Regency High Society Vol 3. Elizabeth Rolls

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СКАЧАТЬ place in the past, long before he had met her. How he conducted himself from now on was all that need concern her.

      Katherine was not slow to note his look of smug satisfaction. ‘Why are you smiling? Have I a smudge on my nose?’

      ‘No, but it might be better if you had. You make a damnable pretty boy, my darling,’ he informed her before, much to her intense surprise, he leaned back against the squabs and closed his eyes.

      ‘Heavens above! Surely you don’t propose to sleep?’

      The indignant tone brought a further smile to his lips. ‘You might have enjoyed a good night’s repose. But I most certainly did not. I spent the whole night with my legs dangling over the end of that confounded chaise-longue in the parlour. And damnably uncomfortable it was too!’

      Katherine hurriedly turned her head away to stare out of the window, thereby concealing an expression of unbridled satisfaction. It ought not to matter a whit to her where he had spent the night, but it did, and she couldn’t deny the intense pleasure it gave her knowing that he had spent the night alone.

      By the time Madame Carre’s coachman had set them down in the centre of a small habitation on the coast, and they had visited several of the inns in a vain attempt to find the man who was supposed to be taking them across the Channel, Katherine’s feelings towards Daniel were far less charitable. He had been highly critical over her behaviour from the moment she had stepped down from the carriage and she was fast coming to the end of her tether.

      ‘I have not got a mincing walk. I’ll have you know that I have frequently been complimented on the elegance of my carriage. And I do not simper like an idiot, either!’

      ‘But you’re speaking in English again, you infuriating little baggage!’ he snapped, grasping her elbow, thereby forcing her to halt in the middle of the street. ‘Go and await me on the quayside! And here …’ delving into his pocket he handed her a few coins ‘ … go buy yourself a pasty from the street hawker we just passed. If anyone should attempt to hold you in conversation you can start munching it, then with any luck they won’t take too much notice of your deplorable accent.’

      Satisfying herself with casting him a dagger-look, Katherine did as bidden, buying a pie before settling herself on the wall by the quay. Although the afternoon was dry and reasonably sunny, there was a stiff breeze coming off the sea, and it wasn’t too long before she began to feel decidedly chilled. The rough woollen cloak he had purchased for her was nowhere near as warm as the totally feminine, fur-lined garment she had been forced to leave behind at Josephine’s house.

      But of course the wretched man wouldn’t have considered that, not when he’s no doubt swigging down wine or brandy in some comfortable inn! she thought angrily, following the progress of a boat leaving the small harbour, before her attention was captured by a troupe of acrobats performing wondrous feats as they progressed along the street. So enthralled did she become that she didn’t even notice a tall figure positioning himself on the wall beside her.

      ‘You’ve been well entertained during my absence, I see,’ that unmistakable voice remarked, thereby alerting Katherine to Daniel’s presence at last. ‘You’ll no doubt be pleased to hear I was successful in my search, and we’ll soon be leaving these shores.’

      Katherine watched him glance about him. Ever vigilant, he was always on the lookout for any possible danger. ‘You sound relieved,’ she remarked, before taking a further bite out of her pie. ‘Do you suppose there are people here searching for us?’

      ‘Unlikely. But I shan’t be completely easy in my mind until we’ve set foot again on English soil. Ah! And here’s the very person who’ll be making that eventuality possible.’

      Katherine raised her eyes to see a man of about Daniel’s age and build bearing down upon them. The breeze caught his long blond hair, whipping it back to reveal a face which was both bronzed and handsome. He nodded at Daniel before turning his striking blue eyes in her direction. Then he smiled faintly.

      ‘Your nephew, monsieur, is ready to leave? Let us hope that—er—he is a good sailor, hein?’ He raised his eyes and glanced out to sea. ‘The wind is getting up. I fear the crossing will not be a smooth one,’ he warned, before returning his gaze to Daniel, who was now looking decidedly thoughtful. ‘I ask no questions, monsieur. I have been paid well to take you. Come, my boat is moored a little further along the quay, and my men are ready to set sail.’

      ‘How on earth did you manage to pay him, Daniel?’ Katherine whispered, as they followed the man whom she imagined pirates of old would have strongly resembled. ‘Surely the money I gave you was not sufficient?’

      ‘It is Josephine we must thank for his services,’ Daniel didn’t hesitate to reveal. ‘He is a—er—close friend of hers. Even so, she was forced to dig deep into her purse before he would agree to her request.’ His worried frown grew more pronounced. ‘I do not doubt that he’ll keep to his part of the bargain. But what does concern me is that he has already guessed your sex. Stay close by me, Kate.’

      She hardly required the warning. It was an effort, but she did just manage to resist the temptation to cling again to that reassuring hand, once Daniel had helped her negotiate the narrow gangplank, and her feet were safely planted on the wooden deck. All the same, she followed him like an adoring puppy to the stern of the boat, where she settled herself as near as she dared beside him on a thick coil of rope, well away from those members of the crew who resembled nothing so much as a band of cut-throats as they continued about their duties.

      Katherine experienced a tiny thrill of excitement as the vessel began to move away from the quayside. Unfortunately the pleasure was short-lived, for no sooner had they left the calm waters of the small harbour behind them than she realised that the captain’s warning of a rough crossing had not been in jest. The wind grew very much stronger, and it wasn’t long before she began to feel a little queasy at the constant rolling of the boat.

      At first she tried to ignore the feeling of nausea, reminding herself that she had travelled by water on numerous occasions when, as a child, she had made frequent visits to England, and had never suffered any ill effects. Furthermore, when she had travelled over to France on the packet just a few short weeks before she had felt perfectly comfortable. None the less, she was eventually forced to face the fact that she wasn’t going to be all right this time. Her head had started to throb, and she was beginning to feel hot and sticky, even with the chill wind full in her face.

      ‘What’s the matter?’ Daniel had not been slow to note that she had become increasingly withdrawn. ‘Do you feel unwell?’

      She saw little point in trying to deny it. ‘Yes, terrible. In fact, I think—’

      She got no further, and made a frantic dive for the side of the boat, hanging her head over, while at the same time striving to keep a hold on her hat. Daniel was beside her in an instant, his firm clasp on her shoulders steadying her, before promptly handing her his handkerchief.

      ‘Oh, you poor darling,’ she thought she heard him mutter, as he very gently guided her back to their makeshift seat. ‘Wait there. I’ll not be a moment.’

      Through streaming eyes, Katherine watched him making his way with amazing agility along the rolling deck to where the captain stood issuing instructions to his crew. She saw those striking blue orbs turn in her direction, before she closed her own in an attempt to stem the flow of tears rolling down her face. She felt so ashamed for succumbing to a feminine weakness that she had always despised, but she just didn’t seem able to stop herself. She felt as helpless as a baby, and couldn’t СКАЧАТЬ