Kendall’s menacing.
Everyone’s expectations.
An errant ray of sunlight slipped through the filmy curtains, blinding her.
Her lungs seized.
No!
Not now. Not again.
She took a deep breath. And then another.
How she hated this feeling, the sense that she was underwater, sucking air through a small hollow reed between her lips.
Dimly, she noted Malcolm’s alarmed expression, his creased brow.
Just breathe.
Why, oh why, could she not simply breathe?!
Malcolm clutched thearms of his chair, anything to stop himself from lurching to his feet.
Viola had gone so very pale, her eyes downcast, her cheeks a scorching red. Her bosom strained in her gown, clearly struggling to draw air.
How could everyone else at the table be so heedless of her distress?
Ethan laughed. “I should like to raise my glass to the hope of Miss Brodure seeing my humble self as more than just a sometime dinner companion.”
Viola pressed a shaking hand to her chest, lungs laboring.
Did no one else see? Did no one understand?!
“Enough, Ethan!” Malcolm surged to his feet.
Every head in the room swung his way, brows puckered and puzzled. Kendall flicked his eyes up and down Malcolm with scathing condescension.
Malcolm felt every inch of his uncultured upbringing—his country manners, his thick accent, his calloused hands—all stark foils to Ethan’s urbane sophistication.
Viola raised her head, gaze locking with his, those two spots of color flushing her cheeks.
Her chest heaved again.
That was all the encouragement he needed.
“Ethan—” He looked at his brother. “—ye are distressing Miss Brodure with your public declarations—”
“Truly, Malcolm?” Ethan scowled at him. “Miss Brodure is perfectly capable of—”
“She’s on the verge of an asthmatic fit!”
Viola gasped, breath wheezing.
Every eye turned toward her, likely intensifying her distress. She needed to be free of these weighty stares, removed from this stuffy room.
“Asthma?” Ethan asked, and then his brow cleared, as if remembering the scene by the folly. He looked down at her, alarmed. “Miss Brodure, how can I help?”
“Aye,” Hadley echoed, pushing to his feet.
