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In a flash, I realised what he was doing. He was checking me for injuries. How did he know how to do this? There was still so much about him I didn’t know.
‘You know…you could just ask if I am all right.’
‘Yes. I could.’
He left off my skull and continued with my arms and hands. I had no idea if he knew what he was doing, but what the heck? I just sat there and let him do it. It wasn’t exactly as if I was opposed to letting him touch me.
Finally finished with his examination, he let go of me and took a step back.
‘You are well.’
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. ‘I could have told you that myself.’
He didn’t smile. ‘I had to make sure.’
Something tugged at my heart, and I had to swallow. ‘Thanks.’
‘You’ve been through a lot - but you’re strong. Strong enough.’
I blinked. ‘Strong for what?’
Pulling back a chair, he settled himself down behind a table in the middle of the room. Sitting like that, gazing at me with that cold, sea-coloured gaze, it almost felt as if I was Mr Victor Linton again, back in his London office, and he was the man who ruled my life.
‘Strong enough for the journey, Miss Linton.’
‘Journey? What journey?’
‘Karim!’ At Mr Ambrose’s call, the door opened and the Mohammedan entered, grim-faced.
‘You called, Sahib?’
‘Is everything ready for the journey?’
‘Yes, Sahib.’
‘What journey?’ I insisted. A cold tingle went down my back.
‘Ready the men.’ Dismissing Karim with an imperious wave, Mr Ambrose turned his full attention back to me.
‘For the last time, Sir,’ I whispered. ‘What journey?’
‘Why, the journey to Scotland, of course, Miss Linton.’
‘We’re back at Battlewood, where we’re supposed to be. What in God’s name do you want in Scotland?’
Mr Ambrose nailed me to the chaise longue with his arctic eyes. His reply was one short, precise word. But it was enough to freeze my blood and rob my lungs of breath.
‘Marriage.’
Takeover Negotiations
I sat there for a full five minutes, staring at him in silent shock, wondering if I’d heard right. Finally, Mr Ambrose pulled out his pocket watch, let it snap open and gazed at the clock face.
‘Will this hibernation take long, Miss Linton? We have to get going if we want to reach the inn halfway between here and Gretna Green before sundown.’
Slowly, very slowly, I opened the mouth that didn’t feel like mine right now. ‘Marriage?’
The word echoed as if someone else had spoken it on another world, millions of miles away. It couldn’t actually apply to this place. To us. To me.
