Free A Terrible Beauty by TASHA ALEXANDER

the lightning longer than we ought when it first began. I surmised Bohn went back outside and wandered a greater distance than he realized, captivated by the dramatic weather, and slipped. The rain had made the rocks slick. I found him, unconscious, not far from our camp.”
    â€œSo you brought him here?” I asked.
    He ran his long fingers through his sandy hair with a movement so similar to the one I had seen Colin make countless times that I sat up straighter, taken aback. They had been friends since their earliest school days, but I had not expected them to share mannerisms.
    â€œI did. I knew it would be safe in the storm, and I wanted to summon the doctor in Oia, as there is neither an English- nor German-speaking one in Fira. Bohn was in no shape to be carried as far as that, but I had hoped…” His voice trailed.
    â€œThe doctor did not arrive in time?” I asked.
    â€œIt took me ages to reach Oia on horseback in the storm—I hope you do not mind I borrowed one of your steeds; it was faster than our donkeys—and longer still for the two of us to return here. We were too late.”
    â€œI am very sorry for your loss,” I said, almost automatically.
    Colin had taken to pacing again. “You have been here, on this island, for multiple archaeological seasons, yet you never once came to us?”
    â€œWhat would be the point?” the man said, turning his empty glass in his hand. “Look at the chaos my appearance has already caused. I had hoped to avoid any such disruption.”
    No one spoke for several minutes until finally Margaret heaved a sigh. “All right, I will ask what no one else will. Aren’t you supposed to be dead, Lord Ashton? And if, as current appearances suggest, you are not, what on earth happened in Africa, and why didn’t you come back sooner?”
    â€œThese Americans, Hargreaves, truly I don’t know what to make of them.” He poured himself another whisky. “I realize it is far too early in the day for such a quantity of spirits, but the occasion does merit them.”
    Jeremy took the decanter from him and refilled his own glass. “Right, Ashton, that’s enough blundering about. Answer Margaret’s questions.”
    â€œI apologize, Mrs. Michaels, for not attacking the subject more directly. I fell ill in Africa, as you all know, due to poison added to my champagne on the night that should have been the most triumphant of my life.”
    â€œAfter you got your elephant,” I said.
    â€œYes.” He stood taller, pride brightening your face. “Hargreaves must have told you. I only wish I could have delivered the news to you myself.”
    â€œColin did inform me, but I have also been subjected to the poor beast, stuffed and mounted in Ashton Hall.”
    â€œYou do not approve?” he asked.
    â€œI have always deplored hunting.” I met his surprised stare.
    He raised his eyebrows and turned to Colin. “At any rate, Hargreaves, I am most grateful for the care you took of me when I collapsed. You could not have known then that the poison administered caused a coma so deep it is often—as it was in my case—mistaken for death. You remember Kimathi, our guide?”
    â€œOf course,” Colin said.
    â€œHe saw what happened, and when you thought I was dead and placed me in the coffin, he was waiting to switch my body with that of one of his fellow tribesmen. My would-be murderer, Andrew Palmer, returned after the others had left camp, to ensure I had succumbed to his poison, and Kimathi feared he would come back again to finish the job. So he carried me to the tribe of his sister’s husband, and they cared for me during the long months it took me to recover. After that, my health was not good for some time, and I twice fell ill with fever. When, eventually, I regained the strength to travel, I had a great distance to cover before I reached even the most remote signs of