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"But I can't stop thinking about you. You're there when I'm working with my steward, when I'm riding through my lands, when I dream. I can't get you out of my head."
"I can leave."
"No!" Archer all but roared and then more gently he added, "To not see you at all I think would be even harder."
In that moment he wasn't just Archer Scarcliff, the lord she was wildly attracted to, but Archer Scarcliff the man she felt she had always known. Looking up into his beautiful eyes, it was like remembering the perfect memory. When she moved forward and pressed her lips to his, it was the most natural thing in the world and at the contact the sensation she always experienced when entering Whispering Winds washed over her: she was home. She felt his hesitancy, as if he was warring with himself over the right thing to do, and then she felt when he gave in to his want for her as he molded his lips to hers. There was one thought that was foremost in her mind when they finally pulled away from each other, the thought that escaped her lips to hang in the air between them: "I've kissed you before."
And based on Archer's expression, she wasn't the only one to think so.
Chapter Four
After their kiss, Quinn and Archer stayed away from each other. Being together was like holding a flame near a powder keg. The fact that they were under the same roof was dangerous enough, and when you added the presence of Katherine, it was practically volatile.
Quinn spent her days with Nickie and her nights in her room documenting all the things she'd learned since she arrived in this time. For an archaeologist seeing in living color a lifestyle she had only ever read about was a prodigious experience.
Her thoughts detoured to the Viscount. She was tempted to just walk right up to him and tell Derek she saw through his ruse but that would be unwise. If the Viscount was indeed Derek then his involvement had somehow changed the course of history and had a direct consequence on Whispering Winds and the Scarcliff family. She needed to uncover what he was up to and stop him, but doing so meant she had to continue with his charade. He had to know that she was at least suspicious of him but he was quite a good actor. She needed to think more about how to handle that situation.
What she triednotto think about, but failed miserably in her efforts, was Archer's kiss. Not just the kiss, which was fabulous, but how it was possible that she knew just how his lips would feel on hers and how she knew the taste of him. Maybe it was just her being fanciful, and based on his kiss -- by far the grandest kiss she had ever experienced -- that wouldn't be hard, but she didn't think so. It was on an elemental level that she knew, unequivocally, that she had known him before. Normally, she would dismiss this out of hand but she was currently residing in his 18th century castle having come from the 21st century. Not to mention a man she knew in the future was possibly spending some quality time in the past. Based on all this, anything was possible.
But what was the connection? How did she know Archer? What kept bringing her to Whispering Winds -- now and in the future? And was Derek another link that tied her to Archer? Quinn knew the only way to find the answers was to learn all she could about the gorgeous lord.
Of all the people she had met, Mrs. Hamston seemed the most likely to talk so Quinn decided to seek her out.
Mrs. Hamston was in the kitchen helping Cook peel potatoes when Quinn entered. She took a seat across from Mrs. Hamston, grabbed a few potatoes and a knife and started to peel.
"What do you want to know?" Mrs. Hamston asked with a hint of humor in her voice.
"Am I really that easy to read?" Quinn asked with a smile on her face. Then, "What can you tell me about Lord Scarcliff?"
Mrs. Hamston's voice was incredulous when she asked, "The father?"
"No, Archer."
Her smile reminded Quinn of the Cheshire cat fromAlice in Wonderland.
"He was a good boy, focused on his studies, eager to learn but there was a restlessness about him and a passion that drove his father crazy."
"What about his mother?" Quinn asked.
"Poor dear had no say in the raising of her own child. The late Earl took his position very seriously and when Archer was born he was trained from infancy the duties and responsibilities of being the next Earl. It was all the father taught him, the only topic the old man thought worthy of teaching. There were no moments like the one last week when Archer went fishing with his son. No, that was frivolous and a waste of time as far as the old man was concerned."
She was quiet for a moment before she added, "I should not be so forth coming with you but I've seen the shared looks between you and his lord and honestly I would like to see him happy for a change."
Quinn couldn't hide the smile in response to that sentiment causing Mrs. Hamston to smile in return before she continued.
"When Archer went off to University, he rarely came home and when he finished his schooling, he immediately started building Whispering Winds. We didn't see much of him but the rumor was that he had fallen in love and married. Mr. Tilward and I were asked to join his household after the construction was completed but then he got so ill after his son was born that I moved in earlier than planned to care for him."
"He was so confused after the illness and his wife, I never believed the rumors of a love match because she was absolutely useless to him. When she died, he didn't mourn her at all but there was a sadness in him, one that was very painful to see. From then, he never treated his son as his father had treated him, but it was almost as if the kindness had been trained out of him."
"Nicholas was immediately handed over to his nurse so Archer was free to concentrate on the work of making his vast holdings even more so. He attacked his responsibilities with such a single-minded determination that at times I had the sense he was running from his demons." Mrs. Hamston paused for a moment before she added, "He seemed like a man who had lost the love of his life yet he held no tender feelings toward his deceased wife."
"When did he meet Miss Danvers?" Quinn asked as casually as possible.
"A few years ago he went to London to sponsor his sister for the Season. Miss Danvers was also on the hunt and by the end of the Season he had offered for her."
"Years ago? He's been betrothed for years? Isn't that a bit odd?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, well, I think he asked for her hand because he thought he should but I suspect he hasn't been able to go through with it because, deep down, he doesn't want to marry her."
