She fell into his lap and went stiff with panic. He tugged gently on her braid until she turned to look at him.
“You are so beautiful.” He loosened his grip on her arm.
Summer-blue eyes studied her. She loved his eyes. They were the first thing she had encountered that night when he had turned towards her, his expression shocked. What was he looking for now?
The rock on her lap nearly slipped from her grasp. She wanted him to kiss her, but he took the item from her hand instead. So, she rested her head on his shoulder, and it felt natural to do so, which was not what she had expected sitting on a man’s lap.
“Do you know what this is?” he asked.
“A rock?”
“It is a fossil. See here, the imprint of a sea animal that lived thousands of years ago.”
She raised her head off his shoulder. “Really?” Then she traced the imprint in the rock. “It looks a little like a large snail. Where did you get it?”
“I was in Lyme Regis. It was just lying there at the bottom of a cliff. Face up as if begging me to pick it up. They call it an ammonite. It is one of my most precious possessions.”
Thousands of years old?
“It would have been trapped in between layers and layers of rock until one day the waves of the ocean dislodged it and I picked it up.”
She had never touched anything so old. She had been trapped at Miss Covington’s until she too had beenpicked upand Tony became her guardian. She wanted to be precious to him too.
He gently took the fossil from her and placed it on the table beside him. It should have been her cue to get up but instead she stayed there, on his lap, and she let her head fall onto his shoulder again.
*
Tony picked upher hand and moved it about, intertwining their fingers. This was not how he planned to question her, had been wracking his brain as to how to do it without it seeming like he was interrogating her. And then she was here, right in front of him. He was not prepared to do this properly, but the alternative was to kiss her and that would not get either of them anywhere but into more trouble.
“You are a good girl, Lucinda.”
“I try to be good but really, I have always been a little too honest. It used to get me in trouble. The other girls did not like me.”
He could hear the sadness in her voice and wanted to soothe her. “I cannot believe that. You are lovely.”
She sat up studying his face. “Are you just saying that because you have been drinking? I thought you did not like me anymore.”
Well, that shocked him. They had a disagreement, but that did not mean he hated her. “Why would you think that?”
Small frown lines appeared between her brows. “You have not spoken two words to me since the exhibition. I know you are angry with me and I…”
He shook his head. How could she have been so wrong? “I was angry with myself, not you. I was acting jealous when I had no right to. I am sorry I ruined your time at the exhibition.”
“You are jealous? Of Dunstan?” she said in a shocked tone, her eyes searching his.
“Should I not be? He likes you, and you seem to like him.” She was so close, an inch closer and he could kiss her. This was madness. He had to control himself. She was not for him.
“I hardly know him. I mean I would like to get to know him, but balls really do not allow for a good conversation. In any case, I would rather be here with you.” She kissed him then. Soft lips, searching, her inexperience showing. Damn him, he kissed her back.
This was where he had to let her down again, for both their sakes, but he hated this feeling. “That is the thing, Lucinda. We should not be doing this. I do enjoy kissing you but if Mother were to catch us, or anyone really… the consequences are not worth thinking of. I can see in your eyes that you want me to keep kissing you but to what end? I like you. I like kissing you a lot, but I will not marry you. I cannot marry you.”
Her face fell, and she nodded. “I understand,” she said. “Pleasedon’t send me to Ashtonvale.”
What? Rocked by her passionate plea, he was tempted to kiss her again. To assure her she was safe here. Why would she even think such a thing? “Why would I send you there?”
“So I will not cause you any more trouble. I promise I will marry the first man who asks and let you get on with your life, but please don’t send me there alone.”
“Lucinda. I will never send you away. I take full responsibility for what has happened between us. I should not have kissed you that night or this night.”
