Page 58 of A Tempest of Desire
God, not even an hour had passed, and alreadyshe had so many things she wanted to discuss with him.
A knock sounded. Her bathwater. But before she could bid the servant to enter, Hollie was strolling into the chamber.
“Where have you— What the devil happened to your face?” Quickening his step, he reached her, gently took hold of her chin with his thumb and forefinger, and tilted her head this way and that, striving to take note of all the injuries. They looked worse than they had that first night. The lump on her head had flattened, but below her eye now was a dark bruise. Blood draining down, no doubt. “Did someone attack you?”
True depth of concern echoed through his voice.
“Mother Nature, I’m afraid. When did you return to London?”
“Yesterday. I tried to get here sooner but the rain slowed me down.”
“Yet your announcement in theTimeshad no difficulty winging its way to an editor’s desk.”
With a grimace, he released his hold on her and stepped back. “I was hoping to get here before you saw that.”
She lowered herself to the chair by the window and indicated the one opposite her. “Tell me about Lady Euphemia.”
Ignoring the chair she’d indicated, he leaned against the wall, his shoulder digging into the edge of the window as though he was striving to punish himself, because while she had tried to speak flatly, she was aware the tiniest sliver of hurt had edged its way along her tone. And he’d noted it.
“Have you seen a surgeon?” he asked, ignoring her previous request.
“I’m not in need of a physician. I have only scrapes and bruises.”
“I came by to see you yesterday. Your butler said you’d gone up in your balloon and had yet to return.” He looked out the window. “I was afraid... afraid you might have suffered your father’s fate.”
“I don’t know his fate.”
His gaze came back to her. “Which is all the worse. I feared I might never know what happened to you, might never see you again.”
He looked diminished and indeed fearful. She knew he cared about her, but she’d never felt any emotion containing much depth coming from him. They were cordial toward each other. Certainly from him, she’d never experienced the fire that raged within Langdon.
Hollie was a few inches shorter, his shoulders not as broad. And bless the man, he didn’t have much of an arse. Three of his front teeth overlapped each other, which gave him a bit of a boyish look. His nose was too wide for his face, his lips too thin. But she’d never minded that he wasn’t classically handsome. He’d always been kind and introduced her to new experiences.
His hair was nearly white, but she didn’t think it was prematurely lacking in color. His sister’s, from what Marlowe remembered of her visits to the modiste, was the same shade. He’d never introduced her to any family members, hadn’t really introduced Marlowe to his sister. She’d never been toany of his residences, so had never seen portraits of any of his ancestors. In truth, they’d never shared much beyond the surface of their lives.
She’d told him about her interest in ballooning because of her father and how he’d never returned from one of his flights, but she’d certainly never confessed how he’d managed to convince an entire village that he was an earl. Why had she told Langdon?
It had seemed so natural to share so much of her past with him.
“I crashed into the sea, near an island that was inhabited. I was rescued.”
His brow furrowed. “Which island?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe it had a name.”
“The inhabitants must have called it something.”
“Inhabitant. There was only one. Lord Langdon.”
Blinking, he eased away from the window edge. “You were with Langdon?”
“He was a perfect gentleman.” Perfect, at least. The gentleman part might be up for debate. “As you are well aware, since you offered me to him, he has no interest in me.” A little lie because what had passed between them was for her and her alone to hold dear and reminisce about from time to time.
“I don’t know why he switched out his cards that night—perhaps because heisa gentleman—but he was definitely interested,” Hollie assured her.
“Did you offer me to him because you knew a betrothal was on your horizon?”
“The way you two looked at each other... I fairly came away from that table scorched. Hence, I decided where was the harm in letting you test thewaters. Magnanimous of me, I thought. Perhaps when the time comes, he’ll be your protector.”
