For the sake of propriety and to avoid any further comments, I suggested that she find Mr. Warren and inquire about additional books that he had mentioned.
There was definitely a mischievous glint in those blue eyes.
“Of course, miss.”
“Your ward?” he replied.
Again that faint curiosity was there. I wasn’t at all certain whether it was for Lily’s impudence, or the fact that I was now in charge of a young person very near the age when Sir James and I first met.
“We’re assisting her with her education, and…”
“Manners?” he suggested.
“She can be rather outspoken,” I admitted. “My apologies.”
“Most charming, and nothing to apologize for, Mikaela.”
Charming was not a word I would have used.
“You have recently returned from your latest travels,” I maneuvered the conversation in another direction.
“Yes,” he replied. “I have just returned from Alexandria. Fascinating place, Egypt, I am certain you well remember.”
The conversation continued in that direction, recalling some of the places we had both visited on that journey that hadbeen quite eye-opening for myself, having never before ventured farther than Paris or my aunt’s estate in the south of France.
I remembered our first encounter and the fact that I had been quite taken with Sir James and his vast knowledge of some of the places we visited on my first adventure.
He seemed much the same now, aristocratic bearing, quite tall, with perfectly groomed dark brown hair. That blue gaze that I had once found to be quite mesmerizing, with lean, handsome features seemed hardly changed.
“You would be quite interested in the recent antiquities that were brought out of Luxor,” he was saying now. “I also had the opportunity to spend time at the Temple of Edfu. Most fascinating. Of course, there are many travelers that visit now.”
I remembered that trip down the Nile, recommended to me by a friend of my aunt, Amelia Edwards, who had first whetted my appetite for adventure. A noted journalist and adventurer, herself, she had recently returned from what she called her last visit to that ancient land.
She was very near my aunt’s age, but time and those countless foreign explorations had taken a toll. However, even with white in her hair, there was still that glint of curiosity in her eyes.
“It’s the misery in my knees,”she had explained on that last visit I had made. “I fear that I have ventured through the pyramids and tombs for the last time.”She winked at me then.“Now it is time to write about my adventures.”
I noticed the glazed expression now in Lily’s eyes. Boredom, I thought. Or possibly something else?
“And what of yourself?” Sir James then inquired. “Obviously you have found success with your novels… Five of them now, I stand corrected.”
This was said with a glance at Lily, who looked at him with that same faintly bored expression. Definitely somethingelse behind her dark blue gaze that usually had such a lively expression.
The shop manager approached to thank me for appearing that afternoon as the last of the customers departed and I realized it was very near the closing hour. He was greatly pleased with the number of book sales that afternoon.
“If you would be so kind, Miss Mikaela, I would very much like to host a similar event when your next book is published.”
I thanked him as well and assured him that Mr. Warren would be in contact with him in that regard.
“Would you perhaps join me for late afternoon refreshment?” Sir James inquired. “And your ward as well, of course.”
I caught the flare of some other emotion in Lily’s gaze. However, whatever she might have said— not that she wasn’t outspoken— instead, she let out an excited sound and headed for the entrance to the shop.
Brodie had returned. He smiled at Lily as she took hold of his arm and steered him in our direction. His dark gaze met mine.
I did appreciate that he had returned, even several hours late. I introduced him to Sir James.
“Mr. Brodie?” he commented. “The girl mentioned your name.”
