Page 102 of The Moonstone Pirate
She nodded. “You seem to be full of them today. Is it because you are more badly injured than you let on?”
He sighed. “I am not badly injured. It is little more than a scratch. Should I not compliment you?”
“I like it when you do,” she admitted. “It just feels odd. You turn your feelings on and off with such ease. I know you like me,but…I sometimes worry that tomorrow you will suddenly turn that feeling off and move on.”
Blessed saints.
He wanted to devour her. He could not get enough of her. How could she think he would ever simply walk away?
“Butterfly, my feelings do not change. I am merely better able to hide whatever I do not wish to show.”
“I wish I had that talent.” She sighed in resignation. “Draco, what will you do if we find something more? Perhaps the information you already have is enough to call off this dangerous operation. Do you think so?”
He shrugged. “It isn’t, Imogen. I need something more, something quite spectacular.”
She took a sip of her lemonade, then cupped the glass in her hands and stared thoughtfully at the pale yellow liquid. “I hope Parrot and Constable Angel return soon. I would feel much better if you had Parrot by your side this evening.”
“Me too. They’ll return shortly, I have no doubt. Walter, that rascal, is not going to get far on foot. With Parrot’s help, Constable Angel will find him and haul him back to Moonstone Landing for questioning. The constable probably has him in custody as we speak.”
“Yes, I hope you are right.”
“Imogen, there’s something else I wanted to mention to you…”
She set aside her glass and gripped the sketchbook she had been skimming through as they spoke. “Yes, Draco?”
By the way she was holding her breath and looking at him with adoring eyes, he knew she misunderstood his pause in conversation and was now hoping for him to say something romantic.
It did not help that his gaze was smoldering. He could not look at her without wanting to pull her into his soul.
“I’ve asked Thaddius to give me information on the two gentlemen who were in the tea shop with their wives when the Walter incident occurred.”
She regarded him with a blank expression, then pursed her lips. “Why them?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps I have become too cynical, just as you accused. There was something in the way they were looking at me that raised my suspicions.”
“But you had just been shot. Should they not have been watching you closely? Everyone had their eyes on you.”
“Their eyes were on me before that shot ever rang out. At first, I thought they were eyeing you because you are so beautiful, but then I noticed they were watching my movements and not yours. I don’t know. The way they exchanged glances with each other after I was shot also felt curious.” He quickly told her what else he’d learned from Thaddius. “They were here each time the Irishman showed up in Moonstone Landing. Last July. Last April. And now this July.”
“Just like Healey and Burke?”
He nodded.
“Could it be mere coincidence?”
“Perhaps, but what if it’s more? The exact dates match. Had they been coming here monthly or on some other regular schedule, I would have dismissed them. But they were here only on those dates.”
“And that is too curious a circumstance to be overlooked?”
He nodded. “I wanted to leave no stone unturned, so I’ve asked Thaddius to check his guest registers for any other names that might crop up as being here during those exact periods.”
“Draco, this is so exciting. I think we are getting close to fitting together all the pieces of this rebel plot. The Home Office ought to be very proud of the job you’ve done.”
“It isn’t over yet.” He cast her an affectionate smile. “But you are the one who deserves all the recognition. I couldn’t have done any of it without you, Imogen.”
“I think we make a good team. Don’t you?” She was now blushing furiously, so he knew she was once again referring to them romantically.
He knew the day had left her overwrought and she wanted more from him than a discussion of possible plotters against the Crown. He took the glass of lemonade from her hands and set it aside. He also set her book aside. “Have you opened the gift I got you?”
