A Masterful Man by Lindsay Armstrong

Author:Lindsay Armstrong [Armstrong, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780373117703
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Published: 1995-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

But bed wasn't what she really wanted, Davina decided, once she was in the privacy of her chalet, because once again she felt restless and keyed up—probably from all the revelations of the evening—and would toss and turn for a while, she just knew. She sighed, then took her trusty torch from her camera-bag and decided to see if a walk would help.

It was a magnificent starry night and she crossed the road and walked through a paddock to its grassy edge above the beach on the lagoon side where the tide lapped gently against the sand and rocks. She'd noticed a bench there from the road during the day and swung her torch to locate it. She did, about twenty feet away, but there was someone there before her, someone who stood up and revealed himself as Steve Warwick.

'Oh, no,' she said wearily. 'I mean—sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll go—'

'You aren't. Disturbing me, and there's no reason for you to go. I always find it's particularly relaxing to have a stroll before bedtime and to enjoy the peace and quiet. I should imagine it's been quite an evening for you.'

'You're not wrong there,' she murmured, but still standing as if poised for flight.

He smiled slightly in the torchlight. 'Put it out and sit down, Davina, I'm not going to eat you.'

She hesitated then sat and he sat down beside her. But she was as taut as a piano wire and it was impossible to project any other image.

'What's wrong?' he said after a few moments.

'I...nothing really.'

'Sure?' He raised an eyebrow. 'You haven't been having any further discussions with my grandmother on your suitability as—a bride for me?'

Davina shuddered and turned to him. 'You knew,' she accused. 'And laughed!'

He shrugged his broad shoulders. 'I have to confess I found it rather amusing in the light of what had happened between us. Wouldn't you—if you could be a fly on the wall?'

'Would that I could,' Davina said bitterly. 'I still don't understand why. She must make your life hell if she... goes about doing this all the time.'

He grinned briefly. 'I have a thick hide—if it's any consolation she was probably spurred on this time by Loretta's presence. She has an absolute horror of... that happening. So you have been talking to her again?'

'No.'

'Then how did you work it all out?'

'Loretta told me.'

'Ah.' He said no more.

'What does that mean?' Davina asked reluctantly.

'Loretta's no fool,' he answered almost absently. 'What else did she tell you?'

Davina blinked. 'Nothing much. Well, she asked me to advertise some clothes for her but we were able to sort out that it wasn't practical or indeed possible—I feel,' she said, with a sudden tremor in her voice, 'a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Yes, as if I've fallen down a hole.' And she put her hands to her face suddenly.

Steve Warwick made a slight movement but stilled it. 'Perhaps you ought to go to bed,' he said rather drily then. 'Come, I'll walk you back.

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