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A estured for her to place it on his desk
"Hoas the crossing?" Marcus asked
A sray eyes "Uneventful, thank God May I ask after the countess? She is well, I trust?"
"Quite well, thank you My rets that she could not be here at this ti over the refreshreet the guests No doubt she was busy adjusting plans to compensate for the party’s early arrival "Will you take soy forhtly spread
"Creaar, please" As Shaw received his cup and saucer, Marcus noticed a distinct tre the china to rattle They were the unmistakable treht’s drinking
Withouta beat, Shaw set the cup on the desk, withdrew a silver flask from the inside of his well-tailored coat, and poured a liberal quantity of spirits into the coffee He drank fro his eyes as the hot alcohol-infused liquid poured down his throat After downing the coffee, he extended the cup without coain the ritual of the flask was performed
"Your business partner is welco back in his chair, Shaw drank the second cup of coffee more slowly than the first "Thank you, but I believe that at theinstructions to our servants" An ironic s down in thetaken his own seat behind the desk, Marcus paused in the act of lifting a cup to his own lips "McKenna," he repeated quietly It was a co inside hi’ McKenna in Manhattan It’s entirely because of his efforts that the Shaw foundries have begun to produce locoricultural machinery"
"That is seen by some as an unnecessary risk," Marcus co quite ith the production of agricultural rain drills, in particular Why venture into loco? The principal railway coines--and from all appearances, they supply their own needs quite efficiently"
"Not for long," Shaw said easily "We’re convinced that their production demands will soon exceed their capability--and they’ll be forced to rely on outside builders to land There, most of the railways rely on privately owned locoines and parts Coressively priced product"
"I would be interested to learn why you believe that the railned foundries in England won’t be able to maintain an acceptable pace of production"
"McKenna will provide all the figures you require" Shaw assured hi hiaze did not stray from Marcus’s as he continued with studied casualness "It seems that McKenna was once employed here at Stony Cross Park You may not remember him, as he was a stable boy at the time"
Marcus showed no reaction to the stateht, Oh, bloody hell! This McKenna was indeed the sao Marcus felt an iency to reach Aline He had to prepare her somehow for the news that McKenna had returned "Footboy," he corrected softly "As I recall, McKenna was made a house servant just before he left"
Shaw’s blue eyes were deceptively guileless "I hope it will cause you no discouest"
"On the contrary, I admire McKenna’s achievements And I will not hesitate to tell him so" That was half the truth The problem was, McKenna’s presence at Stony Cross would certainly cause Aline discomfort If so, Marcus would have to find a way to deal with the situation His sisterselse on earth, and he would never allow either of them to be hurt
Shaw sment of you was correct, Lord Westcliff You are as fair and open-minded as I suspected"
"Thank you" Marcus devoted hiar in his own coffee, wondering gri quickly, al, to her favorite place by the river, where a wildflower rasses alive with meadon and ht anyone here, not even Livia It was the place she had shared only with McKenna And after he had gone, it here she had cried alone
The prospect of seeing hi that could happen to her
Still clutching the erass and tried to callints, while tiny black beetles crawled along stalks of spiny gorse The pungency of sun-warled with the fecund s the progress of a crested grebe as it paddled by industriously with a slio whispered in her mind…
"I’ll marry no man but you, McKenna And if you ever leave me, I’ll be alone for the rest of o…"
She shook her head sharply, willing the tor the handkerchief into a ball, she drew her arentle river current The movement was stayed by a quiet sound
"Wait"
Six
Aline closed her eyes, while the word tugged gently at her shrinking soul His voice…only deeper and richer now, the voice of a h she heard the sounds of his feet treading closer, crushing the th just to keep breathing She was paralyzed by so heat that pumped into her with each frantic beat of her heart
The sound of his voice see to throw that into the river, I want it back"
As Aline tried to loosen her clutch on the handkerchief, it dropped coers Slowly she made herself turn to look at him as he approached The black-haired man she had seen in the courtyard was indeed McKenna He was even larger andthan he had see, his bold, wide-bridged nose set with perfect symmetry between the distinct planes of his cheekbones He was too masculine to be considered truly handso features But so for those lavish eyes, the clear blue-green brilliance shadowed by thick black lashes No one else on earth had eyes like that
"McKenna," she said huskily, searching for any reseht bear to the lanky, love-struck boy she had known There was none McKenna was a stranger now, a ant in well-tailored clothes, his glossy black hair cut in short layers that taathered more details…the shadow of bristle beneath his close-shaven skin, the glitter of a gold watch chain on his waistcoat, the brutal swell of hs as he sat on a rock nearby
"I didn’t expect to find you here," hehers "I wanted to have a look at the river…it’s been so long since I’ve seen it"