A Countess Most Daring by Jessie Clever

Author:Jessie Clever [Clever, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

He looked like a buffoon, and he felt even worse.

Thatcher stood in the front yard of the Salvatores' farmhouse dressed in the costume Mrs. Rossi had created for him out of scraps of fabric Rosa had from years of making clothes for her children and her grandchildren. His jacket was of a fine navy fitted at his waist and accentuated with gold at the lapels and cuffs. His plain black breeches had been commandeered and fitted to his body, tucking nicely into soft black leather boots, the origin of which remained unknown. But they fit well, and he felt himself eyeing them suspiciously from time to time, wondering who the cobbler was who had fashioned them. With the simple gold mask covering his features, he looked simply resplendent, the absolute best he had ever looked. And he hated it.

Waiting for Rosa and Kate to emerge and listening to the sounds of Luigi readying the cart for their transport, he moved from foot to foot, agitation getting the better of him. Whether it was adrenaline brought on by the impending mission or frustration from his uncertainty about Kate, he couldn't be sure. He had undertaken numerous missions for the British War Office and knew this couldn't be a sudden case of nerves.

So if it were not the mission that bothered him, it was Kate. Or rather, his feelings about Kate. He wanted to shuffle his feet in the dirt of the yard, but his boots were too fine to ruin with such childish behavior. He didn't know what to do about Kate, and even as he thought it, his own words came roaring back to him from that night nearly a week before when they had danced in the yard with no music to match their movements. It was likely only the second time in his entire life he employed those ridiculous dance lessons his mama had made him take with Thomas. There was nothing more humiliating than having one's own brother as his dance partner. Thoughts of Thomas brought the usual ache, only now it came with a newer, harder edge to it, and he knew that was because of Kate.

He was falling in love with her.

There was no way around it. The agitation he felt was proof of it. If he kept denying it, he would continue to feel unsettled, but if he admitted it, he didn't know what to do. And even as he reasoned with himself, he realized it didn't matter. He couldn't love Kate, not the way she deserved. He couldn't be there for her. He couldn't be responsible for her. Only once in his life had anyone relied on him for protection, and he had failed in the worst way possible. He had sworn to never let that happen again, and he feared he was getting too close to it with Kate. And it wasn't because she had forced it on him. As she had said herself, circumstances had demanded that they rely on each other in this mission, but that only involved matters of a professional nature.

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