My Lord Viking (8 page)

     
“As you must have seen for yourself, the whole house is being turned inside out in anticipation of the guests.
 
Mama is having a glorious time.”

     
“And you?”
 
His full lips pursed.
 
“Are you having such a glorious time that you have finally given thought to our own wedding plans?”

     
“My thoughts at this time must all be focused on Dinah’s wedding.”
 
What a lie that was!
 
She had not thought of it since finding Nils on the shore.

     
He clasped his hands behind his back in a pose better suited to the long-suffering tutor who had let her sneak into the classroom while he taught her brothers.
 
“You are a kind sister to care so much for her, but you must think of yourself as well.”

     
“I am.”
 
She set her shoe on the floor.
 
The other had come off while she pursued Scamp through the kitchen.
 
She must go and retrieve it as soon as she finished this conversation with
Randolph
.
 
Placing the book on a nearby table, she reached for the pitcher and poured herself a glass of lemonade.
 
“Are you sure I cannot offer you some?”

     
“What have you given thought to?”

     
Linnea sighed into her glass.
 
Randolph
could be so single-minded in his determination to get an answer.

     
Just as Nils was.

     
Dash it!
 
She did not want to think of Nils Bjornsson now.
 
Those unanswered questions crowded her head along with the irritating memory of his superior smile...and his brawny muscles that had strained to help Jack get him off the beach and to the water garden pavilion.
 
Nils might be hurt badly, but his pride had refused to allow him to reveal anything save for the most fierce agony.
 
And if he was not mistaken, he had an enemy who was stalking him.
 
Olive’s warning echoed in her head.
 
She should have insisted that Papa heed her and contact the authorities now.
 

     
She had delayed too long in her answer, she discovered, when
Randolph
reached past her and picked up the book.
 
His frown became amazement as he asked, “
History of Norfolk
?
 
I had no idea you were interested in
Norfolk
.”

     
“I am interested in all sorts of things.”

     
He paged through the book.
 
“This appears to be dry reading for a young woman.”

     
Linnea bristled, but said nothing.
 
It would be just a waste of her words.
 
Randolph
believed she was like his sister who never had bothered her mind with anything that would not assist her in the pursuit of a titled husband with plump pockets.
 
Even if she had not chanced upon Nils and wanted to learn more about the city he was from, she often wandered through Papa’s book-room to find something to read.
 
As her father shared her eclectic interests, she usually found something intriguing to peruse.

     
“I have never been to
Norfolk
,” she replied when he glanced up from the book.
 
“I thought I might learn more about it, so I will enjoy it more when I visit it.”

     
“You are planning a trip there?”

     
“Not just now, but it would be nice to go there some day.”

     
His nose wrinkled.
 
“I have been to
Norfolk
.
 
There is nothing there that would interest you.”

     
“I would like to determine that for myself.”

     
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
 
His dark eyes snapped with fury.
 
She could not blame him, for she had been less than polite since the beginning of his call.
 
If she could explain why she was so at odds with herself, he might understand.
 
But she must stay mum about Nils until she was sure that he was out of danger from those who had hurt him.
 

     
“
Randolph
, I—”

     
“You must excuse me now.
 
I said I could stay but a short time.”
 
He set the book on the table and walked toward the door, then looked back at her.
 
“Do think more about our plans, Linnea.
 
The announcement has been delayed too long already.”

     
Taking a deep breath, she knew she must be honest with him...at least about his desire to marry her.
 
Randolph
deserved that.
 
“Before you go, there is something we need to speak of.”

     
“Of our wedding?”

     
“No...yes...I mean, we need to speak of your offer for me.”
 
Flinging out her hands, she said, “You can see how the house is all in an uproar over Dinah’s wedding.
 
It is all any of us have been thinking about.
 
I do so love to see Dinah and Lord Simmons together.
 
They are so happy.”

     
“Yes.
 
That is quite obvious.”

     
“One could only wish that everyone was that happy.
 
Love is most contagious, infecting those around us like a sickness.”
 
She hesitated, gauging his face.
 
Did he guess what she was finding difficult to say?
 

     
He laughed.
 
“I have seen some men who look as if they need to recover from some hideous plague when they fall in love.”

     
“But so often a sickness passes quickly, and it is as if it never had been.”
 
She waited, holding her breath.

     
When his eyes grew wide with consternation, he grasped her hands.
 
“Linnea, do not even jest about such a thing.
 
My heart remains constant, and I hope that yours will as well.”

     
“
Randolph
—”
 
It was the last word she had a chance to speak as he spoke on and on about his hopes for their future.
 

     
When he finished with, “And our match will heal so many of the wounds left by my father’s death,” Linnea knew she could not break his heart anew.
 
Not today.
 
Not when she had been left so bewildered after discovering Nils Bjornsson on the shore that her words might be unthinking or downright callous.

     
As he took his leave, along with her reassurances that she would take more time to think their plans over, she sat on the closest chair and ran her fingers back and forth on the navy satin.
 
Randolph
should be everything she wanted in a husband.
 
He was intelligent and hard-working.
 
He respected his own family heritage and hers, for both families had been long settled here by the time of William the Conqueror.
 
She had seen his kindness to her when he did not take her to task for her lack of manners during their brief conversation.

     
But he was not the man of her dreams!
 
How ironic that her dreams of falling in love had apparently led her to fall in love with the wrong man!
 

     
He could not understand her longing to go beyond
Sutherland
Park
and
London
.
 
Her love of reading baffled him.
 
His favorite topics of conversation were his investments and his country estate.
 
If she had to endure another long explanation on how he was so unlike his spendthrift father, she was certain she would have to leave the room.
 
He had not changed.
 
Only her silly dreams of being in love had.
 
It was as if she were waking from what had seemed to be a dream come true to discover it was not.

     
“Another thing...”

     
At
Randolph
’s voice, Linnea looked up, astonished.
 
She came quickly to her feet and hoped that her face revealed her amazement rather than her dismay that he had returned.
 
“Yes?” she asked.

     
“I did not want you to believe I was distressed with you.”
 

     
Was his smile as insincere as hers?
 
She could not ask that.
 
Instead she said, “Of course not,
Randolph
.”

     
“You know I have much affection for this family and you.
 
I do understand your reluctance to do anything that you believe will detract from your sister’s nuptials, and I know as well that...”

     
Linnea stopped listening as she heard a soft hiss.
 
Looking past
Randolph
, who was continuing with his long-winded attempt to smooth any mistakes he might have made by being honest with her—a fact that was more irritating than his words—she struggled to keep her face even.
 
Jack was in the doorway, motioning to her.
 

     
She waved him away.
 
Smiling, although she was sure
Randolph
would sense that her expression was even more feigned than before, she clasped her hands in front of her as
Randolph
kissed her cheek.
 
She saw Randolph’s amazement—and Jack’s—that she was allowing Randolph such a liberty when she had followed Society’s dictates and kept him at arm’s length until now, but she would do just about anything to get Randolph to take his leave when Jack looked so frantic.
 

     
What could be wrong?

     
She did not worry that
Randolph
would take notice of Jack loitering in the hall.
 
Since she had known him, she had discovered how Jack slipped in and out of too many other places with ease.
 
He would not be caught now.
 
Waiting impatiently for the stableman, she sat on the very edge of a chair.
 
She did not want to appear as if anything were amiss if someone passed by.

     
“My lady?”
 
Jack’s voice was little more than a whisper.

     
“Come in.
 
Come in.”

     
He shook his head.
 
“Not here.
 
We need to speak...We need to speak elsewhere.”

     
Linnea did not have to ask if someone was nearby.
 
Jack must have seen someone approaching.
 
“I need to retrieve my slipper from where I lost it in the kitchen,” she said.
 

     
“I believe I saw it in the stillroom.”
 
His eyes twinkled for a moment, then grew serious again.

     
“Then I shall retrieve it from there right away.”

     
“Yes, my lady.”
 
He scurried out of the room.

     
She wondered how he failed to run headlong into one of the footmen who seemed to appear in the doorway at the exact second Jack rushed out.
 
Keeping her curiosity to herself, she nodded when the footman told her that Lord Sutherland had asked him to arrange for Scamp to be cleaned.
 
She thanked him.