Page 83 of Romancing Daphne

A ghost of a smile hovered on her lips.“You say that as though being pale isn’t one of my defining characteristics.” Before she even finished speaking, the tiny hint of amusement in her countenance disappeared.

He stood close enough to reach out and touch her, something he found himself overwhelmingly compelled to do.“Daphne.” He brushed his fingers along the top of her arm.

She closed her eyes. No smile touched her lips. The lines of strain onher face did not lessen. If anything, his touch seemed to upset her more. The look of misery on her face hurt more than a full-voiced diatribe would have. James let his hand drop back to his side.

“It was not my intention to impose on you further,” he said. “I was concerned about you and wanted to be certain you were well.”

She looked up at him then.“Adam will kill you if he sees you here, and Linus will happily assist him.” He thought he detected the smallest bit of concern in her otherwise unreadable tone.

“I know.”

She slipped through a separate door at the far end of the terrace.

Several long moments passed. He couldn’t seem to pull himself away. He silently willed her to return, to speak to him again.

He hadn’t truly apologized for what he’d done, hadn’t made any semblance of peace with her. Though Daphne had insisted otherwise, James wasn’t convinced she was truly well.

Far from finding closure, he only missed her more. Regaining her friendship seemed all but impossible. She didn’t want him there—that much wasclear. Likely, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Standing there in the shadows, James felt excruciatingly alone.

* * *

If Daphne knew one thing about gentlemen, it was that they were fundamentally confusing. She had pondered her brief and unusual conversation with James many times over the day and a half since their encounter on the terrace and still could not make heads nor tails of it.

He had been forced to court her, to feign interest in her. Why, then, would he knowingly place his life in peril simply to ascertain the state of her health? Such behavior served as rather convincing proof that women were not, in fact, the less logical of the sexes.

Realizing her thoughts had once again wandered to a subject upon which she had firmly told herself she would not waste further time, Daphne set herself to the task of making another turn about the small green in the shadow of Westminster. In an act of unforeseen underhandedness, Linus had enlisted Adam’s support in all but forcing her to spend the evening out of doors by insisting she and her brother come to Parliament to fetch him at the end of his day there. Daphne would rather have remained at Falstone House with her herbs and books.

She glanced over at Linus hurrying to catch up with her.“You insisted on this turn about the grounds; the least you could do is keep up,” she said.

The severe expression she kept up nearly slipped at his look of exasperation. The infuriating man deserved every ounce of trouble she was giving him.

“I’ve sailed on clippers that did not have your speed.” Linus reached her side, though he seemed to have left his breath a few paces behind.

Daphne offered not the smallest bit of sympathy.“You were the one who suggested I needed a bit of exercise.”

“The idea was Adam’s. He should be the one sprinting after you.”

“Would you like to tell him so?” She raised a questioning eyebrow in what she knew was a perfect mimic of Adam’s well-known expression.

“Not on your life,” Linus answered.“And not because I’m afraid of him, but because he is right. You spend too much time alone, and when you do join the rest of us, you are too quiet and withdrawn. I do not like seeing you this way.”

“I have attempted to spend time with our formidable brother-in-law, but he is too busy. Persephone is quite distracted of late. Artemis never holds still long enough to serve as company to anyone of a more subdued disposition. And you, dearest brother, have been quite preoccupied as well, attempting to sort out your own decisions.” She would rather not hear another recountingof how very unhappy she must be and a moment-by-moment retelling ofher“dashed hopes.” Making a show of being in better spirits seemed a wisestrategy. “I will admit, however, that I have been a bit dreary of late.If I canfind a means of blaming Artemis for my gloominess, I have every intentionof doing so. I simply haven’t formulated a believable explanation yet.”

Her show of humor did not appear to impress him. He watched her asthough he expected her to dissolve into a puddle of tears at any moment.

“If it will put your mind at ease, I will tell you this much, though if you breathe a word of it to Adam, I’ll skin you alive with a soup spoon.”

Linus laughed out loud.“You have lived under the Dangerous Duke’s roof far too long.”

Daphne found she could smile at that.“He has had an influence onme, I will confess.” They walked a moment in contented silence.“I amenjoying my rare moment outside, as Adam predicted I would.”

“He is almost as intelligent as he is fearsome,” Linus said.

“And he is coming this way.” Daphne motioned toward the figure of their frightening brother-in-law walking in their direction with his usual air of barely concealed bloodthirstiness. “If you have other things needing attending, I am certain he will see to it I complete my day’s exercise.”

A look of relief slid over his features.“Excellent. I will leave you to it, then.” He disappeared down the path before Daphne had a chance to say so much as one more word.

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