“Do you have to make that damn clacking noise?”
Keeping her fingers on the keys, Leonora looked over at the door to her bedchamber that she’d left open, to indicate she was ready for the day. Leaning negligently against the jamb, Sam appeared to have been ridden hard and put away wet. Getting out of the chair at the table that supported the writing machine, she quickly crossed the room, grabbed her brother’s arm, and dragged him into the room before closing the door.
“You left me last night,” she hissed, not bothering to disguise her pique.
Sam collapsed into a chair and held his head in his hands. “Could you be a little quieter with your anger? My head is killing me.”
“Because you drank too much?”
“Because I did too much of a lot of things.”
She moved closer to the chair opposite his and stood behind it, not to protect herself from him but to shield him from her wrath. “Why did you leave me all alone?”
“You were with Rook. I knew he’d look out for you.”
“But he’s not family. It was hardly appropriate for me to be with him without you at least being nearby. Why didn’t you come find me, take me with you?”
Appearing sheepish, he rubbed his thumb in a small circle on the arm of the chair. “Where I wanted to go wasn’t the sort of place a woman should visit.”
“Where was that exactly?”
He shifted his gaze to the hearth where no fire burned. “Someplace a woman shouldn’t even know about.”
“A bordello?”
He jerked his head up. “You shouldn’t be aware such a place exists. Much less say the word with such ease.”
“I’m put out with you, Sam. You abandoned me. I’d never do that to you. I searched the entire place for you.”
“I’m sorry, Nora, but when Lord Lawrence invited me to join him... if I’d told you, you’d either want to come or start an inquisition. Just seemed easier to simply leave. I knew you had the resourcefulness to get yourself back here.” He grinned like he was proud of her. “And you did.”
With Rook’s assistance. He had shown her where he’d be waiting for her tonight—if she found the courage to join him. He hadn’t said those words, but they’d run through her mind. To risk sneaking out again. To not know exactly what he wanted to share with her. Then he’d escorted her inside the hotel, handing over enough money to the man who stood watch at the door as well as the one behind the desk so they’d both forget he’d ever been there.
“You should have at least bothered to tell me so I wouldn’t worry about you.”
“I didn’t know where to find you.”
“I was in the library, quite visible.” She almost commented that he should be as resourceful as he expected her to be. But he wasn’t, and that was part of the challenge, the reason so much fell to her.
“Were you convincing Rook to invest?”
That’s what she should have been doing. Instead, she’d set the business aside in order to enjoy his company without an encumbrance. Rather than share that with Sam, she deflected his question by changing the topic. “As for myclacking, I’m creating more invitations for you to take with you later, so you can pass them out to those you’ve met.”
“I probably won’t be fit to go out until this evening. Too much booze.”
Having woken up feeling miserable after drinking the absinthe, she didn’t understand why anyone would overindulge a second time, but Sam seemed to derive some sort of pleasure from it. Perhaps he enjoyed suffering. If so, she’d be happy to oblige him with some scathing retorts.
“I would advise that you exercise a bit more discretion regarding your drinking since the demonstration is almost upon us. Remember what Father taught us?”
“To put everything aside forhisdream?”
Taken aback by his defensive tone, she edged around the chair and sat. “What do you mean?”
He shifted awkwardly as though the chair was suddenly made of needles. “Nothing.”
“Sam, this is the family business, your inheritance. Without it, what would you—” She didn’t want to make him feel bad, but what skills did he have? What could he do if he didn’t have the business to support him?
He shook his head. “I don’t have your knack for designing things.”
