Page 18 of The Earl That Got Away (Sirens in Silk #2)
“On occasion his lord will invite guests to see the views from there, but the tower chambers provide the very best sights of the landscape.”
Naila sighed. “I could look at these views all day long.”
“Oh, miss,” Joan said from behind her. “What a beautiful gown, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Naila saw that the maid had unpacked her tangerine gown. “Some say it is too bright, but tangerine is my favorite color.”
The maid smiled. “Then you are in the perfect chamber.”
It took Naila a moment to understand what Joan meant, but then it hit her. Her eyes widened. The bed linens, tapestries and floor coverings were all various shades of orange, from vibrant corals to the palest apricot. What a delightful coincidence!
If it was a coincidence.
“Are these colors very commonly used here at Briar Hall?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t say so, miss. This is known as the Orange Room.”
Naila didn’t know what to think. Hawk didn’t seem at all interested in pleasing her, yet he’d put her in one of the best rooms at Briar Hall?
Joan put away the last of Naila’s things. “There is fresh water in the basin, if you’d like to wash up, miss. If there is nothing else, I’ll return in an hour’s time to help you dress for supper.”
Naila thanked the maid and studied the room more closely after she departed. She took in the details of the tapestries, scenes from a forest with frolicking animals. The pieces must be worth a fortune. She glanced out one of the enormous windows and saw that there were two men on the roof.
That’s when she spotted Hawk.
He’d discarded his frock coat, waist coat and necktie, which left him in only dark trousers and a white shirt. It took her a moment to realize it was him because she was accustomed to seeing him in far more formal attire.
He stood on the roof engaged in an animated discussion with what looked to be a member of his staff.
The man wore a suit, but its quality and style suggested he was of the working class.
Hawk pointed to various things, his arm stretching long.
The two men walked over and examined one of the statues.
Hawk ran a hand over it and seemed to issue some sort of instruction.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he laughed at something his companion said.
Naila was riveted. She hadn’t seen Hawk look so open and unguarded since Philadelphia.
When she’d already thought of him as her husband.
Naila’s face warmed at the memory of his fingers gliding along her skin, and of the sensation of his mouth, hot and wet, against her neck and.
.. other places. Recalling the encounter still stirred her body.
Need throbbed deep in her belly, reigniting physical cravings she’d spent years trying to suppress.
The Hawk chatting freely on the roof was the man she recognized, the one she’d loved with everything in her. The good-tempered smile and relaxed posture, the easy flow of conversation. He was far different from the stiff courteous man she’d become acquainted with over the past few weeks.
The Earl of Hawksworth was formal and polite.
His words were spoken with an edge and an underlying note of derision.
He was so emotionally distant that there might as well still be a full ocean between them.
He’d certainly run from their garden encounter at Castle Tremayne so quickly that you’d think the cigarette had lit his trousers on fire.
But watching the man conversing easily on the roof was like seeing her Inglese again. The urge to go to him, to speak with the old Basil at least one more time, overwhelmed her. Without giving herself time to think too deeply, Naila went to him.
“Let’s get these looked at as soon as possible,” Hawk instructed his steward. A section of the roof appeared to be leaking.
“Very good, my lord.” Waller had come with the house when Hawk inherited his title.
The two men had developed an instant rapport.
Waller’s experience and long history at Briar Hall were instrumental in helping Hawk gain a detailed understanding of how to run a massive estate.
“I’ll have the roofers look at it first thing in the morning. ”
Hawk remained on the roof once Waller left him. He gazed deep into the distance, surveying his estate. The reality that he was master of these vast grounds continually astonished him.
Naila was equally smitten with Briar Hall.
He’d seen it the moment they arrived. There was no missing the wonder, the sheer enchantment, that overcame her when she saw his home.
He sensed that she experienced Briar Hall the same way he had when he’d first seen it as a young boy.
Back then he was an awestruck distant relation with no expectation of one day inheriting this treasure.
He cut a glance up at the tower and wondered what she thought of the Orange Room.
Not long after he’d taken possession of Briar Hall, a storm had knocked out some of the tower windows.
The chamber’s furnishings were damaged. When it came time to refurbish the chamber with furniture and rugs from other parts of the manor, the housekeeper asked what color the room should be.
He automatically said orange, still thinking of Naila even after she’d forsaken him.
Gazing up at the tower’s wall of windows, he wondered if Naila had noticed the color. He would have enjoyed seeing her reaction to it. And then, almost as if he’d conjured her up, Naila’s voice sounded behind him.
“The view is spectacular from here. But I have an even better vantage point from my room.”
He turned to face her. Her cheeks were rosy, her dark eyes flashing with the vitality that had overwhelmed him from the moment he met her.
He still hadn’t recovered. She wore another becoming gown, this one in robin’s-egg blue, which set off her soft olive skin.
He quashed a primal urge to touch her, to take her, to make her his again.
But all he said was “I take it that means you approve of your accommodations?”
“How could I not?” She came closer. “A closet at Briar Hall would be nicer than most rooms.”
“Have we put you in a closet?”
“I’m in a tower room. I thought you might know something about that.”
“I run a vast portfolio. Many duties, such as room assignments, fall to my staff.” It was a lie, of course. He’d hand selected the room for her. Even before she appeared in England, he always thought of her when he entered that chamber. Which is why he normally avoided the place.
“My chamber is decorated in shades of orange.”
“Don’t you mean tangerine?”
Her mouth curled. “Yes, tangerine.”
“What do you think of Briar Hall?”
“I cannot find the right words to describe how marvelous it is.”
It could have been yours. If only you’d believed in me.
In us. The old resentment flared, a sharp simmer in his gut.
For some reason, having Naila here made him more bitter.
It drove home just how close he’d come to having everything a man could want.
If she’d been constant, they might be on this rooftop today with their children, admonishing them to be careful.
His silence seemed to unnerve her. “I... um... just want thank you for putting me in such a beautiful room.”
“Not at all.” He felt the ignoble desire to hurt her as she’d wounded him. “You must consider your new rank in the world.”
Her finely arched brows drew together. “I don’t follow.”
“You may not have an actual title, but the sister of a newly minted duchess must be treated with special consideration.”
She had a dubious look on her face. “You gave me a good room because Raya is now a duchess?”
“Only partially. Strick is a duke. The highest rank in the kingdom. Only royalty is more elevated.” The baser part of him relished the way her face fell, but mostly he wanted to flail himself for hurting her, no matter what she’d done to him.
“Besides, Strick is one of my closest friends. It is only right that I honor him by treating his American in-laws with utmost courtesy and consideration.”
She studied his face for a moment. He half-expected her to scoff, to challenge the ridiculosity of his words.
They both knew he’d put her in the tower because it was one of his finest chambers and was furnished in her favorite shades.
Despite himself, he’d wanted to make her happy.
He almost wished she would call him out for the liar he was.
Instead, she just nodded and he saw that she had decided to play his game.
“I shall be sure to tell their graces just how accommodating you’ve been.” She paused, then added, “My lord.”