“I did not care for cigars or brandy. And billiards is not my game,” Keaton replied.
There was something strange in his voice. The usual coldness was there, the aloofness as though he spoke from atop a high wall. But there was something else now. She frowned, stepping further into the room and towards the shadow that swathed the far half.
“I feel I am getting a taste of your life,” she laughed softly, bumping into a footstool.
“Do you, by god? What impudence. All you have experienced is some shadow and dim light. You can step back into the light at any time. Hardly the same.”
“Keaton? Whatever is the matter?” she frowned, walking further into the room.
The source of his voice had changed. Georgia looked to her right, where he now seemed to be speaking from.
“I observed your enjoyment at your conversation with Lord Hale,” Keaton started.
Then he laughed. It was a cold, unemotional sound. The very antithesis of true laughter.
“Observed! Obviously, that is just a figure of speech. I could not see the pleasure in your faces, only hear it in your voices. I’m sure it was perfectly obvious to everyone around the table.”
The door suddenly slammed shut, making Georgia jump. She was plunged into complete darkness. A line of light at floor level and a pinprick at keyhole level showed her where the door was, but did not cast enough light to see by.
“You’re scaring me, Keaton. What are you talking about? I exchanged a few brief words with Lord Hale. Just enough to dissuade his interests, I hope.”
“Ha!Dissuade? Give my sense of hearing more credit. Were you trying to dissuade him a few moments ago when he came looking for you, too?”
Georgia was turning slowly, trying to follow Keaton’s voice. But he had her advantage. He knew the room and was in the element he had become used to by necessity.Darkness. She kept bumping things while he seemed able to move silently. Fear began to turn to anger as she barked her shin on the edge of a table.
“I have only just left the ladies in the drawing room, quite literally moments ago. You can come and ask them if you do not believe me!”
“Do not try to humiliate me!” Keaton roared, suddenly appearing out of the dark.
Georgia’s first instinct was to shy away, but she forced herself to stand her ground. He stopped near her, looming over her menacingly. She could see the silhouette of his body, but could not make out anything more distinctive. Could not read emotion. Her heart raced at the venom in his voice. She breathed deep and tried to remain calm.
“I am not and would not. I have too much to lose. Surely, you can see that? For the sake of my brother and my cousin, I very much need you.”
Keaton laughed vindictively, and Georgia hoped she would never again hear such a cold, callous sound.
“You deny what I heard at the dinner table?” he demanded.
“Yes! I deny anything inappropriate. He was rather flirtatious, and I did my best to rebuff him without causing offence. I did not once smile at him.”
“That is not how it sounded.”
“And how does a smile sound?” Georgia demanded, “Am I smiling now?”
She contorted her face into a rictus grin, as wide as she could.
“It is irrelevant. I heard him call to you in the hallway out there. You were walking after me whether you knew it or not. I suspect not. Then he… summoned you, and you went to him. I did not need to see your smile. I heard your laughter.”
“Making a joke, was he?” Georgia snapped, frustrated and annoyed at the sudden change in Keaton.
“At my expense,” he breathed in a voice that bubbled with repressed rage.
Georgia swallowed, made more nervous by the poor light.
He was right. It was crass of me to joke that I had some inkling into his life. I am not blind, but it has me unsettled.
“I must light this room…” she began, turning away.
But Keaton caught her arm in a vicelike grip, holding her in place. He hardly seemed to move, one hand lashing out like a striking snake. And catching her as though the darkness did not exist. She tried to free herself but found that she could not. It was as though her wrist had been caught by a statue carved from solid marble. He pulled her close to him, and that grip seemed to change. It still held her like a steel manacle, but her fingers seemed to caress. His breath caught. She felt him draw in a shuddering breath as of a man faced with unbearable temptation. She felt the same as her body came into such close proximity to his.
