Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,41

sent for a surgeon the night I was hurt, the reason you watched me so closely.”

“I couldn’t have borne it if you’d died.”

He’d not meant to be so fervent in his declaration, hoped she understood it was the guilt of another death on his conscience and not some ardent affection toward her that was responsible for what would have been better left unsaid. Because whatever he was beginning to feel for her was also better left unfelt. She had her plans, her goals, and they certainly didn’t include him.

Neither spoke as they made their way back to the waiting cab. He was torn between being grateful she’d not left without him and desperately wishing she had.

As though she’d actually come up and tapped him on the shoulder, he’d been acutely aware of her arrival as he knelt before Sally’s grave. Damnation, as if he hadn’t been telling Sally about her, and his words had conjured her.

The two women would have liked each other, he was rather certain of that. Althea possessed a strength he wasn’t certain she realized she owned. But life had battered it, left it bruised, as circumstances had brought her to a part of London where she didn’t belong.

When they reached the cab, he handed her up and then settled in beside her. It was beginning to feel almost natural to be so near to her, to have his thigh pressed up against hers, to have the scent of gardenia wafting around him, to glance to his left and see her pink-tinged cheeks chafed by the cold.

As they made their way relatively swiftly through the crowded streets, he felt as though he should say something—thank her for not leaving, explain the last words he’d spoken were simply the result of the cornucopia of emotions that always bombarded him when he came here, mention the brittleness of the weather—anything that would dispel the awkwardness that had settled between them. He shouldn’t have gone to the cemetery with her in tow, shouldn’t have burdened her with his regrets. All these years and still they lashed at him. They were the reason he continued to reside in a bloody brothel, wouldn’t abandon the women who relied on his reputation—and occasionally his fists—to keep them safe.

She must have felt his gaze on her, because she glanced over at him with sympathy and understanding in her eyes, and he remembered she’d only recently lost her mother. Perhaps she was struggling with her own grief and regret.

“Tell me about the women I’ll be teaching,” she said so softly that he almost didn’t hear her over the plodding of hooves, whirring of wheels, creaking of springs, shouts, and yells that comprised the cacophony of people going about their day. “What should I expect of them?”

He was grateful she was willing to not dwell on what he’d shared. But then what more was there to say on the matter?

“Lottie is flirtatious, likes to tease, and hardly takes anything seriously. I think she’ll present the greatest challenge to you because she thoroughly enjoys men, so is likely to be let go from one position after another for being generous with her favors. Lily is the shyest of the lot but has a heart of gold, is always mothering. I’ve often thought she’d make an excellent companion to a wealthy widow. Pearl and Ruby are fast friends, and I suspect where one of them goes, the other would like to follow. Hester has an interest in being a lady’s maid—again not in a noble household, but the wives of successful men have a need to be properly put together. You might consider allowing her to wait on you and teach her what a lady requires of a maid who serves her personally.”

“That’s a simple enough thing to do, although it would benefit me.”

“She’d no doubt be delighted with the practice. As I understand it, she often treats the others as if they are dolls, fiddling with their hair, telling them what they should wear.”

“I’ll talk with her about it, then.”

“Good. The last is Flora. She spends a good bit of her time tending the garden.”

As he’d spoken, her brow had begun to furrow, deeper and deeper, with each word. Her lips were parted slightly, and he considered lowering his mouth to hers and introducing their tongues. He hadn’t determined exactly what his lessons to her would entail. Any physical intimacy, even if it was only a mere touch, could lead to other things and test his resolve