Page 90 of A Touch of Charm
“Because you’re an innocent!” Stan shrugged as if she couldn’t possibly know her own heart.
“No, I’m not!” And just as she spoke the words, Thea bit her tongue. Oh no, she shouldn’t have implied…
“I beg your pardon?” Stan asked in German now, a language reserved for official meetings and correspondence. He was taking notes.
“I merely mean that I know my own heart.” Yes, that sounded harmless enough.
“And does anyone else know it?” Stan asked.
“Yes,” she said with a curt smile. Long sentences could get her into too much trouble.
Alex crossed his arms.
That was unlike him. In fact, he looked rather wild. Not in the wilderness sense, because he was clean-shaven and well-coiffed, as usual, but there was a fierceness to his gaze—impossible!
“You’re in love!” Thea exclaimed.
Alex jerked his head back. “What?”
“With whom?” Stan now joined the commotion.
“How did she turn this around to me?” Alex’s voice cracked when he switched back to Romanian and addressed Stan.
“That doesn’t matter, just tell me!” Stan seemed not quite like himself. “You haven’t been introduced to Lady Seraphina yet. So who?”
“Just someone I met in Cornwall,” Alex spoke silently. Thea and Stan cast each other a look.
“Is it that serious?” Thea asked.
“No, it can’t be.” Alex swallowed visibly and inhaled deeply. “It must not be.”
“And yet, it is too late, isn’t it?” Thea asked, holding her hand up when Stan groaned and rose to pace the room. “You love her?”
Alex slumped and gave Thea a rueful look.
That’s what it was. He’d blossomed somehow. The charade of the first to follow all the rules seemed to have cracked, and what it revealed was the faithful Alex, the one she hadn’t seen since they’d been children.
“And now you must marry Lady Seraphina?” Stan tsked. “Nothing’s lost. It’s perfectly well for you to bring some experience into the marriage.” Then Stan paused and gave Thea a severe look. “But not for you!”
Alex blinked a few times. “How do you know that I did—”
“I knew the moment I saw you, Alex.” Stan gestured as if he were brushing Stan from head to toe with paste. “Your voice is deeper, your gaze steady, and your voice cracks when you’re absent-minded. Whoever this girl is, she affected you deeply.”
Alex leaned his upper body forward and buried his face in his hands. “I feel split in two when she’s not with me.”
Thea’s hands flew to her mouth. “I cannot believe the hypocrisy!”
“I mean, I was fine. When Mama said I could meet Lady Seraphina while coming to England and escort Thea home, I didn’t think much of it. Life was fine.”
“Escort me home? When did I agree to come back?” Thea interrupted Alex, but he didn’t seem to pay attention.
He looked up at Stan, who had assumed a wide stance next to Alex’s chair. “And now that I left her in Cornwall, I feel like I’m not me.”
Stan narrowed his gaze and tilted his head to the side.
“I can’t describe it; it’s just that I’m not me without her.”
“You feel like a husk of your life that only she can fill?” Thea asked knowing the feeling all too well.
