Page 5 of If You Were the Only Girl in the World
For the better.
CHAPTER2
“You are, aren’t you? Lord Carbury?”
“Actually, I prefer Colonel Langston. But Carbury, yes.”
“Of course.” Her large doe eyes swept over his uniform.Smiling, she shifted in his embrace. “Oh, thank you for this. What would have happened to me if you hadn’t come along?”
“I hate to think of it. But we’re in the right place at the right time together.”
She grinned at that. “Again.”
Remembrance waltzed through him like a melody that so often brought him to a smile. He recalled the evening, the very moment they met because it had changed his life. Though their encounter was composed of words he might count on his fingers, he remembered the essence of her. Sprightly, sorrowful, eager to escape the ballroom and her strictures. “Of course. Miss Schubert. From Chicago. The young debutante who wanted to become a doctor.”
Her joy that he remembered her suffused her with such glee that in that dark evening hour the sun shone brilliant as noon for him. “Katrina Schubert. I am. And you do remember me. How gratifying.”
He could barely form words with just how wonderful his discovery of her meant to him. “You caused quite a fuss when you departed days later.”
Her brows lifted and her eyes danced. “I did. Here and in America.”
“For me, too.”
“You? How so? Oh!” She shifted and absent-mindedly stood on that foot because pain creased her sweet round face. “I’ve got to go. Get off my feet. Sit.”
“Of course you do.”
“The longer I wait, the worse my ankle will be.”
“I agree.”
“If you could help me get a taxi—?”
“I will not.”
She blinked. “What?”
He grinned at her, then pointed to the steps up to his house. “We’re going there. My house.”
“No.”
“We are.” He waved a hand toward the street, now empty. “As you can see, no taxis are available. And that right there is my house. Not quite mine. But the family’s. We all use it when we are here. Or rather now the men in the family use it when we are stationed here for whatever length of time. The women of the family come occasionally to restock our cupboards, sort the linens and order repairs. And you are coming up those stairs with me so that I can take care of your ankle.”
“Lord Carbury—”
“Nate.”
She frowned. “I cannot take advantage.”
“You aren’t. You’re being wise. I’m being a gentleman. Come now.”
She eyed the steps, and made a little moue with those marvelous plush lips of hers.
“You consider it. Wise of you.”
“Your wife will—”
“I have no wife.”
