page9 (1/2)
If only he could protect himself from her
When he spoke, he knew the words were too rough Knew they would sting “Why must you constantly test me?”
“I do care, you know I do care what you think”
“Then why?”
“Because you expectTo be reckless To ruin myself”
“Why not work to prove ?”
“But don’t you see? I a If I choose recklessness, where is the failure? If I choose it for myself, you cannot force it upon me”
There was a long pause “Perversely, that makes sense”
She smiled, small and sad “If only I actually wanted it this way”
The words settled, and a hundred questions ran through his ”
She looked up at hiht his breath at her brilliant blue eyes “H-how are you n-not?”
He was not even close to cold He was on fire Her clothes were soaking wet and ruined, her hair had cos, and she should have looked like a bedraggled child Instead, she looked stunning The clothesher lush curves, the water only e, spiked lashes fra enormous blue eyes, porcelain skin He tracked one drop of water down the curve of her neck to the hollow of her collarbone, and he had an intense desire to taste the droplet on his tongue
She was alive
And he wanted her
Thankfully, she shivered again before he could act on the unacceptable desire
He had to get her hoht pneumonia
Or before he went entirely mad
He turned to her e?” he asked in quick Italian
“No, Your Grace”
“It will be faster if I take your mistress home in my curricle Meet us at Ralston House” He clasped Juliana’s elbow and began to steer her toward a nearby rise
“You j-just assume that she will follow your orders?” Juliana asked, her tone suggesting the very idea was ridiculous He ignored her, instead aze
“Yes, Your Grace” She dropped into a quick curtsy and hurried away
He returned his attention to Juliana, who scowled
Her irritation returned soht and this , her impulsive behavior had risked her reputation This afternoon, it had risked her life
And he would not have it
They walked several yards in silence before he spoke, “You could have died”
She gave the briefest of hesitations, and he thought perhaps she would apologize again It would not be entirely unwarranted
He sensed the tensing of her shoulders, the straightening of her spine “But I did not” She tried for a smirk Failed “Twelve lives, remember?”
The words were rife with defiance—of him, of nature, of fate itself And if they had not ht have found room to admire her tenacity of spirit
Instead, he wanted to shake her
He resisted the impulse Barely
They reached his curricle, and he lifted her, shivering, into the vehicle, then climbed in beside her
“I shall ruin your seat”
Her words, so ridiculous in light of everything that had happened in the past fewthe reins and turned an incredulous gaze toward her “It is a wonder that you are able to find concern for s of much more import”
Her dark brows arched perfectly “Such as?”
“Such as your person”
She sneezed, and he cursed, “And now you’re going to fall ill if you don’t keep warm, you daft female”
He reached behind the, and thrust it at her
She took it and covered herself “Thank you,” she said firht ahead
He set the curricle inhe’d been less forceful More courteous
He did not feel at all courteous Did not think he could muster courtesy
They exited Hyde Park before she spoke, and he barely heard her over the sound of hoofbeats against the cobblestones “You needn’t speak to h I am half-witty”
He could not resist “I believe you mean half-witted”
She turned away, and he heard an irritated Italian curse over the wind After a long moment, she said, “I did not plan to drown myself”
There was sulking in her tone, and he felt a slight twinge of sympathy for her Perhaps he should not be so hard on her But, da, you would have drowned”
“You cahed up water and trembled with relief in the moments after he’d rescued her, she’d whispered the same words You came
He’d tried not to
He’d throay her reckless note—the cleverly disguisedthat the Marquess of Ralston had sent the correspondence—tossed it into a wastepaper basket in his study
He’d pretended it wasn’t there as he read the rest of his correspondence
And still as he discussed a handful of outstanding issues with his man of business
And even as he had opened the package that arrived from his e that had contained the Leighton sapphire, the betrothal ring that had been worn by generations of Duchesses of Leighton
Even then, as he’d placed the ring on his desk, in full view, that cruhout his orderly, disciplined house Everywhere he looked, he saw her missive, and he’d wondered what she would do if he did not respond
He’d i a more scandalous course of action—and then her bold, black scrawl had been replaced with her bold, black curls and her flashing blue eyes And they’d been in his bedchamber
He had called for his curricle and driven entirely too fast for a man as determined to avoid her
And he’d almost been too late
His hands tightened on the reins, and the horses shifted uneasily under the tension He forced himself to relax
“And aren’t you lucky that I cae was both iive her an opportunity to reply, his next words exploding on a wave of irritation “What would possess you to dive into a frigid lake?”
“I didn’t dive,” she pointed out “I fell It was a h I suppose you never make those”
“Not life-threatening ones, usually, no”
“Well We cannot all be as perfect as you are”
She was changing the topic, and he was in no mood to allow it “You did not answer my question”
“Was there an inquiry hidden in all of that judgment? I did not notice”
He found hilance “The lake Why were you in there in the first place?”
“I told you I followed my hat”
“Your hat”
“I like the hat I did not want to lose it”
“Your brother would have bought you a new hat I would have bought you a dozen if it would have keptto”
He stopped
Fro to watch you nearly die
“I wanted that one,” she said, quietly “And I am sorry you had to rescue meor that you shall have to replace this upholsteryor buy new bootsor whatever other trouble my situation has caused you”
“I didn’t say—”
“No, because you are too proper to finish the sentence, but that’s what you were going to say, isn’t it?
That you would buyto keep ain?”
She sneezed again
And the sound nearly did him in