“I like being your first thought when something’s upsetting you.”He drew her deeper into the room.“Here.Test this chair for me, and tell me what happened while I work.”Lord, please don’t let it be something to do with Adler or Mrs.Reed.
“Test it?”
“It was a little loose, but I’ve tightened it now.”
She looked skeptically at it before gingerly sitting.It held without a creak.Hopefully it would hold a man nearly twice her size during tonight’s performance.Needing something to do with his nervous energy until she gathered her thoughts, he pulled a sword from the barrel and inspected it.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about whatever comes to mind first?We can sort things out and make sense of them as they arise.”
“A pragmatic approach, but I’m afraid all my thoughts are crashing together, and I’m not sure we can make sense of any of them.”
Ezekiel gestured to the object-filled room around them.“It’s my job to take chaos and bring it into order without losing the beauty ofstory.Most often it’s a new project every day, so I have to be quick on my feet.I promise, you won’t lose me in the mess of your thoughts.”“I’m not afraid of losing you in the mess.More like scaring you off.”
He laid the sword aside and pulled another.“Don’t worry, I’m well-armed.”He took up an en garde stance and feinted a lunge.At her crack of a smile, he lowered his weapon.“So what are you thinking right now?”
“That you’d make a terrible fencer with that poor form.”
“You’re right.I’m much better with a broadsword and slaying dragons.No good form required.Just strength and wit.”
“I’m not sure this is a dragon you can slay.”She nibbled on her bottom lip before blurting, “Do you ever fear becoming your mum?”
His tension released with a breath.Good.This wasn’t about Adler or Mrs.Reed.Still, that was quite a thought.“Not particularly.”At heroh, he realized he probably should have lied and said yes to put her at ease.“But that’s not to say I’d think any less of you if you feared it of me or for yourself.”
“So you wouldn’t end our courtship and run far away if I said that I constantly feel like I’m being watched and followed?Or that I see imaginary people?”There was a challenge to her tone, and he couldn’t determine if she was serious or merely giving an outlandish example to unsettle him.
He returned the sword to the barrel and pulled a chair from the corner.Once across from her, he took her hands and leaned forward until she couldn’t escape his gaze.“I’m not going anywhere.After all you’ve been through, I would think it normal for you to experience those things.Especially given Winston has never been arrested and your parents still fear for your safety.”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
“Haveyou been feeling like you’re being followed and watched?”
One hand pulled free and went to that cameo.With how often she’d been rubbing it of late, it was a wonder the silhouette hadn’t been smoothed away by her touch.He wanted to pull her hand backdown and stop her, but as it seemed to give her some measure of comfort, he focused on the fear not even her attempt at a blank face could hide.
“Yes.”The word came out as a whisper.“I think Father may have been right about staying away from the opera.Until I attendedOlivette, the only thing I felt followed by was Flossie’s annoying puppy.”
An uneasy prickle marched down his spine.Part of him had hoped he’d been wrong about Adler, but if this was going where he suspected, there would be no denying he was responsible for putting Nora in danger.
She dropped her chin, severing her gaze from his.“During the performance, I had a fit of nerves.I couldn’t breathe, and all I wanted to do was run from the building.There was something about one of the actors that made me feel as I had when taken.”
Ezekiel closed his eyes and drew a slow breath.There went any possibility of denial.Whether or not she recognized Adler as Winston, her subconscious had.
“I dismissed it, but when I arrived home and was moving from the carriage to the house, I heard the same voice call me Eleonora.No one except Mum has called me that since we left New York.Since then, I often feel as though Winston is watching me, following my every errand.I’m afraid I’m going crazy like Mum.”
“You’re not going—”
“You don’t understand.It gets worse.I’ve seen him, spoken to him, felt his suffocating grip over my nose and mouth.”Her hand trembled as she lifted it to her lips.
He shot to his feet, ready to storm from the building and hunt down that brute.How dare Adler touch her.The man belonged in prison, not on a stage.If Ezekiel ever saw his face again, it would be Ezekiel’s hands onAdler’sthroat.
“Except I’m not sure it even happened.”
His internal tirade skidded to a stop.He blinked, silently repeated her words, then frowned as he sat.“What do you mean you’re not sure?”
She wouldn’t look at him, just continued to rub the necklace.“I was home alone on Saturday when Winston and Ursula attacked me in my bedroom—”
It took every bit of restraint Ezekiel had not to jump to his feet again and march out to find the scoundrels.To attack Nora at all was horrifying, but in her bedroom?He clenched his jaw with teeth-cracking strength and forced himself to listen to her finish.
