Free Lord Haversham Takes Command by Heidi Ashworth Page B

questions sounded chosen at random. “I suppose it would be most useful to ask why you have requested to be called Bertie and why you sometimes behave like a buffoon, however, based on the shadow that has just crossed your face, I daresay you would not answer me that one.”
    “In that you would be most correct,” he said with a tiny smile of relief.
    “There is always the matter of the pistol I saw half hidden in the folds of your clothing this morning, but that seems a most personal matter and one which you would likely find not for my delicate ears.”
    Harry gave her an arch look. “What is amiss about a man arming himself?”
    “Pity. I have learned that it isn’t always preferable to be right.”
    “If that is your question, I have answered it truthfully. That is, as truthfully as I can,” he said, spreading his hands in entreaty.
    “I might ask why you kissed me yesterday.” It was an audacious question, and her heart pounded a bit harder than to what she was accustomed.
    “For the same reason I kissed you all those years ago. I beg your pardon for implying I had forgotten it; I have not.”
    “That is not an answer,” she fired back.
    “Isn’t it?” he asked softly, chaining her gaze with his own. “It is clear as day to me.”
    For a moment, she felt so disordered in her brain that she failed to recollect her specific query and would have thrown herself into his arms without another word. One corner of reason remained, however, and it reminded her that lies fell easily from his lips. She must ask her question, and he must answer true before she turned her heart over to him. “Why, then, did you sleep outside my door last night?” she asked, bowing her head to prevent his looking into her face to read what was written there.
    He laughed, a pleasant sound full of ease. “Are you sure that is the one you want to know? It is quite simple, really. You were in danger, and I meant to protect you. That is all.”
    “I? In danger?” Mira asked, incredulous.
    “But of course. Did I not just say so?”
    “You can’t mean from my cousin? Surely not! He is weak and tedious but along with that comes cowardice. He would never force himself upon me.”
    “No?” he asked and drew a deep breath. “I am most relieved. But, in truth, that is not the danger of which I spoke.”
    It was clear that he was preparing to reveal a secret, and the very idea sent a trill of delight along her spine.
    “I am in service to the Qu … ” he said, hesitating, “rather, I am involved in something … something thoroughly honorable that I wish I could share with you, but I cannot. I ought not but I will tell you that I was the target of yesterday’s shooting. Either that or Higgins was. Or rather, both of us. At any rate, there are those who want me dead,” he said shortly. “I didn’t care so much for myself,” he added, his voice shaking a trifle, “but knowing that I had put you and your most esteemed parents in danger was too much to bear.”
    Mira, too stunned to speak, sat with her mouth open in a most unladylike fashion.
    “I see that you don’t believe me, but Mira, it is true. I wish it weren’t so, but it is and it’s all I can say. Meanwhile, my being here, still, with you in this inn, puts you in danger, but I … I simply couldn’t bring myself to leave you.” He paused and closed his eyes, then opened them again with a sigh. “That is why I slept outside your door last night, to protect you even as I was increasing your danger by so doing. Will you forgive me for my weakness?”
    Very quietly, Mira stood and held out her hand to him. Taking it in his, he kissed it with a fervency that felt as real as anything as Mira had ever known. Gently, she drew it away and without a word, opened the door and shut it behind her, her heart hammering in her chest. She thought he had been about to say that he was in service to the Queen. Could he have meant the Queen of
England
? Surely not! There was nothing