the diphthongs.”
“Aha,” said Lexington, evidently satisfied.
“What does that mean?”
“You said last night that you mistrust your ability to judge a man. My dear, you can judge a man just fine.”
She fidgeted. She was not used to being complimented on her abilities.
“Being an astute judge of man, have you witnessed anything in my character or conduct that would lead you to conclude you won’t be safe with me?”
“No,” she had to admit.
“In that case, would you allow me to offer you a cup of hot cocoa in my rooms?”
“It would be very messy, drinking hot cocoa with this veil on.”
“I’ll blindfold myself. You can take off the veil.”
“That is a very kind offer, but going into your rooms, sir, would encourage you when I have no intention of doing so.”
“How can I change your mind?”
“I don’t plan to change my mind.”
“There must be something I can do. Or give.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Do you think my favors can be purchased?”
“The point is not to purchase your favors, but to prove my sincerity. The knights-errant of old went on their impossible quests to prove that they were worthy of serving their lady. I will do the same here. Name something—anything—and I will find it for you.”
“On the
Rhodesia
?”
“She is a great ocean liner carrying a thousand passengers, if not more. Chances are, whatever you want, someone has it, or a close enough approximation of it.”
But if the duke woos me with a monster of a fossil, who knows how I might reward him.
She ought not. He was right. No matter how rare or exceptional an object, there was a chance that someone on board might have it.
“You are a naturalist,” she heard herself say.
“How do you know?”
She swore inwardly: They’d never discussed why he’d been away from England. “I saw the books in your room; I inferred.”
“Mysterious
and
sharp.” He smiled at her.
Perhaps he’d smiled at her before, but never in the light, with her looking directly at him. The transformation was astonishing. Gone was the last vestige of the iceberg. In its place, the tropics, all warmth and graciousness.
Her heart stuttered, to her chagrin. Was it not enough that he had already turned her plan on its head?
“Now how is it significant that I am a naturalist?” he asked.
She was almost absolutely certain neither he nor anyone else aboard had access to what she had in mind, yet she felt a sting of nerves in her soles. “I want a dinosaur skeleton.”
He raised a brow. “You jest.”
“Not at all. Do you have one?”
“No, I don’t. My specialty is not Dinosauria.”
Her disappointment was disorientingly fierce. She did want to go to the duke’s rooms, she now realized. But she wanted her decision to be made for her, for the Fates to compel her action.
“I do, however, have something that might pass as a suitable equivalent.”
She shouldn’t let him do this to her—dashing her barely understood hopes one second and reviving them the next. Especially now that she knew she shouldn’t be entertaining such hopes in the first place. “I don’t want to see the remains of little amphibians or trilobites.”
“Nothing of the sort.” He rose. “Come by my suite in an hour, will you? I will have it ready for you.”
“If it is less than magnificent, I shall turn around and walk out of the door.”
He smiled down at her. “And if it is everything I promised, what will you do?”
That smile was going to be her undoing. “I might stay and admire it for a while. But you still should not expect anything else.”
“I don’t
expect
. But I always go after what I want.”
She wanted him to. Fate or him, as long as
someone
took the decision out of her hands. “I should like to see you do that blindfolded,” she said, as haughtily
“Aha,” said Lexington, evidently satisfied.
“What does that mean?”
“You said last night that you mistrust your ability to judge a man. My dear, you can judge a man just fine.”
She fidgeted. She was not used to being complimented on her abilities.
“Being an astute judge of man, have you witnessed anything in my character or conduct that would lead you to conclude you won’t be safe with me?”
“No,” she had to admit.
“In that case, would you allow me to offer you a cup of hot cocoa in my rooms?”
“It would be very messy, drinking hot cocoa with this veil on.”
“I’ll blindfold myself. You can take off the veil.”
“That is a very kind offer, but going into your rooms, sir, would encourage you when I have no intention of doing so.”
“How can I change your mind?”
“I don’t plan to change my mind.”
“There must be something I can do. Or give.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Do you think my favors can be purchased?”
“The point is not to purchase your favors, but to prove my sincerity. The knights-errant of old went on their impossible quests to prove that they were worthy of serving their lady. I will do the same here. Name something—anything—and I will find it for you.”
“On the
Rhodesia
?”
“She is a great ocean liner carrying a thousand passengers, if not more. Chances are, whatever you want, someone has it, or a close enough approximation of it.”
But if the duke woos me with a monster of a fossil, who knows how I might reward him.
She ought not. He was right. No matter how rare or exceptional an object, there was a chance that someone on board might have it.
“You are a naturalist,” she heard herself say.
“How do you know?”
She swore inwardly: They’d never discussed why he’d been away from England. “I saw the books in your room; I inferred.”
“Mysterious
and
sharp.” He smiled at her.
Perhaps he’d smiled at her before, but never in the light, with her looking directly at him. The transformation was astonishing. Gone was the last vestige of the iceberg. In its place, the tropics, all warmth and graciousness.
Her heart stuttered, to her chagrin. Was it not enough that he had already turned her plan on its head?
“Now how is it significant that I am a naturalist?” he asked.
She was almost absolutely certain neither he nor anyone else aboard had access to what she had in mind, yet she felt a sting of nerves in her soles. “I want a dinosaur skeleton.”
He raised a brow. “You jest.”
“Not at all. Do you have one?”
“No, I don’t. My specialty is not Dinosauria.”
Her disappointment was disorientingly fierce. She did want to go to the duke’s rooms, she now realized. But she wanted her decision to be made for her, for the Fates to compel her action.
“I do, however, have something that might pass as a suitable equivalent.”
She shouldn’t let him do this to her—dashing her barely understood hopes one second and reviving them the next. Especially now that she knew she shouldn’t be entertaining such hopes in the first place. “I don’t want to see the remains of little amphibians or trilobites.”
“Nothing of the sort.” He rose. “Come by my suite in an hour, will you? I will have it ready for you.”
“If it is less than magnificent, I shall turn around and walk out of the door.”
He smiled down at her. “And if it is everything I promised, what will you do?”
That smile was going to be her undoing. “I might stay and admire it for a while. But you still should not expect anything else.”
“I don’t
expect
. But I always go after what I want.”
She wanted him to. Fate or him, as long as
someone
took the decision out of her hands. “I should like to see you do that blindfolded,” she said, as haughtily
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