He narrowed his blue eyes. “Can you not use the cards to do your own fortune?”
“Where is the fun in that?” she asked, though that had been her original intention. But now that Lucian was here, she wanted to do his fortune. “Please?” she nearly begged.
“Very well,” he blew out a sigh and then took a seat opposite of her.
“Would you care for wine or brandy?” she asked, even though they were in his home and he was the host.
“Tea,” he answered. “Neither one of us need to drink brandy again.”
Eliza frowned. Was he blaming their kissing on too much brandy? She really had not drunk that much and didn’t think he had either. Was that merely an excuse he was making to himself for kissing her?
Eliza would ask, but she didn’t want to spoil the evening since he was no longer hiding from her.
“Then we shall have tea.” Eliza rose and stepped into the corridor since there was always a footman about, made the request then returned to the parlor and settled across from Lucian. She then picked up the cards and began to shuffle as she grinned. This would be fun, and she also wondered if there would be any accuracy, though expected none.
She then held out the cards. “You are supposed to cut them then place them on the table.”
Lucian cut near the bottom of the deck and then set them in front of her.
She then referred to the diagram – then placed the first card face down in the center of the table, then placed the second one over the first, but turned sideways. To the left she placed the third card and to the right she placed the fourth, followed by the fifth at the top and sixth on the bottom. She then made a row to the right of four cards, seventh through the tenth.
The footman entered and placed the tea service at the corner of the table. Before turning any of the cards, Eliza poured for both her and Lucian. “Are you ready?”
He accepted the cup with a chuckle. “I eagerly await my future.”
Chapter19
Lucian didn’t knowwhat possessed him to allow Eliza to give him a tarot reading since first, he didn’t believe in such nonsense; second, she wasn’t even certain she knew what she was doing; and third, he was trying to avoid her and the temptation that always arose in her presence. Yet, this was a safe activity. They were not touching and drinking tea, which did not alter one’s perceptions or lessen control.
Eliza pulled the first card in the center from beneath the second one that she had placed. “This represents your present.” She turned it over to reveal a hand painted card.
“Oh!” Her eyes widened in alarm.
Even though Lucian did not believe in this nonsense, he was also discomforted by Eliza’s response. “What is it?” he asked.
Eliza picked up the sheets of paper and rifled through them, then blew out a sigh. “It is not as bad as I feared.”
“As it is my fortune, should you not tell me?”
“I was alarmed because it is Death.”
Bloody hell! Maybe he should drink brandy instead.
“But it doesn’t mean literal death,” she hastened to say. “At least, not according to these instructions.” She looked at the parchment and read, “Upright means the end of a cycle, beginnings or change.”
It wasn’t as scary is it appeared, and also general enough that it could mean anything.
Lucian settled back and waited for the second card to be turned.
“This one is for your immediate future.” She turned it over then looked through the sheets of parchment again. This reading was going to take them all night, not that he really minded. “The King of Swords means head over heart and discipline.”
As that is what he intended, especially when it came to Eliza, Lucian offered no argument.
“The third card is your goals or maybe destiny.” She grinned and turned it over then repeated the act of trying to find the explanation in the sheets of parchment. “Queen of Pentacles for practicality and financial security.”
Eliza glanced up. “A medium or mystic is better able to interpret the meaning as they pertain to you and your life, past, present, and future and how they come together. These pages only have a minimal explanation for each card.”
“I understand and promise not to hold you to any future predicted.”
