“Maddening?” she repeated in wonder. “Whatever for? You asked me what I saw, and I am telling what I see, my Lord.”
“Perhaps you need spectacles for when you look in mirrors,” he said, shaking his head. “You clearly do not see what I see.”
“You are very kind to try and cheer me up, my Lord, but I am afraid it will not work today.” She offered a sad smile and turned away, walking along the promenade. Lord Tattershall hastened to walk at her side, still shaking his head back and forth. The wind whistled off the sea beside them, buffeting the two of them.
“You have always managed to cheer me up when I am down. What kind of friend would be if I gave up now?” he asked. “I know just what to do.” He cut in front of her, blocking off her path with the dress cane and turning his back on the others in front of them. “I will do anything to make you smile, just tell me what it is, and I will do it.”
“Anything?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
“How about I perform a jig here in the middle of the promenade?” he asked. “Or I could recant as many riddles as I can muster?”
“You would do that? All for the sake of seeing me smile?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as she watched him.
“I’m beginning to realize I would go a long way to see you smile.”
“Then you are truly kind,” she said softly. “I fear it is not something that can be accomplished today though.” She walked around him again, continuing along the promenade. “I am lost in my own thoughts. Let us leave it at that.”
“No!” Lord Tattershall said insistently, hurrying to catch up with her again. “No, I will not let you wallow in any kind of sadness. What has upset you so?”
Emily turned to him, finding her lips parting, ready to tell him of the letter and the first note. Yet, how could she tell him? They were so odd, such strange things. Even the letter had purported itself to be from a friend, someone who was trying to put her on her guard and protect her from Lord Tattershall. She could not tell him.
“Forgive me,” she said, trying to summon a false smile. “We are in this beautiful place, and we should be enjoying it. There, I am smiling now, is that better?”
“No, for it is not a genuine smile.” He cut in front of her again, his movement purposeful in stopping her from following the others. “I will not rest, Lady Emily, of that you can be certain. Not until I see a real smile on your face. So, tell me what is worrying you so?”
“It does not matter.” She kept her voice firm. “It is simply my own worries; I am being silly. That is all.” She tried to walk past him another time, but he reached out and caught her hand, turning her back toward him. The pressure of his hand in hers was warm and keen, sending a tingle up her arm, stopping her from thinking of making another attempt to flee.
“If it is your reflection that bothers you so, then let me put your mind at rest.” He spoke with vigor, stepping toward her again so that he was looking down at her, prompting her to look up at him. “I do not know what you saw just now when you stared into the sea in such a way, but when I look at you, Lady Emily, let me assure you, I see what everyone else sees. I see a young lady of beauty, made all the more beautiful by the fact that she doesn’t seem to know it.”
“Do not tease me, my Lord.” She looked down, breaking the connection of their gazes, but he pulled on her hand again.
“I am not teasing you,” he said, his voice pleading. “How could anyone look at you and see anything else? Believe me. From the moment I met you I thought you striking, in every way. You cannot have missed that even in our friendship you have found me often staring at you.”
“I thought that was just because you were trying to think of something to say,” she said with a small smile, looking up toward him.
“Some of the time,” he confessed in a quiet voice. “Other times, no, I am simply too busy staring at you.”
“But I’m so…” She trailed off, looking down at herself. She was not slender like the others, nor did she have a gentleness in her features like Charity and Grace did. “I do not have the daintiness of my family.” She settled for these words, amazed when Lord Tattershall pulled on her hand another time.
“You have a different kind of beauty, Lady Emily. You are bold, spirited, and more captivating than I think you will ever realize.” His words caught her by surprise. Unable to utter any words at all, she stared up at him, blinking. “It worries me so that someone like you could truly think so little of yourself.”
“What does it matter if I do?” she asked quietly. “I am sensible to the truth.”
“No, you are quite blind to the truth.” He argued with her, yet he betrayed a smile as he did so, shaking his head, as if he could not believe her words. With her hand still in his, she felt him lift it.
He glanced beyond them, up ahead to the others, before he took a step nearer to her and lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back. It was far from the formal greeting done by kissing a lady’s hand, for he lingered, and he held her gaze over her wrist as he did so. Emily felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched him, amazed by not only the sensation that had started deep within her gut but the hypnotic way he was staring at her.
As he slowly lowered her hand again, he never blinked, he just kept gazing at her.
“Erm, my Lord,” she whispered softly. “Why did you do that?”
Chapter Ten
“You two are taking your time, aren’t you?” Lord Bolton’s voice made Aaron jump back. He released Lady Emily’s hand, fearful of being caught being so intimate with her.
Lord Bolton did not appear to have noticed, he was too busy looking back to where his wife and other sister were talking further down on the promenade.
“Come on, Emily, you know what our mother is like, she will be most upset if we are late back for dinner.” Lord Bolton gestured her forward.
