To Tempt a Rake by Cara Elliott

Author:Cara Elliott [ELLIOTT, CARA]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC027070
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
Published: 2011-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

In the pale wash of moonlight her slender silhouette looked very small and vulnerable as it was swallowed up by the darkness. After a moment of indecision, Marco followed at a discreet distance.

The path looped around to the far edge of the formal grounds. Through the branches of an espaliered pear tree, he saw the back side of the conservatory, its pearly glass rising like a fanciful mirage from the night shadows. An owl hooted from the nearby grove of oaks, the ghostly echo sounding strangely plaintive as it floated in the breeze.

He caught up with her at a small stone bench nestled within a screen of evergreens. Hands braced on the weathered granite, Kate was leaning back and staring up at the heavens. High overhead, the constellations glittered with the brilliance of faceted diamonds against a black velvet sky.

She didn’t object when he sat down beside her.

“I imagine you are an expert at navigating by the stars,” he murmured, after gazing in silence at the winking points of light.

“Given a chronometer and a sextant, I can find my way to any port from the most remote spot in the ocean,” replied Kate in a small, unsteady voice. “It’s just when I reach land that I seem to have trouble getting my bearings.”

“Look there,” said Marco, tilting his head back. “That’s Orion just above us. Follow the line of his belt and it points to the North Star. Ursus Major is close by.” He paused for a fraction. “So you see,” he added softly, “wherever you are in the world, familiar friends are there to help guide you on your journey.”

Kate didn’t answer right away.

Marco sat very still, recalling with a pang the long-ago nights of youthful stargazing with his brother. The heady excitement of wondering where life would take them. Somehow he had strayed far, far from those times.

Could he ever find his way back?

“That’s a very astute observation, sir.” When finally she spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper. “You’re right—it should be easy. And yet, at times I can’t help feeling a little lost.”

“You are not alone in that, Kate.” He slid his hand across the rough stone and found hers. “I think we all feel unsure of our place in the universe.”

“Even you?”

“Si, even me.”

“That is hard to imagine,” she said wryly. “You always appear so self-confident, so supremely sure of yourself.”

“As do you,” he pointed out. “Perhaps we have more in common than you imagine.”

Kate gave a mock grimace. “I find it hard to think so.”

“Then don’t. Think, that is. Sometimes it is good just to sit and savor the present moment.”

Their fingers twined, and through the thin leather of her glove, the pulse of her heartbeat was warm and steady against his skin. The feeling was oddly comforting. Crickets chirped in the grass, and frogs croaked in the lily pond—the natural rhythms of the night in harmony with their own. A flutter of air wafted through the juniper needles, mingling the faint fragrance of pine with Kate’s own sweet scent.

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