Fragrant Flower by Barbara Cartland

the last thing I ever do!”
    But the ship was nearing Hong Kong, and he had the feeling that once Azalea was installed at Flagstaff House, Lady Osmund was going to prove a prickly barrier to prevent him from contacting her.
    The last night aboard, Lord Sheldon went down to the Third Class deck to say goodbye to Mrs. Favel.
    She was pathetically grateful for all his kindness.
    “I hopes I never has to go to sea again, my Lord,” she said, “and if my husband’s sent to any more of these heathenish parts I’ll not go with him, and that’s a fact.”
    “Now, Mrs. Favel,” Lord Sheldon said soothingly, “you know as well as I do that the Sergeant-Major cannot manage without you, and besides the children would miss him.”
    Mrs. Favel protested, though somewhat feebly, and Lord Sheldon was sure that when the time came for her to accompany her husband again she would do her duty.
    He gave her some money to buy presents for the children, then climbed the narrow companionway up to the Second Class deck.
    He actually had his foot on the stairs to go higher, when, looking down the passage, he saw a figure he recognised come out of a cabin at the far end of it and start walking towards him.
    He waited a little while until he was sure it was Azalea, and then he walked towards her.
    Her head was bowed and she was obviously deep in thought, so that she did not see him until she actually looked up to find him barring her way.
    She gave a little gasp of surprise.
    “I have been trying to see you.”
    “I – I have been – busy.”
    “Why are you avoiding me?”
    She was about to say that she was not doing so, when, as she looked into his face the lie died on her lips.
    “We have a lot to say to each other, Azalea,” he said quietly and she did not realise that he had used her Christian name for the first time.
    “I – have – to pack.”
    “I am certain that has been done already,” Lord Sheldon replied, “and anyway it is of little consequence. How can I see you when we reach Hong Kong?”
    “You cannot!” she answered. “My aunt would not allow it, and – anyway, I do not wish to – see you!”
    “Is that the truth?” he asked.
    Despite her resolution not to do so Azalea found herself looking into his eyes.
    Once again she felt that strange weakness because he was so near her – because he was so large and overpowering and it was impossible to escape him.
    She had an uneasy feeling too that she did not really wish to do so.
    Then she told herself frantically that the one thing she wanted more than anything else was to be free of him. Yet it was impossible to move and almost impossible to breathe.
    His eyes were on hers and once again she felt as if he hypnotised her and was drawing her to him although he had not moved.
    Even before his arms went round her she felt as though her whole being melted into his. Then it seemed as if without the conscious volition of their wills, without either of them being aware of what was happening, she was close against him and his lips were on hers.
    He kissed her as he had done before when they had been in the Study, and yet now his lips were more demanding, more insistent, so that it seemed to Azalea that he completely possessed her and she was no longer herself, but part of him. Now it was not a warm tide that flowed from her heart to her breast and from her breast to her throat. It was rather a fire, a streak of lightning, something which burned and flamed until it ended against his lips and became part of the fire within him.
    How long they stood there Azalea had no idea.
    The ship had disappeared. There was not even the sound of the engines – only a music which seemed to come from within herself and yet be part of the whole world.
    Nothing else existed – nothing else remained, except the wonder he evoked in her, a feeling of ecstasy which was divine.
    As she felt his arms tighten about her, there was a sudden chatter of voices, masculine laughter, and a party of