Page 108 of The Lyon Returns
Thoughts of his so-called acclaim amongst the women of thetonnow made terrible sense. Sudden, unreasonable jealousy flooded her, imagining women fawning over him, and him returning someone’s interest. She chided herself with a stern admonition. It made no sense for her to harbor jealously for women he had known prior to her.
But what about women he would know in future?
“Gwen, are you quite all right?”
“Of course. Why do you ask?” She swallowed, hard, and strove for a neutral expression.
He studied her, eyes narrowed. “You appear quite tense.”
She sniffed. She could hardly confess where her thoughts had gone. Not without sounding like a silly goose. “I was wondering about your friendship with Mr. Tyrell.”
“Oh? What about it?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Earlier, when we were at the river, I recalled the time when you fell in and he went in after you.”
He snorted. “You recalled reading my personal journal entry about the time I fell in and he went in after me.”
She inclined her head, not wishing to dignify his taunt with an answer.
“I have only a vague recollection of the event as I knocked my head on the way down and would surely have drowned if not for Brice—and Grayson, of course. Grayson was the best swimmer, of all of us.”
“You wrote how you felt like something knocked you in the head, but Brice said you’d fainted and had more likely hit your head on the way down.”
“What of it?”
“Do you often faint?” she asked.
“No never. Why?”
“But you did that day. Why do you suppose that is?”
“I have no idea,” Gideon answered. “It was a very long time ago. What are you getting at?”
She glanced out the window trying to imagine the day. “You were there, writing in your journal? And Brice was fishing in the shallows?”
“Yes. As I recall, Fannie had arrived the previous week and I believe he was hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He always hung about more when she was in residence.”
“And did he? Catch a glimpse.”
“She came out looking for me, I believe. Yes—she brought me lunch.” He laughed. “Brice raised a stink when he realized she’d brought nothing for him. She claimed not to have known he was there. She was probably lying. She enjoyed toying with people.”
Gwen nodded. “Then she left? And you fainted?”
“I suppose. I honestly don’t recall.”
“The thing is, you very definitely wrote you felt something had hit you in the head. Only Brice’s insistence you’d fainted convinced you otherwise.”
“Which is no doubt what happened,” Gideon said.
“Right. Then, he saved you.”
“He and Grayson pulled me from the drink. He probably couldn’t have managed without my brother’s help. I was unconscious and the undertow there is quite vicious especially when the river is high.”
“But what if you didn’t faint?”
He huffed out a laugh. “Then, I suppose something fell from the skies to knock me out?”
“I’m serious, Gideon. What if Brice hit you and then you fell?” Gwen asked.
