“I take it you are homesick for England about now?” he asked.
She nodded. “Christmas in the jungle isn’t how I planned to spend the holiday.”
“It took me a little while to get used to Christmas without snow.”
“But what about family?” she wondered. “Being surrounded by family is better than snow.”
“True.” He sighed. “I was born in Sussex, England. My father owns a small estate where my family and I enjoyed the country life. That is where I was raised, mainly.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“I had an older brother, who died one year ago, and I have two younger sisters who—as far as I know—still live at home.”
She crinkled her brow. “You don’t know for certain?”
“I have not spoken to my family in three years.”
“Why not?”
“I disagreed with my parents on what I should do with my life, so they disinherited me. They thought I should have been a soldier, or a clergyman. However, I became an officer with the Metropolitan Police until I was shot and nearly died. During my recovery, I decided I wanted to travel the world and search for adventure.” He shrugged one shoulder. “When you come that close to death, you realize all the things you want to do.”
“That is very true.” She paused. “So is that why they disinherited you? Because you want to travel?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head. “That seems cruel.”
“You are not a man from a titled family, so you wouldn’t understand.”
Sighing, she shrugged. “You’re probably correct.”
“In any case, I left home and haven’t written to my family since I told them goodbye. I’m hoping that my sisters, Ellie and Laura, have been married off to wealthy gentlemen by now, but I don’t know.”
“Why would you hope that?”
“Because then they will be well cared for. After all, that is what parents do when they have daughters.”
“I must say I’m very happy that I was not raised that way. Perhaps it’s because I only lived with my mother.”
“That was our way of life, Katrina. We did what our grandparents and parents wanted us to do. Our parents were doing what they thought was best for their children—without really knowing what was truly best for us.”
“I can understand that reasoning.” She paused again, wanting him to continue talking. “How did you come to be here in Brazil?”
He swiped a lock of hair off his forehead. “While I was recovering from the bullet wound, I met a traveler. He told me about Macapá. When I arrived, I met a few men who were guides for the area. Some men had even been guides in the rainforest. That is how I became the man I am today.”
Nodding, she smiled wide. “Because you thrive on adventure.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you ever wish to return to your family? To England?”
His smile slowly disappeared, and confusion gathered in his expression. “I would like to see my family again, but that isn’t my home any longer.Thisis my home. However, I’m certain there will come a time that I will be needed in England, and so I will eventually return.”
By the way he talked, she received the impression that he thought that time would come very soon. There was something he knew but wasn’t saying. She shouldn’t pry. Hopefully, he would share his secret with her when the time was right.
Her heartbeat pulsed to a nervous rhythm. This would be the right time to tell him about one of her secrets. She just prayed he didn’t think any less of her. From Felix’s story, she figured he was born into wealth. Her station in life was likely much further beneath his, and he could possibly change his opinion of her once he knew of the circumstance that brought her here.
There was only one way to find out. She must tell him now.
