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Lily jolted back into the present The commander stood before her

"Shall we?" He extended a hand and tilted his head toward the card tables

"Oh!" She rose to her feet "Yes, of course"

They sat down to whist She, Amelia, Michael, and the coer lieutenants were left to play shorthanded at the other, with the enated "dummy"

Lily was partnered with Michael, and the commander seated himself to her left As Aood at cards, and especially skilled at whist She looked forward to displaying proficiency in so

But she couldn’t Her concentration was so scattered Several times, she had to be prorowing impatient The testy set of his jaw told her what his words did not He was bored with her It happened People like the co conversation with a deaf woht But once they realized the game had no end, and furtherreeary of the effort and ceased trying

To be fair, Lily was poor co back to her conversation with Michael and that stack of letters she’d found hidden in Leo’s desk drawer She’d always thought there’d been no secrets between her and her brother Evidently she’d been wrong

What had he been hiding from her? Or more to the point, whom?

And where in the world was Julian? He promised to escort her to three events, not h to hu her all alone to deal with Leo’s grief-stricken friends Not to mention commanders of the Royal Navy ere short on patience and entirely too free with their hands

Even though she knew it to be unfair, she wanted to take her every moment of uncertainty, aardness, and undiluted fear in this endless day and heap the blame squarely at Julian’s feet She was so very tired, and tired of being angry with hi her vision and the treures on her cards

"I beg your pardon," she said, laying down her cards and rising from the table "I believe I need soan to rise, she motioned for them to remain in place Amelia’s eyes flashed concern, and Lily tried to reassure her with a set up, please I’ll returnhim back, too

As she smoothed her skirts, she tried not to feel defeated Yes, she could handle these settings alone But given the choice, she would prefer to handle them with Julian

When had he become so essential to her?

She turned away from the card table and moved to quit the room

Then she stopped Because Julian was there in the doorway, headed toward her

When their eyes met, they each stumbled to a halt He sether In unison, they exchanged brief nods, followed by hter A whole conversation, craed The understanding and patience she craved … it was all there, waiting in his eyes Strange i the desire to run at theboth arms around his neck, and hope--just breathe and wait and hope, with her pulse thundering in her ears--that his arms would naturally wrap around her, too

But before she could e to the card players behind her Lily watched his face blanch, then flush crimson with fury His lips formed crisp, distinct words Words not intended for her, but for soht shoulder

"What the devil did you just say?"

Oh, dear The commanderinsensitive, when she couldn’t overhear And of course, Julian was incapable of letting such rery line At his sides, his hands balled into for to hurt someone Soon

Lily stepped in front of him The scene wasn’t disastrous yet If she pretended to be oblivious to the whole situation, everyone else could act the sahtly "I … I was just on et soarden?"

She took his hand Or rather, his wrist, since his hand was a solid lulared past her, at the commander "You’re a bastard Don’t think she doesn’t know it"

"Julian," she whispered, frantic "Take arden Now"

This ti a reserve of strength she hadn’t known she possessed, Lily yanked him by the wrist until he did an about-face She thrust her ar hih his mind and muscles were at odds over how to respond But when she stepped forward, he did too Thank heaven Together, they left the drawing room and the card tables and the coarden

Lily tugged him into the first available space--a roolance about for servants, carefully shut the door behind them This must be Amelia’s day rooned for comfort, not fashion, and needlework baskets and ho with plush velvet draperies It was the perfect place for a private conversation

Just the same, she strove to keep her voice low as she turned to Julian "What was all that, then?"

His face shuttered "Nothing"

"For pity’s sake, you can tellremark, one he knew I couldn’t hear It must have been quite ill-mannered, to turn you that particular shade of red"

Julian just shook his head, refusing to answer He took a few paces, swinging the tension from his arms as he walked

Lily crossed her arms over her chest Because the roo--and it seeuess? Letwhist, and I left the to play with a dummy hand, hm?" She s one du like that?"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>