Page 5 of A Lord Apart (The Way to a Lord's Heart 2)

“Pump some water,” the man said to Kitty when they reached the kitchen. “Hurry up!”

Kitty jumped to obey. The man examined the stream as it began to flow. Seemingly satisfied, he held cupped hands below the spout and let them fill, then brought the water to Penelope. “Here. Drink!”

Despite her plight, she hesitated.

“The water’s good,” he added. “It’s a deep well.”

It wasn’t the water, Penelope thought; it was the curiously intimate service. But she was desperate. She bent and slurped liquid from his palms. Her lips brushed his skin as she drank. His fingertips touched her cheek, leaving a startling tingle behind. Finally, somewhat recovered, she croaked, “Flask.”

Kitty struck her forehead with one hand and ran upstairs to fetch the item. When she returned, Penelope took a deeper drink.

“You take brandy for your cough?” asked their visitor. He sounded amused and a bit scandalized.

“It’s water.” Her brother had used this flask for brandy. Not so long ago, and yet it felt like forever. She drank again. At last the cough subsided. Penelope sagged, worn out by the paroxysm.

The unexpected viscount took her arm and led her out to the low stone wall that surrounded the front garden. “Sit. You’re ill.”

There was nowhere else to rest. Penelope sat. “I’m not. That is, I have a lingering cold, which will soon disappear.”

“You can’t stay here,” he said, looking around as if he hadn’t heard her.

“Yes, I can.”

“I beg to differ—”

“Beg all you like. I’m not leaving.” It was rude, but Penelope wouldn’t be ordered about by this stranger. And no one would tear her away from her new home and sanctuary now that she had it.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Penelope Pendleton.” She waited for a sign of recognition. He showed none.

“Why were you left a house by my father?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“Well, apparentlyyoudon’t know, and he wasyourfather.”

This made him stiffen. “Tell me about your family. Where do you come from? Who are your people?”

Penelope went still, hearing similar demands, in harsher voices, echoing in her memory. Freely offering information had not done her much good since the killings in Manchester. Truth was scorned and twisted by powerful men—like the one addressing her, perhaps. “Must you loom over me?” she said to gain time.

But that was a mistake because he sat down beside her on the wall, bringing those dark probing eyes much closer.

A cough threatened. This time, Penelope let it come, aware that her struggles made her unwanted visitor uncomfortable. By the time the spasm was over, she’d decided that she wasn’t going to tell him anything. Not until she knew a great deal more. She sipped from her flask. “You really must excuse me,” she rasped. “I’m not prepared to receive callers.” This was her house. She had the right to refuse visitors, for the first time in endless months. A privilege she hadn’t appreciated properly until she lost it.

The irritating young woman gazed at Daniel from watering eyes. Sylphlike, he thought. That’s what she was. Damn sylphlike. He didn’t care for sylphlike women—sylphlike people, actually. They seemed to think their fragile frames were a sign of virtue, in contrast to his naturally sturdy figure. All that willowy slenderness was more likely to be unhealthy. Well, just witness the horrific cough that kept overwhelming the chit.

Miss Penelope Pendleton was pale. Her oval face was undeniably pretty, surrounded by blades of blond hair. Her blue eyes were large and clear—and not the least doll-like, he noticed. Indeed, they had the steady, stubborn resolve of a woman with something to hide. Daniel was the local magistrate; he knew that look.

She coughed weakly into her hand. Now she was being piteous on purpose, to make him feel like a bully. There were twisty corners to this young lady. Daniel felt a brush of the astonishing sensation that had run through him when she had drunk from his hands. Her lips had been so delicate on his palms. He had to find out more about her, for a variety of reasons.

“I really think I must rest,” she said.

He was betrayed into an exasperated laugh. “On what? The bare floorboards?”

“I have quilts—”

---