Bearing this gift, she navigated the sea of carpet. Absurdly, her heart accelerated with every step.
He began to rise as she approached. “Mrs. Breedlove. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to Elba?”
She gestured him back into his chair. “In this room we are very casual, Lord Bolt. No more than one bow per night is usually necessary. Captain Hardy used to sit at this very table when he first arrived, and he liked a brandy when he read his book. We thought perhaps we’d bring one to you, too, by way of welcome.”
He eyed the glass she held critically. “What sort of brandy?”
The cheek of him.
“The wet, brownish kind.”
“Oh, well, in that case. ”
She placed it in front of him. He eyed it a moment, pensively.
“Won’t you sit down with me for a moment, Mrs. Breedlove? Unless you’re absorbed in the story Mrs. Pariseau is reading. Will you have a sherry or is such debauchery as that not allowed in this...” he intercepted her warning stare and abandoned a perhaps more colorful word in favor of “...sanctum?”
“It is allowed, but tonight I thought I should like to have my wits about me. I will sit for a moment, thank you.”
He’d nudged the other chair out with his foot.
“I’d help you into it, but I fear the startling formality will shatter the tranquility of the room.”
She sat.
Then he lifted the glass in a mocking little toast and took a sip. His eyes flared surprised approval. “Calvados.”
He held it before his eyes and peered into its depths as though it were a crystal ball.
She waited.
And waited.
Say thank you, you supercilious—
“Thank you, Mrs. Breedlove,” he said gravely. He looked up at her at last. But the light in his eyes suggested he’d gleaned something of the flavor of her thoughts and he 1) was amused; 2) didn’t care.
“You are welcome, Lord Bolt. Are you going to tell us what brandy you expect us to get in?”
“This will do.”
“I amsorelieved.”
He smiled at her.
“How do you find your room?” She actually genuinely wanted to know. Not that they would change a thing.
“The appointments are as expected.”
“As wonderful as that?” she asked brightly.
“I find they are in keeping with the singular appointments elsewhere in The Grand Palace on the Thames.”
Here was her opportunity to make her point.
“And the singular people?”
He took another sip of the brandy. He sighed.