Or, if she imagines anything at all, will she think it’s Seton?
Hastily, Jack took himself several paces acrossthe room, away from her altogether. The choice was timely for she stirred awake, blinking, pushing herself upright.
She wrinkled her nose. “What areyoudoing here?”
“You don’t remember?” Browning’s bed creaked as he sat. “You swooned.”
“I don’t swoon!” She squinted at him with a suspicious air. “I demand that you let me go!”
“Hey now!” He held up his hands in faux surrender. “You’re free to walk right out. I brought you in out of the sun, that’s all.”
She screwed up her face again in a manner not in the least ladylike. He didn’t doubt that, if he crossed a boundary with her in any way, she’d thump him straight on the nose.
Prickly and scrappy.
“I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m…not myself today. If I may, I’ll sit here for a minute.”
From a flask he poured her a glass of water, then sat again, leaning his elbows onto his knees, trying to appear relaxed.Thankfully he’d been airing the tent, so he hoped the nose-wrinkling wasn’t the result of her being offended by the accumulation of masculine odors. He could see her surveying the meager accommodation. Beside the camp beds, there was a table piled with papers, and a jacket slung over the back of the chair. There wasn’t much else, except for his trunk, at the foot of the bed.
“I remember you, from the hotel.” She sipped at the water. “You’re working with Lord Seton.”
“I don’t know for how much longer. Got me up in the cliff tombs, making copies of things that have been recorded umpteen times already. Not that it isn’t interesting, but…” He shrugged, knowing he ought to be grateful.
It was just that the temple was something else altogether, such as had never been found before. There was more he could say, but cataloguing his grievances to Seton’s fiancée probably wasn’t the wisest move.
“Jack Balfour.” He gave a mock salute. “Seton was married to my aunt. That’s how I ended up here, for my sins.”
“Ah yes.” Her aqua-blue eyes held his. “It’s funny to think, if our timings had been different, we might have met before…I went away.”
She looked mournful, and he felt a pang of sympathy. The circumstances under which she’d lost her father were horrific. He understood she’d been living with her aunts ever since.
Jack’s own family exasperated him, but he was fond of them. “I’m sorry for what happened with your father. They’ve made the site safer since then.”
She leaned forward. “Thank you, and I’m sorry about your aunt. Agnes, wasn’t it?”
Jack gave a curt nod. “My mother’s sister. They met while Seton was funding a dig in Alexandria. I visited briefly, before returning to my college, in Cambridge.”
Onora looked thoughtful. “I regret never having met her. Her father was involved inarchaeology, I believe, so we’d have had much in common.”
He paused, uncertain of how much to say. The urge to be honest won out. “I didn’t get the impression he made her happy. They’d been married only a short time, but I had the feeling he was disappointed in her, and that she knew it. I can’t think of anything worse, being stuck with someone, knowing they don’t really want you. In any case, she wasn’t unhappy for much longer. News of her death came soon after I left. Cholera, apparently.”
At least, that’s what he chose to tell us.
Jack had never been sure he believed it.
“That’s…extremely sad.” Onora sighed. “I’m sorry for it. For her, I mean. Being married can’t be easy, especially to remain compatible through the passing years. We change so much. It’s difficult to imagine our lives with someone for all the decades ahead, and to know that we’ll remain content.”
He had the sense she wasn’t speaking solelyabout his aunt. Was she rethinking her commitment to Seton? The idea made him bold.
“Be careful with him.” Jack caught her gaze. “You might think Seton a catch because of his wealth, and what he can offer you, but I don’t think he has the capacity to put someone else before himself. I’d hate to see you…”
She cut him off. “You think I’m marrying him for money? I can assure you I haven’t need of it. My father left me perfectly well off. Or is it the title you think I’m hankering after?” Her eyes flashed. “I preferred you in Cairo. You were an unabashed flirt, but at least you weren’t lecturing me.”
“That was before I knew you were marrying Seton,” he snapped back.
“I think we’ve exhausted our small talk, don’t you?” Standing, she smoothed down her skirts and picked up her hat.
He pre-empted her desire to leave by rolling up the tent flap.
