AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“What are you doing here?” Rhys asked, closing the door behind him and walking toward her.
Elizabeth stood to gain the advantage of height for the argument she was certain was going to occur. “I came to escape your grandmother,” she said because it was his house, and she did not see the need to lie to him about why she was there.
His countenance softened. “My grandmother can be intolerable sometimes. I beg your pardon on her behalf.”
“Do not take offense if I decline your next dinner invitation,” she said, moving away from him. He was about a foot away from her, but she could feel the heat that radiated from his body, and it was wickedly reminding her of his touch.
“I will not.”
“You did not invite us to Guildford Castle, did you?” she asked, seeking to have her suspicion confirmed.
Rhys shook his head and sighed. “No, I did not.”
“Why?”
“I think you know why I would be reluctant to have you in my home.”
Elizabeth bit her lip and glanced at the closed door. “Then you should not have closed that door.”
“No, I should not have.” He took a step toward her.
“Someone might walk in.” She stepped away from him and picked out the first book her hands found on the shelf near her.
“They will find nothing that will make a story,” he said, surprising her by turning and picking up the book she had left on the table instead of approaching her.
The sheet fell and landed on his boot. Her heart racing, she rushed to take it, but it was already in his hand before she could reach him. His eyes narrowed as he read the deplorable things she had written about him.
He chuckled. “I did not know that I am an insufferable ass.” There was a sharpness in his tone that suggested he was wounded by what he saw. “Or that I have a heart of coal and will make a woman waste away in misery.” He looked down at the paper, and his brows rose. “My arrogance confounds you.”
“You just gave me something to add to that list,” she said even though she felt slightly guilty about the insults.
“What is it?” He sounded annoyed now.
“Your disrespect of one’s privacy,” she replied.
“I did not know this belonged to you before I read it,” he defended.
“The simple fact that it does not belong to you should have prevented you from reading it. Whatever offense you feel, you brought it on yourself.”
He laughed. “That is a clever way of absolving yourself of blame, but you wrote it, and that is a truth that you cannot change.”
“Have you thought that perhaps you gave me the reason to write it?” she challenged, unwilling to allow him to make her feel any more guilt than she was already feeling.
“You had the choice to keep your thoughts to yourself.”
“I did!” Elizabeth was growing exasperated. “You were never supposed to find it.”
“Yet you brought it to my house.” He chuckled darkly before glancing at the list again. “And is that why you wrote it in Latin? So it would never be found?”
“I wrote it in Latin because I wanted to,” she said sharply, but then she decided to confess. “The world, at least the one I live in, is starting to believe that Latin is dying. Not everyone who found it would be able to read it.”
Rhys tilted his head, his eyes gleaming. “Did you know that I hated Latin lessons when I was a boy?” He shook his head, grinning. “I never knew the day would come when I would appreciate the knowledge I despised gaining. Thank you.”
“Now you have something good to take from this,” she replied.
He laughed, the sound coming from deep within his chest. “Only you would say something like that, Elizabeth. I should be angry.”
