Free Song From the Sea by Katherine Kingsley

practicalities of my situation are perfectly clear to me, Lord Vale. I am a woman on my own who needs means to support herself. I am more than capable of discovering those means for myself.”
    “May I make so bold as to ask you why you are so determined to be stubborn on this matter when I have offered to help you in any way that I can?” He folded his arms across his broad chest and regarded her with curiosity. “Most women in your circumstances would be happy for a helping hand, and yet you refuse anything but my temporary hospitality. I find your attitude difficult to fathom, although I will admit that I admire your tenacity on the matter of your independence. You are a most unusual woman, Miss Magnus. I cannot help but wonder if you have something to hide.”
    Callie paled and her head began to pound with an agonizing fury. “I have nothing to hide, my lord, nothing at all,” she said, clutching her hands on the arms of her chair until her knuckles went white. “I have told you everything that is necessary for you to know. Beyond that, this is my business alone.”
    Before she knew it, he'd jumped to his feet and gathered her up in his arms. Carrying her over to the bed, he gently laid her down. “Forgive me,” he said softly, pulling a blanket over her. “I have thoughtlessly overtaxed your strength. Please don't concern yourself with anything but recovering your health. Everything else can wait, Callie. Don't trouble yourself any further—you have nothing to fear. You are safe here.” He smoothed a hand over her hair. “Sleep now if you can. Dr. Hadley will be in later to see you.”
    Callie managed to nod, then gratefully closed her eyes.
    “Would you like some laudanum to ease the pain?” he asked, in that deep, gentle voice.
    “No … no, thank you,” she murmured. “I don't like it.”
    “Good girl. Nasty stuff, laudanum. I took it once when I broke my arm as a boy and it had to be set. I vowed never to let myself be dosed again. There's nothing worse than not being able to keep one's thoughts together.”
    How right you are
, Callie thought. She vaguely registered the draperies being drawn against the light and the relief of the cool darkness that surrounded her.
    As she drifted off to sleep she pondered the contradictions in Adam Carlyle's character. In one moment he could be cool and calculating, and in the next, kind and caring. She really didn't understand him at all.
    “I tell you, Nigel, I don't understand the girl at all,” Adam said, swinging a leg over his gelding and settling in the saddle. The bridge on the road to town had been flooded by the storm and he wanted to see what would be needed in the way of repairs. “Today I saw a completely different side to her. She's stubborn beyond belief, especially where the matter of her independence is concerned. I have to admire her pluck, as foolish as it is under these circumstances—I can't think of another woman I know who would turn down all offers of help, most especially from someone of my station.” He turned the gelding's head around and waited for Nigel to finish adjusting his stirrups. “The usual silly miss would have jumped at the opportunity to take what she could, but not this one. She didn't want a thing from me other than to be allowed to recover and go on her way without interference.”
    “She gave you no reason?” Nigel asked, coming up next to Adam. They left the stable yard at a comfortable walk.
    Adam shrugged. “She told me in no uncertain terms to mind my own business. That's as far as I got before she turned white as a ghost and I had to put her to bed.”
    Nigel glanced over at him. “I sincerely hope you didn't browbeat the poor girl.”
    “Browbeat her?” Adam said with indignation. “I was perfectly civil. I went so far as to put myself at her disposal. Her
disposal!
I can't think what came over me.”
    He didn't add that he'd been completely taken aback when he'd entered the room and seen Miss Calliope