Then silence. A silence Max couldn’t afford to ignore. He hastened Adam into the room and pointed him in the direction of the port decanter, then briefly excused himself to answer the call of nature, determined to clear the air and tell her he, too, would march outside the offices of the blasted narrow-minded antiquarians because their dismissive treatment of her was entirely unacceptable.
He was prowling in the hallway when Effie reappeared and instantly blushed crimson. ‘Ah...’ Her eyes dipped to the hands which had suddenly clenched in front of her, so tightly her knuckles were white. ‘I hoped you would hang back... We need to talk... Urgently as a matter of fact... There is something important I have been meaning to tell you all evening... You see, the thing is, I might have inadvertently...’
‘I know. And you really do not need to worry.’ He waved away whatever damning words she was about to utter. Rejection was always best handled with indifference. Largely because his foolish pride couldn’t handle outright rejection. It was bad enough from everyone else—painful in the extreme, in fact—but hers had the power to seriously wound and he wasn’t entirely sure his battered heart was up to that.
She seemed relieved. ‘You know?’
‘It was inevitable...’ He smiled. Nonplussed. Or as nonplussed as he could smile when his throat had constricted with pain. ‘Wasn’t it?’ The masochist in him willed her to deny it.
‘It was a moment of madness.’
‘It was.’ Max shrugged. Hoped he appeared blasé and unbothered. ‘I shan’t hold it against you.’
‘Oh, thank goodness!’ Her breath came out in a whoosh. She was obviously and unflatteringly relieved. Like receiving a last-minute pardon while the executioner was sharpening his axe type relieved. His heart shrivelled, then wept at the sight. ‘I’ve been so worried about telling you. I was certain you wouldn’t take it well... I am not entirely sure what I was thinking, but at the time... Well, clearly I wasn’t thinking and acted on impulse rather than giving the matter serious thought...’ Each word slashed like a blade, but he kept his expression light. Something which took every bit of his strength to accomplish. ‘As you say, a moment of frustrated madness...’
‘It was just an exuberant display of excitement borne in the heat of the moment, Effie. Perfectly understandable after we had just unearthed that magnificent shield. I have never found anything before and now I understand what you see in it. Digging up treasure is a heady feeling. A heady feeling indeed...’ He was in danger of laying it on a bit thick. ‘Let us blame the shield for our stupidity.’
‘The shield?’ She blinked and her cheeks heated some more. ‘Stupidity? Are you referring to the kiss?’
‘It was hardly a kiss, Effie. More a bumping of faces in the tight confines of the trench. And quite obviously a big mistake.’
‘A mistake?’
‘Are you going to repeat everything I say now?’ He attempted a playful smile which physically hurt to keep glued in place while he waved the perfect kiss away with a dismissive flick of his suddenly lead-like hand. ‘It’s best forgotten, Effie. In fact, if you hadn’t brought it up, I probably would have forgotten all about it already—what with all the excitement of unearthing actual buried treasure and all...’ Something about her expression bothered him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. Because nerves were getting the better of him, he ploughed on regardless, mindful he was babbling like a country maiden attending her first ball at Almack’s, desperate to convince her he was perfectly nonchalant with her obvious bitter regret and disgust. ‘It’s funny really when you think about it.’
‘Think about what?’
‘Me and you.’ The feigned laughter sounded pathetically hollow to his own ears, so he sincerely doubted she was even slightly convinced by it, but he persevered. Wishing he were dead. ‘A hilarious joke...’ Except he wanted to cry it was all so tragic.
‘It is?’ Her expression was now as bland as the cream plaster wall behind her and he really could not read her. Awkwardness and hurt turned to uneasiness and abject humiliation, making him want to howl at the moon rather than stand in front of her denying all the feelings he could no longer deny to himself.
‘Well, of course it is. We are friends, Effie. Nothing more and nor could we be, thank goodness.’ Talking hurt. Swallowing was impossible thanks to the crushed glass which had suddenly materialised in his throat. His palms felt clammy and he wanted to run. ‘The fact we are friends is bizarre enough, don’t you think? What with you being the bane of my life and all...’
‘The bane.’
‘In a good way.’ The ground felt unsteady under his feet as he realised, too late, he had made a hash of things. Somewhere between blaming the excitement of the shield and perhaps a wee bit before he had called her a bane out loud, he had grievously insulted her. She made no attempt to mask the upset on her lovely face.
‘Can banes ever be good?’
‘In your case, exceedingly.’ He knew he had to fix it, but had no earthly idea how without telling her that he cared. For her. A great deal. ‘Not every man can boast a bane quite like you, Effie.’ Without the benefit of either a trowel or a shovel he was apparently digging the largest hole he had attempted in a fortnight. A deep, cavernous pit which was taking him straight to hell. ‘You are unique.’
‘Unique?’
‘Yes—different. Totally unlike any other person I have ever met before, nor likely will ever meet again...’ He paused before the truth tumbled out, before he confessed he found her attractive in every sense of the word—mind, body and soul—but she misconstrued his silence completely and instinctively backed away as if he just slapped her.
‘An oddity, then.’ There was no misinterpreting her expression now. She was angry. Two chocolate eyes glared back at him stormy.
‘Not in a bad way.’ Five pathetic and lacklustre words which he would have chiselled on his gravestone as penance after she murdered him for them. ‘Not so much an oddity in the odd sense, more odd that you are so...’ Maddening, lovely, entertaining, necessary, entirely perfect from your magnificent big brain to your mismatched earrings. ‘Errr...uniquely you.’
‘If you will excuse me, Max, your sister is expecting me.’
He caught her arm as she barged past and she stared at his hand as though it were a snake. ‘I am not articulating myself very well, Effie. You see, the thing is...’ Perhaps the best solution was to simply start all over again from the beginning, leaving out all the bits which might let her know he had fallen for her hard. ‘What I meant to say was...’
She tugged her arm away and peered at him down her nose. ‘I understood your initial statement perfectly, Max. Without the need for all your inappropriately descriptive clarification. Like everyone else you see my big brain first and not the woman! And there I was thinking you were different from everyone else!’ Then she stalked off towards the drawing room, leaving him standing there wondering how he had managed to make a bad situation so much worse without even trying.
Chapter Sixteen
Dig Day 801: it is still raining. Thank God!
