Page 7 of The Earl That Got Away (Sirens in Silk #2)
Chapter Six
Now
England
T here were daisies everywhere.
The cheerful blooms dotting the landscape lifted Naila’s spirits, making her glad she’d allowed Raya, Nadine and Hind to persuade her to join their walk. It helped get her mind off Basil.
No. Not Basil. He was Hawk now. She had to stop thinking about the earl in familiar terms. At this point, they were nothing but strangers. Even worse than strangers. They’d once been intimately connected; now they could barely stand to acknowledge each other.
The four women strolled past beautiful cone-shaped purple flowers springing up from the wild grasses and enormous leafy trees with expansive branches. Rabbits scurry-hopped not too far from them. Naila inhaled the crisp air. The English countryside certainly was a long way from Brooklyn.
“Hawk must be past thirty,” Hind said to Raya. “What hasn’t he married yet?”
“That is the great mystery.” Raya adjusted her straw hat. “Strick says some woman in America broke his heart. Hawk spent some time in Philadelphia a few years ago.”
Naila’s stomach cramped. Hawk had told people about her? How much had he revealed?
“That’s where Naila met him.” Nadine cut Naila a sidelong glance. “Did you hear anything about Hawk courting a lady when you knew him in Philadelphia?”
“No.” Naila kept her focus on the path ahead of her. “Nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Nadine pressed. “There must have been a lot of gossip about him. It’s not often one meets an English earl.”
“He wasn’t an earl back then.”
“Why not?”
Raya bent to pluck a violet wildflower. “Hawk inherited unexpectedly when his father’s cousin died.” She brought the bloom to her nose to inhale its scent. “It was apparently quite a surprise.”
“My goodness.” Nadine’s eyes rounded. “That girl who turned him down in Philadelphia, whoever she is, must feel like a complete habla now. What a fool.”
Regret pooled in Naila’s belly. And it had nothing to do with Hawk’s money and title. For at least the hundredth time, she thought about what a fool she’d been to abandon the love of her life.
“Should we start back?” Raya asked. “I have a meeting with the steward soon.”
“Oh, do let’s walk some more,” Naila protested. She relished being away from the castle, which felt suffocating with Hawk in such close proximity. Her nerves were jangled from the ever-present possibility of running into him every time she turned one of the castle’s numerous corners.
Nadine yawned. “No more walking for me. I am tired. I could use a nap.”
Hind was Naila’s last hope. “Let’s walk for just a little longer,” she urged her cousin.
Although Hind looked like she wanted to return with the others, she relented. “Okay, but let’s not walk too much farther.”
“We won’t,” Naila promised. They parted with Raya and Nadine and continued on their way.
“Since when do you like to walk so much?” Hind asked as they entered a copse of trees.
Since I need to avoid Hawk. “We don’t have views like this in Brooklyn. Look how pretty the daisies and those purple flowers are.”
“Views?” Hind screwed up her face. “It all looks the same to me. Grass, grass and more grass. With some flowers and trees thrown in.”
“You’re clearly not a country girl.”
Hind laughed good-naturedly. “That’s for certain.”
Naila looped her arm through her younger cousin’s.
Hind was nineteen now and more of a friend than the young cousin who’d needed looking after for so many years.
With her innate sweetness and gaiety, Hind’s presence was a balm at a time when seeing Hawk again had upended everything.
She had a perpetual knot in her stomach.
“I’m so glad you’re here to keep me company,” she told her cousin.
“You have Nadine,” Hind pointed out.
“Very amusing.” They both knew that Naila’s eldest sister wasn’t exactly a source of support for anyone.
“What about Raya?”
“Raya is busy running the castle’s operations,” Naila said. “Besides, what little spare time she has I am sure she’d prefer to devote to her duke.”
Footsteps sounded, followed by the snap of breaking twigs. Hawk emerged from the trees like a dream come to life in a navy tailcoat and worn brown boots. He stopped short when he spotted them but quickly recovered. “Good afternoon, ladies. This is an unexpected surprise.”
Hind’s face lit up. “A nice surprise, I hope.”
To her astonishment, Naila realized that Hind was flirting. She suppressed a sudden, violent urge to pinch her cousin’s arm.
Hawk smiled at Hind. “A very nice surprise, indeed.”
Naila felt a sting of desire deep in her belly. Hawk had always had that effect on her. Even though, at the moment, his smile was for Hind alone. Naila might as well be just another blade of grass in the meadow.
“What brings you two this far from the castle?” he asked.
“We could ask the same of you,” Hind bantered, her manner cheerful and engaging.
“I enjoy a long walk in the country. It gives me time to think.”
Hind tilted her head coquettishly. “In America, we say, ‘A penny for your thoughts.’”
Amusement lit his eyes. “Your penny would be wasted. My thoughts aren’t at all interesting.”
“We enjoy long walks, too,” Hind said. “The daisies and those purple flowers are beautiful.”
Naila suppressed an urge to snort. Hind liked long walks in the country about as much as Naila enjoyed visiting the dentist.
Hawk dipped his chin. “One cannot help but appreciate a lady with a love of nature.”
Hind batted her eyelashes. “I was just mentioning to Naila how there are no views like this in Brooklyn.”
“Yes,” Naila said dryly, “she certainly was.”
“Won’t you join us?” Hind asked the earl. Naila discreetly elbowed her cousin but it was too late.
“It would be my pleasure.” He turned to walk with them, Hawk on one side of Hind, Naila on the other.
“What do you call those purple flowers, the cone-shaped ones?” Hind asked Hawk.
“I believe you are referring to the lupines,” he told her.
Hind proceeded to ask several questions about the various plants they encountered, which Hawk patiently answered. Naila knew her cousin had zero interest in nature, but she kept that to herself. Slowly, she allowed herself to fall behind until she trailed them.
But her attempt to put more distance between her and Hawk immediately proved to be a poor decision. Because now Naila had an unrestricted view of his strong masculine form. And she could not help but to admire the view.
Broad shoulders perfectly filled out his coat.
Long legs encased in boots took sure confident strides; the muscles in his athletic thighs were visible just below the hem of his coat.
Need wound through Naila, sharpening in her belly.
A reminder that she’d missed this man not only emotionally, but also physically.
Her body craved him as potently as ever.
Up ahead, Hind was posing questions to Hawk. “What is it like to be an earl?”
“It is very strange,” he answered. “People treat you very differently once they learn you have a title.”
“I can imagine.”
“Before I had the title, people judged me for me. And sometimes found me lacking.”
“I cannot imagine that,” Hind said.
“I assure you that it is the truth,” he said. “But now, every marriage-minded mama is throwing their daughters into my path, hoping to make a marital connection to a man with a title. They have no interest in my character.”
“That would be tiresome.”
“It is, but I’m hardly in a position to complain. I understand that I am privileged and many would very much like to be in my position.”
They came to a hilly area. Hawk paused. “Are you ladies fatigued?” He half turned to include Naila in his question without actually looking at her. “Shall we turn back?”
“Yes,” Naila replied immediately. “I am tired.” Anything to be free of the agony of being in Hawk’s presence while he treated her like an inconsequential acquaintance.
“Oh no!” Hind protested. “Do let’s continue. I am so enjoying our walk.”
Naila suppressed another snort. Hind was savoring Hawk’s attentions, not the country air.
He paused. “If Miss Darwish has overexerted herself, we really should turn back.”
Naila’s spine stiffened. He made her sound like an old lady, as if she were a spinster chaperoning a young courting couple.
“I assure you,” she said tartly, “that I am not overtaxed.”
His brows went up. Probably at her tone. But Naila didn’t care. “Very well,” he said carefully. “Shall we continue?”
They were interrupted by the soft rumble of an oncoming open carriage drawn by two horses.
At the reins was Mr. Guy Vaughan, a friend of the duke’s, with his sister beside him.
Frances Vaughan was the frightfully elegant woman with the same vibrant copper hair as her brother who’d been in conversation with Hawk the other evening.
Raya had introduced them later that same night.
“Good day,” Mr. Vaughan called out, pulling the carriage to a stop when he reached them.
They all exchanged greetings before Mr. Vaughan ran an appraising eye over Hawk and Hind, who stood by his side. Naila remained a few steps behind them. “On an excursion?”
Hawk shot his friend a stinging look. “I came upon the Misses Darwish on a walk and decided to accompany them.”
“How gallant of you,” Mr. Vaughan said with a glint in his eye.
“We are on our way to Castle Tremayne now for luncheon,” Miss Vaughan told the walkers. She and her brother lived close by and were not staying at the castle as many of the other wedding guests were.
“Would one of you young ladies like a ride back?” her brother asked. “We have room enough for one more.”
“No, thank you.” Hind responded quickly, shooting a shy glance Hawk’s way. “I am very much enjoying our walk.”
“Take Miss Naila,” Hawk said. “She just said that she is tired.”
Miss Vaughan smiled at Naila. “Do say you’ll come, Miss Darwish. I could use some feminine company.”
Jealousy curled in Naila’s stomach. There was a time when Hawk would have done just about anything to prolong their walks. Now he couldn’t wait to be rid of her.