 'Then I don't see why you're so bothered about coming out in his boat with me.' Toni looked down at her hands, clasped together much more tightly than she had realised, and she knew he was still watching her curiously. He must be wondering why she hesitated to accept an invitation that he knew quite well most girls would have accepted willingly. 'I just don't want to—to do anything to make him angry again, that's all, Gavin.' 'I see!' She looked up hastily, puzzled by the tone of his voice. 'You know, I don't believe it's Peter you're bothered about at all, or taking Jake's boat without his say-so. You simply don't want Jake to think you've gone out anywhere with me—that's it, isn't it, Toni?' 'Gavin, I told you -' 'Oh, I know what you told me, but it all boils down to not wanting to come with me because of what Jake might think!' He was laughing and shaking his head, watching her with eyes that glittered more mischievously than maliciously, but were still far too knowing. 'And there was actually a time when I believed you were one female who hadn't been taken in by Jake's sexy image! I even thought you disliked him at one time, and all the time you're—well, well, well!' 'Gavin, will you stop it!' She hated being teased about it, far more than she would have believed possible, and she shook her head firmly. 'I know all about —well, I know Jake's supposed to be devastating where some women are concerned, but I'm not one of them!'

Gavin looked at her flushed cheeks, and the bright defensive look in her eyes, and he shook his head, unconvinced. 'Oh, I think you are, Toni—you're as much under the influence as poor old Audrey was—well, maybe not quite so much, but you're there all right!' 'I'm perfectly normal—I'm not under the—the influence of anything or anybody! Now stop it, Gavin! It just isn't funny!' An elbow rested on his raised knee, and it was amazing how mature and knowledgeable he looked, how much older than his eighteen years. It was realising how young he was that reminded her of the fact that Jake would have been only a year younger when Gavin was born, and she hastily dismissed any such disturbing reminder. Gavin was smiling, a disquieting kind of smile that suggested he knew something she did not. 'Peter is definitely overboard about you,' he told her with certainty, 'but I'm not nearly so sure about you now. I've just remembered something I heard yesterday—about the dramatic rescue bid that Jake made when you got trapped in that cave—remember?' Toni could well imagine what it was he had heard, but she was in no mood to be teased about Jake, and she half turned away from him, her dislike of the situation evident both in her face and her manner. 'I don't want to hear it, Gavin, whatever it is!' The hand he put on her arm was not forceful in its grip, but it served to persuade her, and she stood with her eyes downcast, listening to what he had to say. 'I was talking to one of the lads of the village yesterday. His father's one of the coastguards who turned out to rescue you—it seems Audrey omitted one important detail when she told us about Jake rescuing you from a watery grave, didn't she,. Toni? Does he often go on like that with you?'

It was sheer chance that Gavin should have chatted to someone who was in a position to pass on that particular snatch of gossip, but he would make the most of it. A joke between two young men about the predatory nature of Gavin's tutor, with the informant having no idea that Gavin was related to the man they were discussing— probably with a certain amount of envy. 'If you're referring to the fact that Jake—kissed me, then Audrey wouldn't mention it, would she?' Her own matter-of-factness quite surprised her, for she really hated having that rather special moment becoming the subject of a joke. 'I don't suppose it struck her as relevant to the story.' 'Oh, now, Toni!' His eyes taunted her. 'The fact that Jake kissed you would have been the most relevant part of the story to Audrey, and you know it! The poor soul must have been green with envy, the way she swooned over Jake!' Toni recalled the last time she had seen Audrey, in hospital, her face drawn and pale and her eyes blank with despair, and she recoiled from Gavin's unconscious cruelty. 'You—and the others-—have no idea what agonies poor Audrey went through,' she told him, in a small shaky voice. 'It isn't funny for a woman like Audrey to fall in love with someone like Jake, you know. She was hurt, badly hurt, and I don't find it at all funny—I never did!' Gavin stood up, standing beside her with his tall figure towering over her and a suddenly contrite look in his eyes as he carefully avoided looking at her. 'You always did stand up for her,-' he said, watching his own left foot idly poking the corner of the table leg. 'I thought—we all thought, it was because you were the only other female that you felt bound to stand by her.' 'So it was, in a way.' She wondered if it was possible to make him see how she had felt about Audrey. Pity certainly, and

understanding to some extent, but sometimes impatience-, although she hoped that had not been too obvious. 'I know you—all of you, found her a source of amusement. Oh, I'm not blaming you, Gavin, she wasn't an easy person to get along with, I know, I tried, but she was very unhappy, and she just -' She spread her hands helplessly when words failed her. 'I don't know—I just felt sorry for her. She annoyed me sometimes, and I got impatient with her, but she was always so—vulnerable, where Jake was concerned.' He was still only half serious when he smiled, but she thought she had managed to get home to him at least some idea of what it had been like for Audrey. 'That all sounds very profound,' he told her, 'and I suppose you know what you're talking about.' 'I certainly knew her better than anyone else here did. Maybe because, as you say, I'm another woman.' 'And you liked her?' He sounded as if he found it hard to believe, and Toni hesitated to lie about it. 'Not really—you couldn't call it liking, but neither did I dislike her. I certainly didn't find her amusing.' 'Was it because you felt sorry for her that you went to the hospital with Jake?' For the first time it occurred to Toni to wonder if he, and the others, had any idea just why Audrey had done what she did, and she thought for a moment before she answered him. 'I went because it was easier for Jake if I was there. You know how she was about him and Jake knew too, that was why he asked me to go with him.' He had, in fact, more or less demanded that she go with him, but that was putting too fine a point on it. Gavin flicked a brow. 'Oh, he asked you to go?'

'He had no real need to—I could see what a difficult position he was in. He knew how Audrey felt, but there was nothing he could do about it and you know how people talk. It was much better that I saw her instead.' She thought of all the times she had blamed him for being heartless and conceited, if not in so many words, then by implication, and her defence of him surprised her almost as much as it did Gavin. He looked at her for a moment steadily—the way Jake did sometimes. 'You really do care for him, don't you, Toni?' His voice too reminded her of Jake's, and she hastily shook her head. She had no way of knowing just how close Gavin was to him, and she could not bear the thought of Jake getting even a hint of suspicion of what Gavin had in mind, so she shook her head, though deep down she wondered if she was entirely honest in denying it. 'Gavin, for heaven's sake! I'm not one of Jake's— conquests!' From his expression it was clear he still doubted her. 'If you say so, Toni.' 'I do!' There was a faint flush of colour in her cheeks which was bound to make him wonder, but she shook her head adamantly. 'I've got more sense than that, I hope! From what I've seen of Mrs Fran Casey, and Audrey, being in love with Jake Tregarron isn't a very happy state of mind—I've certainly no intention of becoming just as unhappy!' Gavin looked at her a moment longer, then he laughed and put a casual, friendly arm around her shoulders, pulling her into step beside him as he strode from the dining-room. 'Well, thank heaven for that— I'd hate to think of you mooning about like poor old Audrey!'

That the newest student should turn out to be another young man came as no real surprise to Toni, for she had given up expecting any more female company with the season so far- advanced. Not that she was averse to exclusively male company, but she could not help realising that her being there was bound to inhibit them to some extent. Peter was as attentive as ever, and it was certain by now that Gavin was not the only one openly taking an interest in her attitude towards him. They went out together sometimes, though hardly often enough to call them inseparable, and she preferred not to give the impression of anything definite between them. He had not actually said anything about it when she went swimming with Gavin one evening, but it was fairly obvious that he did not like the idea, and somehow it had deterred her from going again. Jake too, she thought, had not altogether approved, but she could not be sure whether it was because he felt for Peter, or because he had a personal interest in Gavin's welfare. The last thing she wanted to do was cause any suggestion of bad feeling between Gavin and Peter, for if it happened she felt sure Jake would enforce his tentative plans for excluding female students from future courses. It was harder to resist the chance to drive into Truro, however, and when Gavin made the offer to take her one lunch time, she only briefly hesitated. 'Will there be time?' she asked. 'Of course! The afternoon session never gets underway until about half-past two and we'll be back before then.' 'I really would like to go.'

Gavin's broad, friendly grin encouraged her. 'So you said, that's why I offered to take you, and you can't very well turn it down now, can you? We'll leave as soon as we finish this morning, drive there, have a drink and a sandwich in a pub somewhere, a wander round and be back in time for the afternoon session— O.K.?' 'O.K.!' Toni supposed she should have given it more thought, but Gavin's impulsiveness had a way of sweeping one along with it, and she saw no real cause to think they would not be back in time. Jake would probably have discouraged the idea, but as it was he was unlikely to know anything about it until they returned, and she was looking forward to seeing Truro. Lately she sometimes found Jake's manner towards her rather puzzling, for he seemed almost meticulous about treating her exactly the same as he did his male students, and occasionally she found herself resenting it. Heaven knew why, for she had firmly denied that she had any other feeling for him, but that of student for tutor, yet his offhand and purely professional interest somehow aroused the old familiar resentments, as well as a disturbing variety of other, less recognisable emotions. She watched him for several moments, surreptitiously from below her thick lashes, and tried to decide what it was about him that made him such an irresistible force. Light slacks and a cream shirt gave him an almost Latin look that was stunningly attractive, and she felt an uncontrollable surge of response from her senses, as she always did, but the attraction was not merely physical. There was an aura about him that made him different from any other man she had ever met, an ambience that she had been aware of from the beginning and tried so hard to resist.

He was giving his attention to one of the other students at the moment, completely and explicitly, as he always did, and Toni watched the way he used his large, strong hands to illustrate a point, and the concentration expressed in the way his long body bent over him as he explained and guided. He was as skilled a tutor as he was an artist, she realised, and wondered why it had taken her so long to recognise it. She lowered her gaze, hastily and almost- guiltily, when he straightened up suddenly and looked in her direction, as if drawn by the intensity of her study, his blue eyes curious and faintly amused. If only she could have done something about the thudding beat of her heart and the irresistible excitement he caused, simply by looking at her, but it was something she had long since given up trying. Ever since Audrey left, Gavin seemed to have automatically slipped into the habit of taking up a position next to her, whether or not because they were the only two full course students, she was never quite sure, but she found him cheerful company, unlike Audrey. He glanced swiftly across when he saw Jake turn and stroll towards them. 'We're about to be criticised,' he warned. 'The master approaches!' Toni did not look up again, but she laughed a little unsteadily as she tried once more to make the granite rocks in her painting look more like the rugged originals. 'You don't have to worry,' she told him, 'but he's going to have something scathing to say about these cliffs—I never can get them right!' Gavin grinned amiably and winked an eye. 'I shouldn't let it bother you—it's for your own good, and he's never yet managed to completely demoralise anybody!'

He held Jake in slightly less awe than the rest did, but even so Toni guessed that his lighthearted remark hid a very real desire to have his approval, and she once again pondered on their relationship. Gavin was by far the best student in the group, and his work was improving all the time. It was perhaps because he was aware of the extent of his talent that Jake's criticism of him seemed sometimes to be unduly harsh. This time, however, he watched him for only a moment or two, then nodded without passing comment, and came and stood behind Toni instead. Feeling him there, close behind her, her whole body responded to him, as if she had no control over it at all, and she despaired of her own vulnerability. Her heart was hammering furiously and her head spun with the chaos of sensations he created. How could she have told Gavin that he had no effect on her? He leaned forward, bending over her from behind and bringing the warmth of his body into contact with hers, a touch that made her flesh tingle as she tried to steady her hands: It took her a moment or two to realise that he was holding out his hand for the brush she was using, and she brought herself hastily back to earth when he clacked his tongue impatiently. Obediently she handed him the brush, then watched while he added a few deft strokes to her painting, recreating the rugged granite outlines she had spent so long trying to copy. Accomplishing in a second or two what she had spent nearly half an hour trying to achieve. Handing back the brush, he looked down at her for several moments, still bent over her and with his face only inches from hers, the blue eyes holding hers steadily and only a hint of laughter in their depths. Then he smiled sardonically. 'I shouldn't do that—I should make you do it yourself!' 'I've been trying.'

'So I've noticed—and without much success, hmm?' His breath stirred wisps of her hair and she tried not to shiver at the little riffles of sensation it caused along her spine. Her eyes glowed like jewels, as if with some inner excitement, and the familiar scent of him, tangy with oil, paint and some masculine fragrance that teased her senses, seemed to envelop her, undermining her confidence. The impression he had on her was unfailing, and more and more lately she felt that she had been wrong in declaring herself not one of his conquests. Whether he sought to impress her or not, each time he came near her she felt herself becoming as helplessly involved as Audrey had been, and the realisation alarmed her. She knew Gavin was watching, not openly, but from the corner of his eyes, just as Audrey used to, noting the flush of colour in her cheeks and the bright glowing greenness of her eyes that she hastily shielded with her lashes. Even her voice was trembling and unsteady, defensive, as it so often was. 'You never did think much of me as an artist, did you, Jake?' Heaven knew what had prompted such a provocative challenge, but she saw Gavin's head turn swiftly in surprise—sensed rather than saw Jake's quick frown and the sudden narrowing of his eyes. They were reactions she knew well by now, without having to see them happen. He straightened up slowly to his full height, and the tantalising, disturbing touch of him was withdrawn, leaving a curious sense of chill that made her shiver. 'My dear child, if I thought that, you'd have been sent home long before now!' A tight, sardonic smile hovered about his mouth, and there was a certain flatness in his voice that suggested as much surprise as anger. 'I don't waste my

time on anyone who doesn't have the talent to make it worth my while, surely you realise that!' Toni's hands were tightly clenched, side by side on her lap, and she felt very small suddenly—small and inexplicably tearful, although he had said worse things to her before, about her work, and aroused no more than a flash of anger. It took her a moment or two before she felt able to lift her face and look at him, and the uncertainty she felt was there in her eyes as he held her gaze steadily until she looked away. 'Yes—yes, of course I know that, Jake. I'm sorry.' He was silent, then a hard, warm palm slid beneath her chin and raised her face again, the long fingers at once gentle and firm on her cheek as he looked down at her. 'What was behind that little outburst, Toni? Was it because I criticised your work, or have you some other bee in your bonnet?' It was not easy to find an answer while he studied her so intently and she sought to evade the hand that held her uptilted face, aware that Gavin was a very interested witness. 'Of course I've no bee in my bonnet,' she denied huskily. 'What makes you think so?' 'Question for question!' She disliked the gentle, almost parental tone of his voice and looked up at him again to object. 'Now you're going to protest about the way I speak to you—right?' Her cheeks felt warm and flushed and she tried hard to keep her voice quiet enough so as not to reach the others, for she knew without a doubt that they would be taking an interest if they thought there was any kind of discord between them. 'I object to being spoken to as if I'm in school!' She used her fingers to prise the hand from her chin and rubbed her hand over the sensation of warmth his touch had left on her skin. 'I haven't a bee in my bonnet, Jake, and

I've already said I'm sorry for being—defensive, what more can I say?' He studied her for a moment in silence, then reached out and slowly stroked one long finger down her cheek as far as the neck of her dress where it lingered for a moment before it was withdrawn. 'Better say nothing, little one, if you're bent on fighting with me, hmm?' 'But I'm not, I -' 'You're much less trouble when I treat you like one of the boys.' His smile brought a flutter of response from her pulses, and she hastily avoided looking at him again. He consulted his wristwatch. 'It's getting on for one o'clock—we'd better see about some lunch, I think.' Swiftly she looked across at Gavin, questioning whether or not he meant Jake to know about their proposed trip to Truro, but when she caught his eye he shook his head firmly, and started to clean his brushes. Evidently he intended keeping quiet about it, at least as far as Jake was concerned, and she was a little uneasy but willing enough to go along.

Truro was very Cornish, so Toni believed, and Gavin seemed to find no fault with her opinion. He was there, he said, purely for company and to drive her wherever she wanted to go, and if he was part of the Cornish Tregarron family he showed little native pride in his county. A busy and prosperous market town, Truro delighted her, set as it was amid a girdle of trees with the slim beauty of its cathedral spires soaring over the neighbouring buildings. Its port had flourished since the Middle Ages, and there was a fortified castle that still stood guard on the river and the remains of an ancient forest.

They looked over the cathedral, spent some time looking into shops and had lunch in a congenial little pub that they discovered just off one of the main streets, but it was the surrounding countryside that most delighted Toni. Little picture postcard villages that looked as if they belonged to another age, were irresistible and much too attractive to drive through at speed. Small whitewashed cottages with thatched roofs and deepset doorways were cuddled round by rough drystone walls and softened by trees and bushes and colourful gardens, and the narrow lanes were guarded by ranks of tall purple-pink foxgloves. Yellow cat's ear and rosy pink mallow vied for notice with hedgerows full of wild roses, depleted of bloom now, but already rich with a harvest of hips for the birds, and honeysuckle that rioted over blackthorn and briars, headily scented on the warm air. 'Oh, it's gorgeous!' Toni leaned back her head as they drove back along the lanes. 'I'm so glad we came, Gavin, aren't you?' 'I always enjoy a drive!' He grinned at her over his shoulder. 'I'd have taken you to Land's End or the Lizard if you'd asked me to.' 'If only we had——' She glanced at her wristwatch suddenly, brought abruptly back to earth. 'Oh, Gavin, just look at the time! I'd no idea we'd been so long!' It seemed not to trouble him at all that they were late already, and his grin teased her. 'Well, we started out to see Truro,' he reminded her, 'not half Cornwall!' 'We're never going to make it back to Trawley Cove by two-thirty, are we?' She looked at her watch again anxiously, thinking about what Jake was going to say, and surprised to realise how much it mattered to her.

'Not a chance!' Gavin assured her cheerfully. 'Jake's going to be annoyed when we're late.' Still unperturbed by the prospect, Gavin chuckled and cast her a swift sideways glance that mocked her anxiety. 'Well, don't look so worried, Toni; as you informed him this morning, he doesn't have the right to treat us like school-kids. I mean, he can't keep us after school, or give us fifty lines to do.' 'Oh, Gavin, I didn't make him sound as bad as that, did I?' 'Pretty well!' He laughed, as if he appreciated her opinion. 'I haven't seen anyone else stand up to Jake like you do, and I must admit I rather enjoy your battles with him, though they've been less frequent lately. Jake isn't exactly the soft type, is he? He's much different from what I expected.' Toni looked at him sharply, a blank look of surprise on her face. It seemed unlikely, and yet she could see no other explanation for his remark. 'What—what do you mean, Gavin—he's not what you expected? How long have you known him?' 'About eleven weeks—the same as you have.' 'But -' She stared at him, not only curious but utterly confused. 'Peter said—I mean, he implied that you were—family.' Gavin laughed and she could do nothing about the flicker of recognition that teased her, for his laugh was one thing about him that always reminded her of Jake. 'Oh, you- know about me being Tregarron, do you? I was supposed to be just another pupil as far as the rest of you were concerned—Jake doesn't go in for nepotism in that direction.' He anticipated any question of

Peter's position by shaking his head before she could say anything. 'Oh, I know he has Peter helping him with the school, but Peter's a good artist and he's the best man for the job—Jake wouldn't have taken him on otherwise!' 'And you?' 'I'm just another student—no privileges, just another dauber like the rest of you!' 'Hardly that,' Toni denied. 'You're by far the best student in the school and you don't need privileges. I was only wondering -' She hesitated, not liking to probe but finding the need to know too strong to resist. 'I just wondered whose side of the family you're on, that's all.' Gavin turned and his eyes mocked her briefly before he lowered one lid in a broad wink. 'Oh, I'm part of the wicked past—a skeleton branch, you might say, neither one thing nor t'other!' 'I see.' She did not see at all, except that there now seemed a much stronger case for his being Jake's son, and that was something she did not want to think about at the moment. Instead she looked at the scenery again, although she had neither the same interest nor the same enjoyment in it any more, and she wished she could feel more detached about Jake's past and his future. If he had met Gavin for the first time only eleven weeks ago when the course started, then there was a chance that Gavin's mother had come back into the picture again, and she disliked the idea of that far more than she cared to admit.

It was, in fact, after half-past three when they got back to Pentycawl, and Plaxy Trent greeted them with a shaking head, her kindly face expressing reproach because they had missed their lunch. 'Mr Tregarron be along presently, I 'spect,' she told them. 'He's got the class on the lawn, so he be sure to have heard you come.' Toni was sufficiently used to Plaxy after nearly three months to treat her confidentially, and she looked at the older woman appealingly. 'Is he very angry, Mrs Trent? Dare I go out there and just sit in, as if nothing's happened?' Gavin was laughing, though Plaxy looked far from amused. 'What happened to your independence, Toni? You told him you objected to being treated as if you were in school, so why don't you just sail out there as if you have every right to be over an hour late for class if you feel like it?' Toni shook her head, her eyes warily uneasy, and she wished he would not keep reminding her of that brief skirmish with Jake that morning. It was quite possible that Jake would see their being late back as a deliberate act of defiance on her part, and she did not see much hope of convincing him otherwise. 'I feel awful about it, Gavin—he'll think I've done it deliberately.' 'Why should he? It isn't just you, remember—I'm late as well, and I've got no axe to grind. So stop worrying and let's go before the master comes looking for us.' 'Mr Tregarron be coming now,' Plaxy informed him.. 'I best be getting along or he think I got no work to do.' Toni's heart gave a great thudding leap in her breast, then started pounding like a wild thing, as she waited for Jake to appear, and

Gavin bent low to murmur in her ear, 'Uh-oh! He looks ready to take us apart—I hope you're ready for him, Toni!' She was not ready for him at all, Toni thought dizzily. She felt far more like running somewhere to hide than facing up to a scene with Jake, but there was nothing she could do now, he was already coming in through the open french windows, his long stride bringing him swiftly across the room. A brief glance at his face was enough for Toni—her pulses fluttered anxiously and she kept her eyes downcast, waiting for the storm to break. She could be in no doubt that he was angry, more angry than she had ever seen him, and there was a hard brittle air about him that was almost tangible, a sense of violence that sent a shiver running along her spine. 'Well?' Gavin glanced at her, accepting the challenge with only a touch of uncertainty in his customary boldness. 'We went for a drive and took longer than we anticipated. Sorry we're late, Jake, but Toni wanted to see Truro and one thing led to another, you know how it is!' 'I can guess how it was! Toni decided she wanted to see Truro, and that was it!' His voice had a hard, tight sound that suggested a violence only just under control, quite unlike his normal tone, and when he looked at her Toni felt as if she shrank to nothing under the stormy fierceness of it. 'You'd better go and join the others, Gavin— I've got something I want to say to Toni!' 'But, Jake -' 'Will you get out of here!' Gavin looked startled for a second, then he gave Toni a helpless, half-apologetic glance and shrugged uneasily. 'Sorry, Toni!' He

turned and strode out into the sunshine and the comparative peace of the garden, leaving Toni feeling as if her legs had suddenly become too weak to support her. It was obvious that Jake saw her as the sole instigator, and her senses rebelled at the injustice -of it. He had more or less absolved Gavin, but it was quite certain he did not intend her to get off as lightly. Looking up at him, her eyes had a hurt and angry brightness that made them appear an even more vivid green. 'I'm going too!' 'I've said I want to talk to you, Toni!' She was so shiveringly aware of him that she even found it hard to breathe evenly, and her lips were parted as she twined her hands together. If only she had the nerve to simply walk away from him and go and join the class! He could hardly follow and take up whatever he had in mind with the rest of his students looking on and listening. 'I don't have to stay and listen to you—you can't make me account for every second of my time! And— and I won't be spoken to as if I was in kindergarten!' Her voice was small and breathless, and she could not imagine how she found the strength in her unsteady legs to walk past him towards the french windows, but he gave her no chance to elude him. One large hand fastened tight about her arm and pulled her round again, almost spinning her off her feet. All the familiar reactions stirred into being when she was pulled against him, exaggerated a hundred times by some wild excitement that made her head spin. 'Don't you dare walk out on me!'

'Let me go, Jake!' She tugged vainly at her captive arm, and looked up at the dark rugged face, so unfamiliar in its grimness. 'I won't be lectured like a child who's late for school—and I won't take all the blame either! Just because Gavin's your -' She bit her lip, but not hastily enough. He was looking at her with hard blue eyes that were narrowed in speculation, and searching her face intently. 'You were saying?' 'No!' Snatching her arm free, she fled into the garden, pausing only when she was within sight of the class, sitting in a half circle on the lawn. Several heads lifted when she appeared, and she could do nothing about the bright flush in her cheeks or the jewel-bright greenness of her eyes that showed both anger and threatening tears. Peter came from the back of the semi-circle towards her just as she heard the soft swish of shoe soles over the narrow stone terrace behind her and glanced hastily over her shoulder. Jake came striding towards her, and something in her wanted to run to him, not away from him, but that would have been pointless when he had been so ready to blame her rather than Gavin. That was a gesture, she felt, that spoke for itself, and she hurried to meet Peter instead.

CHAPTER NINE TONI was never quite sure how she got through the rest of the afternoon. She had so much on her mind that it was impossible to give much attention to her painting, and it did not help that Jake made a point of not coming near her, although he several times came and stood behind Gavin. She still burned with resentment at the thought of his apparent bias in Gavin's favour. She could think of it only as bias, since he had sent Gavin off to join the rest of the class while she had been required to stay behind and take the brunt of his anger. It was so unfair, and she had never seen him as an unfair man, no matter what other shortcomings she had attributed to him during the three months she had known him. It hurt too, more than she would have believed. It never entered her head to blame Gavin, for he would quite clearly have stayed and taken his share of censure. Only the barely suppressed violence of Jake's reaction had surprised him sufficiently to make his departure more strategic than willing. She remembered her own reaction to it, and felt her heart hammer hard at her ribs each time she recalled the bright glitter in the blue eyes and the hard strength of his fingers when he gripped her arm. Maybe she should have stayed and heard him out, perhaps it would have cleared the air, but the unexpected and unfamiliar fury of his anger had aroused too many startling responses, and she had simply expressed her indignation at being accused, and then fled. Ever since she had felt nervously uncertain, as if the episode was not yet concluded, and unhappy because she hated having him so angrily unforgiving. Gavin too seemed a little chastened by the incident and apparently more sensitive to Jake's eye on him, for he said little during the

afternoon but kept his head down and his brushes busy, giving his tutor no cause for complaint. A couple of times he managed to catch Toni's eye and gave her a reassuring wink, but only when he was sure Jake could not see him, and she responded with no more than a faint smile. Despite the brightness of the day she had seldom felt more unhappy, and it showed in her work. Peter gave her his attention, as usual, but he said nothing about the fact that her brushwork was uncharacteristically crude and the colours hastily and carelessly blended, producing the worst results ever. Maybe he would question her about it later, after the session was finished, but she hoped not. Never before had she been so relieved to see a session finish, and her relief was so obvious as she gathered her things together that Gavin eyed her curiously as he packed up his own gear. 'Glad it's over, Toni?' She nodded, and he fell into step beside her as they made their way across the lawn a step or two behind the rest. 'Did Jake play the heavy after he sent me packing? I'm sorry about it, Toni, but you saw how it was. If I'd stayed it would only have made things worse—God, he was furious, wasn't he?' Toni nodded unhappily, wondering how long it would be before Jake raised the matter again—he was unlikely to let it lie, she thought, but she shrank from the idea of quarrelling with him again. 'It—it seems such a trivial thing to make so much fuss about.' Gavin looked interested, though he tried not to make it too obvious. 'What did he say?' Toni was so close to crying, even now, that she was trembling, and it was partly because she felt so impatient with herself that her voice was so huskily unsteady. She had been fighting the urge to cry all afternoon, each time Jake came in their direction and then quietly

ignored her as if she no longer existed. It should not matter so much, but somehow it did. 'I don't know.-what he had to say. I—I walked out without giving him a chance to say anything.' 'Wow!' Gavin looked as if he found it hard to believe, and he stared at her for a moment or two as they walked through in to the sittingroom via the french windows. 'Oh, Toni—I'll bet you won't be teacher's pet any more!' 'I don't fool myself I ever was!' The tears could not be held back much longer, and Gavin looked down at her with eyes that were at once speculative and sympathetic. 'I'm sorry, Toni. I wish I could do something, but he wouldn't listen even if I tried—you know that.' 'Yes, I know, but it doesn't matter, Gavin, it really isn't worth bothering about, actually. A—a storm in a tea-cup, nothing more—a fuss about nothing, it'll blow over.' 'I hope so.' He frowned as they went through into the hall. 'I can't think what got into him—it isn't like Jake to blow up like that about nothing at all, I don't understand him.' Her laugh was short and tremulous and completely without humour as she fought once again to keep back her tears. 'Does anyone?' she asked. She felt uncertain and unhappy, and all because Jake was angry with her, about some trivial incident that should have blown over within minutes, and looked so grim and unrelenting. It was ridiculous to let herself be so affected, for she had seen the result of letting Jake get under her skin, when she had visited Audrey. Until now she had

always kept a firm control over her emotions where Jake was concerned, and it would be silly to weaken now. 'Toni? Are you all right?' Gavin's hand on her arm brought her quickly back to earth and she realised with dismay that she was crying at last. Through her tears Gavin's face looked very much younger and very concerned and she shook her head as she brushed a hasty hand across her eyes. 'I'm all right, Gavin, don't worry—just smarting a little, that's all.' His dark eyes scanned her small flushed face for a moment and he frowned. 'You've been brooding on this thing all afternoon, and so has Jake—what's the matter with the two of you?' It was all out of proportion. The way she felt, Jake's brooding anger and her own misery. It was as if something hung over them; tenuous but disturbing, and it took her several seconds to realise why her legs were suddenly almost too weak to support her. In that moment she realised with stunning clarity just how wrong she had been to think she had her emotions firmly under control, and the realisation was the last straw. It would be useless to try and explain to Gavin, even had she been prepared to reveal what she had only now discovered, so she hurried on without him, leaving him staring after her. She passed the others, keeping her head down and hurrying on up to her room before she broke down and made a complete fool of herself. She could not let them know how she felt, it was unthinkable when they had found Audrey such a source of amusement, and the idea of Jake being as stoically resigned to her feelings as he had been to Audrey's was unbearable. She ran into her room and closed the door, then leaned her head against the cool of a window pane and cried.

* Toni stayed in her room, unwilling to go down to dinner and face the inevitable speculation that her tear- stained face was bound to cause. She was ,neither hungry nor ready to sit through a meal with Jake's rugged dark face firmly averted from her, as it had been all afternoon. She could not suspect him of sulking, but it was obvious that he saw her walking away from him as an indication of her feelings. She did not want to speak to him and he would do nothing to force the issue; it was up to her to make the first move, and she would never have the nerve to do it—not now. Peter's part in her life had been pushed to the back of her mind lately, and she sometimes felt rather guilty about it, for he had left her in no doubt that, should she give him an opening, he was prepared to take their association very seriously. He was pleasant and good- looking, and only a few short months ago Toni would have seriously considered him as a husband, but that was before she met Jake. With Jake everything was different and she could not now imagine her life without him, though she would have to face the fact in a little less than two weeks now. She looked around the room she had occupied for the past three months and it felt suddenly close and oppressive—she needed to be outside in the air. To walk, perhaps, along the cliffs as she had often done—anything rather than stay there and brood about Jake. She went downstairs and across the hall, unconsciously silent in her movements but hurrying because she did not want to see anyone, and they must be almost through dinner by now. The fact that it was almost dusk did not deter her, she knew the path too well to have any misgivings. Opening the front door, she looked back over her shoulder and was in time to see Plaxy emerging from the kitchen carrying a loaded tray.

'Miss Ashley!' It was obvious that seeing Toni there startled her and she paused by the dining-room door, her friendly eyes curious and narrowed against the overhead light that was already on in the hall. 'You haven't had no dinner, my dear—wasn't you well?' The last thing Toni wanted was to stop and answer questions, but she could not snub Plaxy Trent for her concern, so she shook her head as reassuringly as she could and half-smiled. 'Oh, I'm all right, Mrs Trent, thank you, I just wasn't hungry.' 'You'm looking a bit peaky.' Plaxy noted her tear-stained cheeks and the puffiness about her eyes and Toni knew she had her sympathy, but she could not have explained without becoming tearful all over again, so she shook her head once more and edged a little further through the open door. 'No, no, I'm all right, really!' Plaxy was obviously not satisfied and she frowned. 'You wasn't thinkin' of goin' out, my dear, was you— not without a bite inside you?' Toni wished she did not look so woebegone and that her voice was more steady. It crossed her mind that Plaxy Trent, in her concern for her, might see it her duty to tell Jake how tearful and unhappy she looked, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. Jake wasn't a fool, he would know that it was his own anger at lunchtime that had upset her, and it would be more than she could bear if he put his own interpretation on it and guessed the reason for her tears. He had recognised the signs in Audrey, there was no reason to suppose he would be any less astute in her own case. She shook her head firmly, to deny any cause for concern. 'I'm only going for a walk, Mrs Trent, I shan't be very long.'

'I hope you wasn't thinkin' of goin' up-along the cliff—'tisn't safe when 'tis so near dark.' 'I'll be all right!' It was unforgivable of her to have snapped at Plaxy when she was only concerned with her wellbeing, but she could feel herself becoming tearful again if she stayed on. Turning swiftly, she went out and banged the front door behind her, then hurried down the steps and round the end of the house to the cliff path. It was still warm, although the wind was rising slightly as the sun went down, and it was distinctly cooler than it had been during the day. There was always a special kind of peace about the rugged scenery in the evening light, an aura of brooding mystery that was less apparent during the daylight hours, and Toni felt it was in sympathy with her own mood of unrest. It seemed so long ago that she had driven over to Truro with Gavin and discovered those pretty little villages nestling in the summerripe countryside. She had no idea then that events would take an unexpected turn and bring her face to face with her true feelings for Jake or the inexplicable violence of his anger. The sea was quite calm, although little ruffles of white foam fluttered along the tops of the incoming waves where the rising wind unfurled their edges. The gulls were still and quiet, no longer shrilling and soaring on the eddying breezes, but snuggled below on narrow ledges all over the cliff face, warmed by the last of the sun's rays. Toni had no idea where she was going, although she vaguely realised as she walked that she was going in the direction of Frayley Cove, but for the moment the mere act of walking did something to ease the tension that had held her taut and edgy all afternoon.

She was facing the wind and it moulded the soft cotton dress she wore to her slender shape and lifted her hair from her neck, flicking little tendrils of it into her face to sting her cheeks. There was so much that was beautiful in this one small place, that it seemed almost sacrilege to be so unhappy, and yet there was nothing she could do to comfort herself. Jake was unattainable, and at the moment Jake was all she cared about. 'Toni!' She almost stopped dead in her tracks at the call from behind her. The voice was flat and all but toneless at a distance and in the open air, but still easily recognisable. Even though she had expected Plaxy Trent to tell him, she had not anticipated such definite or such instant action, and she felt curiously apprehensive as she listened to the crunch of footsteps on the path behind her. Her heart was pounding so hard that she despaired of being able to talk sensibly and calmly to anyone, let alone Jake, and her legs felt horribly weak and unsteady. Her first instinct was to run, though whether away from him or to him she was dizzily uncertain, and she went on walking, just as if she had not heard him call to her. 'Toni, wait!' In fact she had no need to wait, for he caught up with her easily, even though she had not consciously slowed her pace, and his hard fingers caught her arm and held her tightly. 'Where do you think you're going?' he demanded, and his tone almost shattered her self-control. She was shaking, shivering almost, and she thanked heaven for the growing dusk so that he would not see how close she was to tears. 'I suppose Plaxy told you!' It sounded like an accusation, although she had not meant it to.

'Never mind who told me!' He pulled her arm sharply and brought her round to face him, and she noticed that the blue of his eyes was turned to a fathomless black in the dusk, glittering down at her and doing indescribable things to her senses. 'This is the second time today you've had me on tenterhooks wondering where the devil you've got to, and you're not walking out on me this time, Toni!' 'Jake, you're hurting my arm!' 'I'm in two minds whether or not to break your neck!' The glittering gaze stirred disturbing reactions in her. 'What are you trying to prove?' It was less easy to shake off his grip than she expected, although she did not fight him too hard. There was something about him that was unfamiliar and curiously exciting and she looked up at him with a kind of haziness in her eyes. 'I wanted to come for a walk—alone!' 'You wanted to scare the daylights out of me for the second time today, you little devil, and you know it!' Toni stared at him, her eyes huge and puzzled in the half light. Then she licked her lips anxiously and tried to make sense of what he was saying. She just could not believe he was as anxious as he appeared to be, or that he had thought she was in some kind of danger when he came after her. 'I—I don't know what you mean.' 'I mean that first you come back late from a drive with Gavin, and now you make a dramatic exit, telling Plaxy that you're going for a walk, presumably along the cliff top, since she saw you go round the house, and at this hour of the day! Don't you know how easy it is to miss your footing in this light?'

Toni shook her head vaguely, not really hearing the question, but too intent on his earlier statement. He was concerned for her, the second time today, he had said, and she did not quite understand that. It would have made more sense for him to have worried about Gavin. 'But what—how could it scare the daylights out of you because I was late back from a drive? It wasn't my fault we were late and I tried to tell you that; but you wouldn't listen!' His fingers eased, just a fraction, on her arm, but she wasn't trying to escape him now and she stood waiting for him to answer, her heart thudding wildly and a curious spinning sensation in her head that made it impossible for her to think clearly. 'Didn't you notice that Gavin is just about the worst driver in England?' Toni shook her head, still too confused to understand. 'He—he was fast—I noticed that.' 'Fast!' Jake's dark head shook in despair. 'He drives as if every minute is his last, and he hasn't long had his licence! I had visions of you smashed up by some deserted roadside, when you were so long coming back. I'd been going berserk with worry, and then, when you finally did come back, you calmly walked out on me when -Oh, you don't know how close you came to being walloped, my girl!' Toni shook her head, her eyes wide, searching his face for the true reason behind that violent reaction. 'I—I knew you were anxious, of course, but naturally I thought it was because you thought something had happened to Gavin.' 'Gavin?' He narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her. 'Oh, you mean because he's family and you're not!'

'I mean because he's your -' She had got that far once before, she remembered, and just as then Jake frowned as if he did not follow her meaning. 'I believe we've had this bit before,' he said quietly. 'I'd like to hear the rest this time, Toni—my what?' She could not say it, not to his face, and she struggled to free her arms, prising at his strong fingers in vain. 'Let me go, Jake, please let me go!' 'Not until you answer me! What is Gavin to me, Toni?' His voice was quiet, almost impassive, but he was immovable and she had to give up the struggle, though she still refused to look at him, keeping her eyes downcast. His hands tightened, making her gasp. 'I could quite easily shake it out of you, little one, and I will if you don't come out with it. What's that bee you have in your bonnet about Gavin? You've been brooding on something for weeks now and my patience is rapidly running out!' 'It's something—something I heard.' A black brow arched above the glitter of his eyes, and she hastily looked down again. 'He—he's your son, isn't he?' The words fell flat and thin in her unsteady voice, and she felt Jake stiffen for a second before he let out his breath in a long, audible sound that was more like a sigh, and when he spoke it was barely above a whisper. 'God in heaven, child, who's been putting those fantasies into your head?' Fantasies! Toni clutched at the word eagerly and looked up at last, anxious to be assured and trying to read something into the shadowy dark features. 'I—I thought—I mean—isn't he?'

'He is not!' 'Oh, Jake!' She could not disguise the relief that flooded over her like a tide, and she felt Jake's fingers tighten about her arms. 'You're no more relieved than I am!' She told herself that she imagined the thread of laughter that lightened his voice, but it did seem there was a hint of mockery in the eyes that looked down at her, their expression disturbingly uncertain in the dusk. 'I'm—I'm sorry, Jake.' 'Mmm!' He studied her with an intensity that stirred her heart to an erratic, urgent beat and his hands smoothed the soft skin of her upper arms with hard, gentle palms and strong fingers. 'I'm not sure I find it flattering, being accredited with a ready-made family, that presumably I'm not prepared to acknowledge!' 'Oh, Jake, I didn't—I mean, it wasn't my idea!' 'Then whose was it?' It was inevitable, of course. Jake was not the kind of man to let something like that go unremarked—to simply deny his responsibility and then let the matter rest. He must know who had started the train of thought, and Toni would much rather have drawn the line at placing the blame squarely on Fran Casey. 'Toni?' She stirred uneasily. 'I—I'd much rather not say who suggested it, Jake, it doesn't seem -' She shrugged uneasily. 'Must I?'

It was only a ghost of the familiar face that looked down at her in the deepening dusk, but she felt her body trembling like a leaf when she looked up for a moment and caught a glimpse of white teeth in the darkness of his features. A hard palm slid beneath her chin and lifted her face to him, and his head was bent so that his breath warmed her mouth when he spoke and aroused the most incredible sense of excitement in her. 'Yes, you must, little one. I like to know who my friends are!' 'But she only thought he might -' 'Aah!' His confidence made it clear that he could name the culprit with no more help from her, but what surprised her was his apparently ready acceptance of Fran Casey as the culprit. 'Dear Fran—so that's her opinion of me!' The hand under Toni's chin moved round and settled firmly on the nape of her neck and long fingers twisted into her hair, tugging gently and holding her head back so that he looked down at the creamy softness of her throat. The blue-black gaze swept over her face, in the dusk little more than a pale small oval with huge uncertain eyes. He held her like that for several moments, then he shook his head slowly. 'And you believed her, didn't you, Toni?' She caught her breath, unable to deny it, but wanting desperately to convince him how much she had hated the very idea of Gavin being his. 'I didn't want to, Jake, but -' 'But you thought with my reputation it had every chance of being true!' 'It—it wasn't like that Jake, I—I just didn't know what to believe. Gavin has that mark on his shoulder, just like you have, and that

made it certain that he was descended from Tobyn Tregarron, if what you told me was the truth.' 'And you think I'm his only descendant?' Toni tried to avoid that steady and infinitely disturbing gaze, but it was not easy when he held her so determinedly facing him. 'I didn't know—Mrs Casey said you were an only child.' 'That's right, I am.' He was looking down at her with an intensity that was becoming increasingly disturbing, even though it was becoming more difficult to discern his features in the dying light, and her body shivered at the sudden hard contact with his. The hand on her nape made it impossible for her to move, though she had neither the inclination nor the strength to do so at the moment. 'Don't you remember I told you about Inigo Tregarron?' Toni was too dazed to think about anything but Jake's nearness and the effect he was having on her, and she nodded only vaguely, trying to recall the story but doing so only hazily. 'You—you said something about his cousin, didn't you?' 'I said he cast covetous eyes at his cousin's wife!' His eyes glowed down at her darkly and, while one hand stayed firmly on her nape, the other ran its long fingers down her cheek in a shiver-inducing caress that aroused sensations she could barely control. 'If you remember I told you the affair was nipped in the bud by the lady's husband, but what I didn't tell you was that he sent her abroad for a spell where she gave birth to a second son.' Some of the pieces began to fall into place, Toni thought, and looked up at him for a second or two to confirm it. 'Inigo's son?'

Jake nodded. That caressing hand continued to threaten her selfcontrol and she felt a sudden affinity with the disgraced Victorian lady who had been so blatantly seduced by her husband's cousin. If Inigo Tregarron had possessed only a fraction of his descendant's powers of persuasion the young wife would have stood little chance of resisting. 'The child was kept a dark secret from most of the world, of course. He was handed over to foster-parents and not raised with the other, more respectable offspring, but he was a Tregarron, and to do Inigo justice, he kept a careful if distant eye on his progress. He saw to his education, etc., and the lad eventually married and became a respectable family man himself, though he and his have never been looked on as part of the family until now.' 'You didn't even know about Gavin?' 'He just turned up out of the blue, applying for a place in the school, and we only discovered who he was after he got here. Now, of course, he's one of us, and he's certainly inherited the Tregarron taste for art.' 'He's Brilliant.' 'He will be!' Jake smiled and once more that flash of white teeth showed against the darkness of his face. 'He's a very talented lad but, like me, he's got a bit too much of old Tobyn in him sometimes.' 'Oh, Jake!' 'Oh, Jake!' His soft-voiced mockery brought a flush of colour to her cheeks and Toni tried not to look at him, though it was too dusky now for him to read anything in her eyes, and her thick lashes were darker shadows on her pale cheeks. 'Did you really think I was the kind of man who would deny his own son, Toni?'

She bit her lip when she realised that she had believed it, however unwillingly, and when she looked up at last her eyes had the wide anxious appeal of a child's. 'I'm sorry, Jake, but there were so many things pointing that way, and when you just sent Gavin out to join the class then started to tell me off for -' 'Tell you off?' 'You did!' She sounded incredibly breathless and she was shaking like a leaf. 'You blamed me because we were late back; you didn't say a word about it to Gavin, but you were going to -' 'I sent Gavin out before I hit him!' His voice had a curious and unfamiliar intensity that brought a quivering response from her senses and made her tremble more than ever. 'I was so relieved to see you back that I was furious! Maybe that sounds silly, perhaps it doesn't make sense, but it's true. You'd been gone for over two and a half hours and I was frantic by the time you turned up, I just wanted to hit out at anybody who happened to be near!' She shivered inwardly at that sense of violence again, and looked at him only half believing. 'You—you'd have hit him?' For a moment a twist of smile touched his mouth and the blue eyes mocked her anxiety. 'Maybe not—having you sorry for him was the last thing I wanted! But if you hadn't been in such a hurry to march off and leave me, you'd have found out there and then which one of you I was most concerned about!' Toni said nothing. She stood with her face upturned to him, his strong fingers twined into her hair and her eyes concealed by the thick shade of her lashes. Her mouth looked soft and tremulous with the lips slightly parted, and Jake looked at it for a long silent moment before he bent his head and pressed his own mouth over hers, gently but firmly.

'Jake.' Her voice whispered up to him in the dusky light and his arms came round her, pulling her with an almost savage force to the hard warm vigour of his body. His mouth took hers, fiercely and hungrily as if he had waited a long time for such a moment, and Toni spun away from reality into another world where his strong arms and the hard excitement of his mouth were the only things that mattered. His breath fluttered against her cheek, his voice muffled in the thickness of her hair. 'I love you, Toni! I know I'm probably treading on uncertain ground, but I have to say it, my little love, I can't keep it to myself any longer!' Her hands on the broad firmness of his back, Toni snuggled closer, her face buried against his shirt. She could hardly believe she was hearing him right, and yet his voice had all the certainty and force it always did. She raised her head after a second or two and looked at him. Her eyes looked huge in the almost dark and there was a bright, shimmering look about them as she studied the dark rugged face that had caused her so many unhappy moments lately. Peter had never really stood a chance, and Jake must know it, he surely had no doubt how she felt about him. 'Why didn't you tell me before?' Her voice was small and husky and she could not keep her eyes from that straight, hard mouth. 'Didn't you know how I felt, Jake?' Briefly the white smile slashed across his face again. 'Did you?' he asked, gently mocking, and she realised with a start how recently the truth had dawned on her. Hours ago she had known he could disturb her as no other man ever had, but she had refused to face the reason for it until Gavin, in his

curiosity, had asked why that storm in a teacup argument should upset the pair of them so much. She had recognised her own reason, but attributed quite a different cause to Jake's reaction. 'I—I thought you—I realised I loved you and I couldn't face sitting down to dinner and having you ignore me as you did during class.' 'Is that why you hid in your room?' His words mocked her, but the kiss that followed more than compensated for any hurt they might have inflicted, and Toni reached up her arms to encircle his neck, drawing the dark head down to her, held close in his arms until she could feel every muscle that strained her to him. 'I hid because I thought you felt sorry for me, as you did for poor Audrey. I couldn't bear loving you and having you feel sorry for me.' His gaze was fixed on the soft creamy length of her throat and his voice had a shiver-inducing depth that ran through her body like fire. One hand reached up and twined into her hair again, holding back her head while he pressed his mouth to her throat. 'Why should I feel sorry for you, little one? You're not Audrey and you'd never do anything as pathetically foolish as she did.' Toni looked at him from the shadow of her lashes, no longer in doubt, confident as any woman in love, her green eyes shining in the dusk like two jewels. 'Then why did you come after me and tell me I'd frightened the daylights out of you for the second time today if you weren't afraid I felt as she did?' Jake looked at her with bright intent eyes for a second, then he buried his face in the tawny brightness of her hair, muffling his voice against her neck. 'Promise to stay here at Pentycawl with me

and you'll see why I came after you, little one! I'm going to marry you and I won't have anyone else chasing after you each time you take off on one of your crazy escapades.' He raised his head and smiled at her, and Toni put a hand either side of his face, her eyes dancing. 'You're going to marry me?' His eyes swept over her face, confidently, possessively, and a thrill of excitement ran through her body as he fixed his gaze on her mouth. 'Are you going to refuse me?' he challenged. She shook her head, her arms tight about his neck, her eyes shining. 'Oh, no, darling Jake, I won't refuse you!'