AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She sounded like a gifted woman. I’m sorry I won’t get the chance to meet her myself.”
That answer seemed to please Mrs. Thomasin. She took his coat, hat, and gloves, then excused herself to fetch some tea. No doubt she would continue her inquisition upon her return. And Rafe would gladly endure it if it meant seeing Sylvia. Even if all she did was call him a coward and throw him out. He would suffer any number of insults and humiliations just to bask in her presence once again, however briefly.
When he had arrived at Lady Arlington’s town house yesterday afternoon, the viscountess had conducted an interrogation of her own before finally admitting that Sylvia wasn’t in London at all, but had gone to the cottage that morning.
“I must protect her, you see,” Lady Georgiana explained once she revealed the truth. By then it was too late to catch the last train north. “And I needed to know what your intentions were first.”
Rafe had been both highly irritated and reluctantly impressed. “I won’t hurt her again. You have my word.”
The viscountess shook her head. “You’ll have to prove it. But that will take years. Years I hope we will spend together, as friends,” she added with a sly smile.
Rafe had been so overjoyed to win even her tacit approval that he leaped to his feet and grabbed her hands. “Then you think she’ll have me?”
The viscountess’s eyes widened at his desperate tone. “I won’t speak for her, Mr. Davies,” she said gently. “And given her past disappointment, she is already slow to trust. But you should go to her. Make your case. That is all I can say.”
And that was enough for Rafe.
The sound of the door opening roused him from his thoughts, but it was only Mrs. Thomasin returning with the tea tray.
“She’ll be down in a moment, Mr. Davies.” The cook then gave him a conspiratorial wink before she swept out of the room. Rafe had passed the inquisition after all.
As he moved to pour a cup of tea, he heard urgent whispering coming from the other side of the door. He immediately set the pot down and strained to listen. It had to be Sylvia talking to Mrs. Thomasin, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. Rafe was seconds away from pressing his ear to the door when it swung open and Sylvia marched in. She was wearing a fetching day gown in buttercup yellow. As Rafe rose, his gaze immediately slid down her form. Gone were the serviceable tweed skirts, plain blouses, and navy ties—though he rather liked those. But then, here at Hawthorne Cottage she was the lady of the house, not a secretary. And she certainly dressed the part.
It wasn’t until Sylvia cleared her throat that Rafe realized his gaze had lingered on her exposed décolletage.
He immediately looked up and met her eyes. “You look beautiful,” he blurted out.
Well, then. So much for subtlety.
Sylvia glanced away as a blush colored her cheeks. “Thank you,” she murmured as she sat down in a chair across from him.
Rafe followed suit and immediately began tapping his foot. Christ. His nerves were at it again. He could stare down the barrel of a gun without issue but sitting in her eyeline had him thoroughly rattled.
Because there is more at risk here.
“Thank you for seeing me,” he began as Sylvia moved to pour tea for them both. “I know you hardly expected to findmeon your doorstep this morning.”
Sylvia looked up from the teacups, and that familiar steel gaze shot through him like hot iron. “Correct. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me to the purpose of your visit?”
Rafe’s throat suddenly felt as dry as the Sahara, while his tongue was too big for his mouth. “I—I wanted to see you.”
Good God, what had happened to him?
Sylvia raised an eyebrow at the silence that followed. “I seem to remember you being much more charming in Scotland.”
He huffed a laugh. “Yes, well, that was because I was not being myself. Entirely.”
Sylvia set down the teapot and sat back in her chair. “What do you mean?”
Her gaze was one of calm assessment, as if she were trying to decide which path to take or bouquet to buy. It wasn’t exactly encouraging.
Rafe took a deep breath. He had never tried to explain himself to anyone before. It felt like he was standing before her stripped naked. And not in a pleasant way. “Years ago I created a public version of myself—a sort of carefree reprobate. So no one would ever suspect what I was really up to.”
Sylvia’s face remained perfectly blank. “The spying?”
Rafe nodded and dragged a hand through his hair. This was so much harder than he had ever suspected. He wanted to throttle Henry for suggesting otherwise. “I emphasized certain traits and played up certain behaviors depending on the company I was in.”
Sylvia gave a solemn nod and steepled her fingers. “So, when you’re around other aristocrats, you act like a pompous twat. Have I got that right?”
