A Sense of Destiny (Perceptions Book 6) by Wendy Soliman

Author:Wendy Soliman [Soliman, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Luke watched Archie’s carriage return. He had seen him leave over an hour earlier and wondered where he had taken Flora and Miss Baxter. More to the point, he wondered why he had not been invited to join their excursion. Archie, it seemed, was still capable of engaging the attention of attractive females despite his incapacity. Luke ought to be pleased for his old friend, rather than resenting his ability to charm so effortlessly.

‘Oh, for the love of God!’

Luke was disturbed by the jealousy that ricocheted through him—an alien sensation that made him distinctly uncomfortable. Miss Baxter interested him, but he reminded himself that she was engaged to be married. And Flora—his spirited, disobedient and fiercely independent Flora—was lost to him. He couldn’t accept her beliefs, and she wasn’t willing to compromise. Archie was the only man Luke could bear to think of usurping his place in her affections—and then only barely.

Shaking off his introspection, Luke reminded himself that he had a legitimate reason for wanting to talk to Archie, so he intercepted him in the hallway. Ordinarily, Archie would have come to the library of his own volition at this time of day anyway, in search of Luke’s company and a glass of scotch, but Luke wasn’t leaving anything to chance. They were none of them acting in character and there was a danger of rivalry affecting their friendship.

It was beneath Luke’s dignity to be jealous of a disabled man. He was ashamed of himself and resisted the urge to blame Flora for driving a wedge between them, albeit unintentionally. Luke simply wouldn’t permit such a thing to happen. He still recalled the debilitating pain of loss when Archie had apparently died more than ten years previously. Luke now had his friend back and wasn’t about to allow personal rivalries to come between them.

‘Join me,’ Luke said, raising a hand to Archie as though pretending he had come across him by accident and turning back to his library.

‘Only if there’s whisky involved,’ Archie replied, caning his way into Luke’s inner sanctum.

‘What’s to-do?’ Luke asked, pouring whisky for them both and handing a glass to Archie. ‘Come on, Felsham, out with it. You’re scheming. I can always tell.’

‘No idea what you mean.’

‘I saw you take the ladies up in your carriage. What’s going on?’

Archie took a chair and leaned down to ruffle Romulus’s ears, a mischievous glint in his eye. The dog flapped his tail and returned to his slumbers, leaving Archie free to savour the peaty taste of Luke’s expensive scotch.

‘Can’t a man offer to take two ladies for a drive?’ he asked with a suspiciously innocent expression. ‘It’s not as though I’m capable of doing much else.’

Luke snorted. ‘If it’s sympathy you crave, you’ve come to the wrong place. I sense an atmosphere. Something to do with Miss Baxter, unless my instincts fail me.’

‘They don’t, as it happens, but it’s not my secret to tell,’ Archie replied negligently. ‘Ask Miss Baxter for clarification if you are that curious.

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