The Glass Orchid by Emma Barron

Author:Emma Barron [Barron, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Historical
Publisher: Crimson Romance, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2013-07-22T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“You could at least ask me in.”

Del blinked at the man standing at her doorstep.

“Blakely,” she said. Her tone suggested she was still trying to convince herself he was truly there and not some apparition she had conjured. “Of course. Come in.” She stepped back to let him enter, taking his coat, hat, and cane from him once he was inside.

They stood awkwardly in her foyer until Del remembered herself and ushered him to the study.

“I trust you’ve been well,” Blakely said as he sank into the chair.

“I have,” she said.

They stared at each other for several seconds, so much to say between them, so little nerve to even start the conversation.

“It has been months since I’ve seen you,” Blakely said, sounding hesitant. He seemed stiff, cautious, like a man carefully picking his way through a field littered with bottomless holes and countless venomous animals.

“I have been — otherwise engaged.” Del smoothed her skirts, hoping her bearing and countenance declared her calm and serene, and betrayed none of the roiled emotions she actually felt.

“Yes, I have heard as much,” Blakely said. “Our mutual acquaintances have reported seeing you in the company of a certain young man,” he added in response to her raised brow.

Del struggled with what to say next. She bristled at the thought of explaining herself, of seeking approval or absolution from anyone. At the same time, she did feel affection for Blakely, and it seemed only right that she give him some sort of explanation for the alienation of her time and attention.

“Who is he?”

Del was conflicted. She wanted to blurt out everything to Blakely, to tell him all there was to know about her and Camden. She wanted to say it out loud, as if speaking his name and declaring her feelings for him would commit their relationship to the ether and erase her fears, doubts, and conflicting feelings. At the same time, she wanted to keep Camden all to herself, to shoo Blakely from her residence so he would never learn Camden’s name or what he was to her. She wanted to protect Camden and her feelings for him, to keep him and the real world as far away from each other as possible.

“My God, it’s happened, hasn’t it?” Blakely looked at her, all shock and incredulousness.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Your hesitance. The look on your face. Your disappearance these past months. It can only mean one thing.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you are referring to.” Del felt nervous, uneasy. She didn’t like being so easily read.

“Someone has finally broken through all your carefully laid barriers. He’s ignored the sharp and dangerous edges of your defenses and caught you. Someone’s finally caught you.”

Del laughed, and it sounded hollow even to her. “Really, Blakely, you’re being awfully melodramatic.”

“I have known you for years, my dear, and I have never seen you in such a state.” Blakely raised a hand to cut off Del’s protestations. “I am happy for you, truly I am. I only ask that you tell me his name.

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