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.’Rebecca felt her stomach churn.Lacy had seen them together at The Queen’s Head, when she was arguing with Joshua over the room.The door, she remembered, had been open, because she had not wanted to close it, for to do so would have been to shut herself in with a stranger.It was the worst thing that could possibly have happened.Although the encounter had been innocent, no one would believe it.Indeed, Lacy himself did not believe it.Having seen her talking to Joshua whilst Joshua had been in a state of partial undress, and having heard Joshua invite her to share his bed, he had drawn his own conclusions.And now he meant to noise them abroad.Her spirits sank still further as she realized that her reputation was ruined.But she had reckoned without Joshua’s strength of character.‘I don’t think so.’ His voice was like steel.‘Oh, don’t you?’ jeered Lacy.‘Well, perhaps if your mistress had been more accommodating, and perhaps if you hadn’t manhandled me, then I might have been persuaded to keep what I know to myself.But as it is.’His voice tailed away.He had started his speech full of confidence, but at the word "mistress" the atmosphere had changed, and a deadly silence now filled the room.Lacy glanced nervously at Joshua and backed away.There was a moment of tense silence.Then, ‘Tell me, Lacy,’ said Joshua.‘How are you with a pistol?’ He spoke conversationally, but the air suddenly felt as tight as a drum, as though one wrong word or gesture would rupture it.Lacy felt it.He fingered his collar nervously, as though he was finding it difficult to breath.‘What do you mean?’‘I mean, that if you blacken Miss Foster’s name in any way, you will find yourself needing one,’ said Joshua levelly.Lacy gave a bark of laughter, but it was forced.‘You wouldn’t fight a duel over her,’ he said with bravado.‘She’s not your wife.She’s nothing but your strumpet.Besides, duels aren’t for your kind.’ He sneered again.‘You’re in trade, Kelling.You’re not even a gentleman.’‘I count four,’ said Joshua calmly.Lacy looked at him suspiciously.‘Four reasons for calling you out,’ Joshua elaborated.‘One, your attack on Miss Foster; two, your threat to spread gossip about the lady and myself; three, your slur on the lady’s character; and four, your slur on my right to call myself a gentleman.’Lacy licked his lips.‘You are the only person to know of the incident at The Queen’s Head,’ went on Joshua, his eyes hard.‘If I discover that anyone else knows about it, I will know who has been spreading the rumour.And I, Lacy, am a very good shot.’Lacy looked from one to the other of them, as if trying to decide whether it would be worth his while to resort to some kind of blackmail.But one look at Joshua’s implacable features decided him.‘Very well,’ he said through clenched teeth.‘I will keep quiet.’‘A wise choice,’ said Joshua evenly.He strode over to the door and held it open.Lacy, with a last furtive look, slipped out of the room.With his departure, some of the tension that had filled the room began to dissipate.Rebecca let out sigh of relief.Without realizing it, she had been holding her breath.Joshua, whose eyes had followed Lacy out of the room, turned to look at her.As she felt his eyes on her, Rebecca felt suddenly awkward.He was taking in every detail of her: the flush on her cheeks; her rapid breathing; and the rise and fall of her breast.‘Did he hurt you?’ he asked, his eyes returning to her own.‘No.’ She remembered Lacy’s attack on her, and was thankful that Joshua had arrived when he did - although she had given a good account of herself before he had entered the room.In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, which was still tense, though now in a subtly different way, she gave a weak smile and said, ‘Though I believe I hurt him.I stamped on his foot when he tried to kiss me.’He smiled, too.Then his eyes mellowed, and the hard line of his mouth softened.‘I hope you would not stamp on my foot if —’ he began; before cutting himself off.There was a heart-stopping moment and everything was suddenly very still.Rebecca could hear the coals shifting in the hearth.As if some unseen force was compelling her to do so, she turned her eyes up to his.‘If —?’ she whispered.Her voice trembled, but the rest of her was rigid.It was as though she was waiting for something.But what?‘If.’ said Josh, his voice suddenly husky.He was looking incredibly desirable.Standing there before her in the candlelight, with the flames painting gold highlights into his hair and with copper sparks flashing from his eyes, he was the most devastatingly attractive man Rebecca had ever seen [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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