“...stormy and thrilling and a little bit dangerous. Just like me, my darling wife is fond of saying,” he added.
“Ha ha!” Daphne laughed cautiously. “We do have our little jokes.”
Delilah and Angelique smiled patiently.
“Alas, the missus hasquitedomesticated me,” he said with every evidence of satisfaction.
Which was funny, because by virtue of settling onto a pretty pink settee, he looked twice as feral as he had before.
Mrs. Hardy and Mrs. Durand watched, appearing somewhat spellbound, when he slowly leaned back and crossed his legs.
He surreptitiously nudged her with an elbow.
“It’s a rather long and very bit of a, well,personalstory, in truth,” she began. “You see, I had come to London for a visit. And I... I found myself in a bit of a predicament, and in need of some urgent assistance. In part because I had dropped something very important to me... and there he was. He simply refused to take no for an answer when it came to helping.”
“I could not possibly leave such a lady dangling in distress,” he said humbly.
Miraculously, Delilah and Angelique appeared content with this halting little story.
“And I am grateful for this quality in him,” Daphne added.
This was true. However complicated that gratitude. However much she wished no one on earth had witnessed her ignominious window escape.
She turned toward him and looked up. “And then, after one look at his...”Earring. Scar. Glower. Eyes. Lips. Black, black hair.She faltered. “One look and I...”
His eyes mesmerized her. By rights they ought to be black and fierce, but they were surprisingly light and clear. Shades of mossy green shifted into golden brown. They reminded her of the eyes of a wild animal, perhaps a fox or a wolf, in that they seemed ageless and remote. The eyes of a creature whose acquired wisdom and instincts and experience were entirely alien from her own.
But gradually, before her eyes, they took on a gleam of wicked amusement.
It occurred to her that Delilah and Angelique probably thought they were blissfully lost in each other’s eyes rather than paralyzed in indecision about which lie that wasn’t a lie to tell next.
He freed her from his gaze by turning to their now riveted audience. “One might say it was destined.”
She nodded. “Destined,” she echoed weakly.
This story, remarkably, seemed to touch both Mrs. Hardy and Mrs. Durand. They were both now wearing indulgent expressions.
“We’ve had more than a little experience with destiny here at The Grand Palace on the Thames,” Delilah reassured her. “And we have both met our husbands under unusual circumstances, haven’t we?”
“Indeed,” Angelique said. “And we’re both very happy.”
“My favorite memories usually begin with unusual circumstances,” Mr. St. Leger said, probably truthfully.
“It’s so good to know you are well and happy, Daphne,” Delilah said.
“Very kind of you to say,” Daphne replied. “And you as well. It certainly seems like serendipity to see you again on a night that portends to be as brutal as this one. L-l-orcan’s bones tell him,” she explained hurriedly, absurdly thrilled to have an actual fact to impart. “About the weather.”
She mentally kicked herself for the stutter. She keenly felt the tiny embarrassment of using his first name.
Lorcan nodded sagely. “How well she knows me.”
“What brings the two of you to The Grand Palace on the Thames this evening?” Mrs. Durand asked.
“Well, my ship reached harbor yesterday, ahead of the storm. I’ve been in London all day conducting business. Daphne had earlier seen an advertisement for The Grand Palace on the Thames in a shop. It sounded like just the sort of fine, cozy place she’d like to stay.”
Good heavens. He not only remembered her disjointed babbling, he’d managed to interpret it correctly.
The mention of a ship was interesting, indeed.