Echoes in Stone Read Online Free PDF Page A

the only bright spots in the room. Even the paintings, of exotic birds and flowers, were coated in a layer of dust, adding little cheer.
    It was if the man rising from his seat at the head of the small table had sucked all light, all life from the atmosphere. The leaf-green draperies remained closed against the day. The silver salvers on the sideboard were tarnished and dull. Not a single item in the room reflected even the smallest bit of light.
    How did Lily live this way, day after gloomy day? Lily, who loved the light and heat.
    He’d at least finally managed to do up all his buttons and don a more proper amount of clothing. He now wore a deep blue vest and black cravat with his crisp lawn shirt. The black trousers, which had caused Jessa such consternation earlier, were tucked into the tops of dull knee-high riding boots. Spit-polished boots were one of the hallmarks of a gentleman. Clearly, this man did not qualify as one.
    But then, she’d already discovered that last fact the previous evening.
    Jessa clasped her hands together, stilling the tremor in them, refusing to let them betray any sign of nerves to the man who’d come around the table and held out her chair, waiting. He solicitously helped her into her seat, his breath warm against the back of her neck, raising prickles in that sensitive spot. The same peculiar electricity that had stolen her breath last night set her blood racing. It danced across her breasts before settling into an odd throb in the private place between her thighs. She wriggled unobtrusively in the chair to ease the strange ache.
    “So my dear, shall we forget the madman who held you inappropriately close last night, and begin again, as strangers?”
    His voice rumbled in her ear. The vibration exacerbated the tingling along her skin.
    He didn’t wait for a response, but moved away from her, crossing to the sideboard. “We mostly serve ourselves here in the mornings, unless you wish something special from the kitchen. As I discovered from my manservant, we are very nearly related. I do hope you’ll allow me to use your first name.”
    His smile didn’t deceive her.
    “Jessamine, isn’t it? Such a lovely name.” He lifted the cover from a serving dish. “I always find myself ravenous in the mornings, don’t you? Especially after such an enervating evening. Poached egg?”
    Looking at that ruined face across a dining table should have dampened her appetite, but the smell of bacon wafting from the salver set her mouth watering. She could no longer tell if her stomach clenched in hunger, or in fear.
    “Yes please, an egg. And some of that heavenly smelling bacon.”
    He fulfilled her requests, then added an odd flat piece of fried bread to her plate. In response to her questioning look he said, “It’s a bannock cake. Made with oats, I believe. Try it with a bit of jam.”
    He placed the plate on the table before her. Once again, he crowded too closely behind her as he leaned over her shoulder, stretching across the table to retrieve a stand containing four small bowls of preserved fruits.
    “May I suggest the apple butter?” he said, pointing to one of the dishes. “It’s made with our own Cornish Gillyflower, one of the finest apples you’ll ever taste.”
    Jessa swallowed, pushing away the fleeting thought of what had happened the first time someone had tempted another with an apple. She nodded, then spooned some onto her bread and tasted it. Spicy notes, reminiscent of cloves, tingled on her tongue.
    “Oh my. They truly are delicious. I do believe I could become quite fond of your Cornish Gillyflower apple.” She smiled. One glance at the tragically scarred man who’d moved away from her and now studied her from his seat at the end of the table, chased the smile away.
    “Whatever the lady likes. I will instruct Cook to see to it this apple butter is always on the table during your visit here.” The tone of his voice made it clear he intended it to be a very short