But did she also hear a hint of a plea?
She nodded sardonically. “Ah, IthinkI understand now,” she said on a faux hush. “And I’m soverysorry to hear about your impediment. I guess Lady Tomelty had it wrong, after all. Perhaps Mr. Delacorte has something in his case to remedy it.”
Marchand spun on his heel and stormed out the garden gate.
She jerked when he all but slammed it behind him.
She closed her eyes and dropped her face into her hands. She drew in ragged breaths through a nearly unbearable pressure in her chest. She wanted to scream. She wanted to sob.
She thought her entire being might fly apart.
She’d dragged in three ragged breaths when she heard the latch on the gate lift again.
She froze.
She heard the muffled crunch of his slow footsteps toward her.
Slowly, cautiously, she lifted her head.
Her heart turned over hard at Marchand’s expression.
It was tormented. Furious. Hunted.
Yearning.
He was breathing audibly.
“I look for heart-shaped rocks on the ground everywhere now,” he said. “Every. Bloody. Where.”
She froze.
“I beg your—”
“My eyes can’t be on the ground, Ginny. I need to be on the lookout for perils.”
She was stunned.
“All right,” she said carefully.
“And I don’t think you’re pretty at all.”
The bastard let her sit with that for a torturous few seconds.
“No. You’realarminglybeautiful, in an entirely unique way that somehow seems different every time I look at you. And I...”
Goose bumps raced over her skin. What was happening here?
“...and that makes it difficult to concentrate, let alone breathe. I need to think, Ginny. I need to breathe.”
Her own breath left. She couldn’t say a word. She was riveted.
“I’ve never—never—brought anyone to see Michael before. You’re the first.The Ghost in the Attichas nothing on the inside of my heart, Ginny, I can’t goshowingthe inside of my heart to people.”
“Gabriel...” she said softly.
He raised his voice. “And dear God, Guinevere, you are”—he paused to huff out a breath—“stubbornbeyond belief. And clever in ways that require me to constantly pay attention. And gentle in a way that makes me...” His voice frayed. “That I...”
His fury sputtered out.
