Page 91 of Inconvenient Honor
“No. I won’t jeopardize your safety by approaching this man who hired his very captors to kidnap you. It would get back to Hamidou in a heartbeat. He brought it on himself. Let it go.”
A rough path zigzagged upward over jagged boulders. Richard held her hand and helped her up. They reached the top after several minutes. Richard forced Volkov from his mind. He hoped Lily did the same.
One bronze-skinned teenager hunkered down by a rock where hecould scan the horizon in every direction. Hamidou’s lookout. The boy grunted and turned away, ignoring them.
A brisk Mediterranean wind roiled Lily’s skirts and put her hair to flight. She held on to her Berber headdress. Around them lay rocky coast. The village occupied one small flat area.
“Look—the mainland.” She pointed across the water. They could see the coast of North Africa, bright brown and gray in the sunlight with thin lines of green here and there.
They stood shoulder to shoulder for long moments. Lily confirmed Richard’s suspicion that they shared one thought when she murmured. “A person could swim it.”
“Do you swim, Lily?” He’d never known a lady who could swim.
“Not in women’s skirts,” she replied, “And certainly not in this condition.” She looked down ruefully.
But she can, he thought, astounded. “I’ll have to see how well you swim some other time.”
He stared at the shore, lost in thought.I could swim it, but could I bring help for Lily quickly enough? Unlikely. Whatever lay in that land didn’t include the British Navy. The thought of Volkov sickened him. Thus those who cheat Hamidou.
“You could,” she said, as if giving voice to his thoughts.
“I wouldn’t leave you.”
“I know. I’m sorry to be a burden.”
He did take her in his arms at that.Let watching eyes and London strictures be damned.
“Never that,” he said. He pulled her head against his shoulder while the wind howled around them. “Never that.”
They lingered until the sun began to dip; he led her back down. With every step, his heart sank deeper.No escape. None. I can only rely on my friends.He squeezed Lily’s hand tighter.
“You’re hurting me,” she complained. “Do you want to break my fingers?”
He loosened his grip with an apology but did not let go. At the bottom of the rise, he turned her toward the far shore, away from theluckless Volkov, and back to the hut where Lily’s nameless young friend waited with food and drink. She smiled at their joined hands and bowed out, dropping the door covering as she went. Quiet and privacy descended.
In the fading light, Richard took Lily’s face in his hands, long fingers cupping both sides of her chin. He meant to kiss her, but when she smiled wanly, he pulled back. Purple patches lay beneath both eyes, and her mouth looked pinched.
“You look exhausted,” he said frowning. She didn’t deny it.
He lowered her to the rough bed that also served as their settee and brought her tea. She took a cautious sip.
“Mint!” she said, and tried another sip. “Good.”
He pushed food on her, but she took little. He held bread dipped in a sort of meat sauce to her mouth but suspected the nibble she took wouldn’t keep a mouse satisfied.
“You should eat.”
“I did,” she said pulling off her headdress.
“Not enough for even one grown woman, much less for the two of you.”
“The women gave me goat’s milk this morning.”
Is that good for a pregnant woman?He had no idea. He had no idea how to care for her on his own.
“I’m sorry to be a?—”
“Don’t say ‘burden.’ Don’t ever say it,” he growled. “When we get back to England, I’ll hire an army of servants to care for both of you.”
