“You don’t seem fond of England,” she said as she hooked the basket over her arm, took his hand, and allowed him to assist her to her feet. “Yet you are going there now.”
“Everyone goes to London for the season, do they not? But I confess, England does not impress me. So cold, so rainy. But,” he added, retaining her hand as she moved to withdraw it, “now that you will be there, I shall have to change my opinion. You would make the sun shine anywhere, I think.”
Somehow, his lavish compliment did not impress her quite as much this time, perhaps because the tight way he held her hand was beginning to make her a bit uncomfortable.
“You flatter me,” she murmured and pulled her hand from his.
This time, he let it go, and once again, he glanced past her. “They are most luxurious, these parlor suites, are they not?”
He seemed terribly curious about her rooms, she noted in some amusement. This was the second time he had brought up the topic, and she couldn’t imagine what he found so fascinating.
She had no chance to ask.
Suddenly, like an explosion out of the clear blue sky, the count was flying back from the doorway into the corridor, his collar and the back of his jacket in Jonathan’s grip.
“What are you doing?” Marjorie cried, stepping out of her room and watching in stunned dismay as Jonathan hurled de la Rosa down the corridor.
“Get out,” Jonathan told him, his voice like the snap of a whip through the air. “Get out of my sight before I beat you to a bloody pulp.”
The count didn’t need to be told twice. “Farewell,cherie,” he called over his shoulder as he fled down the corridor. “I fear we will not meet in London after all.” With a last glance of regret, he ducked around the corner and vanished.
Marjorie turned to face Jonathan as the count’s hurried, descending footsteps sounded from the stairwell. “What on earth is wrong with you?”
“With me?” He stared at her, actually seeming surprised by the question. “Nothing. Too bad we can’t say the same about him.”
She shook her head, baffled by the fury in his face. “I think you’ve gone crazy.”
“That’s quite possible,” he acknowledged, glaring at her with a resentment she in no way deserved.
“I suppose,” she said, glaring right back at him, “your sudden arrival means you’ve decided to stop ignoring me?”
“My behavior isn’t the issue. Damn it, Marjorie, I warned you to stay away from that man—”
“Oh, please,” she cut him off. “For five straight days, I’ve hardly seen you, much less had a civil word. I’ve tried to talk with you and been snubbed for my trouble, and I’ve been tearing my hair out, wondering what I might have done to earn your animosity. But now, after that boorish display, I’m wondering why in blazes I even care.”
“I’m not the one who deserves censure here.”
She stiffened. “Are you referring to me? Not that it would be surprising, since I always seem to be doing the wrong thing in your eyes.”
Something flickered in his face, something that softened the anger in his countenance, but he looked away before she could define it. “I wasn’t talking about you,” he muttered, taking a deep breath. “I am fully aware that de la Rosa is the only one at fault here.”
“On the other hand,” she went on, in no frame of mind to let him shift the blame for his own conduct onto the count, “it’s not much of an improvement when you finally do decide to make an appearance. What did you think you were doing just now?”
“I was defending you.”
She lifted her hands in total exasperation, then lowered them again, rattling the contents of the basket over her arm. “From what?”
“That cur was in your room.” He jabbed a finger toward the open door behind them. “Your room, for God’s sake.”
“He was not in my room. He was in the doorway.”
“He wasblockingthe doorway.”
“He was helping me! Lady Stansbury had sent me to fetch this.” She paused, holding up the basket. “As I was coming back out of our suite, the count happened to be passing. We collided accidently, everything spilled out, and he was kind enough to help me put it all back—”
“Forgive me if I’m doubtful it was an accident.”
“Would you listen to yourself?” she said in disbelief. “You took an instant dislike to him, and now, you insist on attributing any number of horrible vices to his character.”
