Page 24 of Mesmerized

Afterward they sat in contented silence, luxuriating in the warmth of the sun on their backs, listening to the rustle of the leaves as the breeze moved them and the occasional song of a bird. It would be a wonderful place, Olivia thought, to sit and read, or even to curl up and doze in the sun, like a lazy cat. She would have to bring a book here another time. She caught herself on the thought. She would not be at Blackhope that long; she was here merely for a visit, and then she would return to her home.

“It must have been nice, growing up here,” she commented.

“Yes. Roderick was four years older than I, so when he went off to Eton, I was mostly alone. I used to like to ride to this pond and sit and read.”

Olivia smiled at the echoing of her thoughts. “What sort of things did you read?”

“Oh, tales of derring-do—grand adventure and mysterious happenings. Romantic nonsense, most of it. I was young and full of dreams.”

“Is that why you went to America? To pursue adventure?”

He shrugged, and his face closed down, the smile that had curved his lips vanishing. “I suppose. Mostly I wanted to get as far away from here as possible.”

His answer puzzled her, and she would have questioned him about it, but Stephen went on before she could speak. “I wanted to make my fortune. Prove my worth. Typical ambitions of a younger son.”

“Where did you go?”

“To the West. That was the place to make one’s fortune, that was what everyone there said. I tried a few different places, different things, but I wound up in Colorado, silver mining.”

“What was it like there?”

“Harsh, cold, beautiful. The mountains are incredibly high and stark, the sky enormous. You cannot look at them without thinking of words such as ‘grandeur’ and ‘majestic’ and ‘sweeping.’ The land dwarfs you, and yet somehow it emboldens you, makes you think that anything is possible.”

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I don’t usually go on about it so.”

“It must have been difficult to leave it.”

Stephen glanced at her, surprised. “It was. Most people don’t understand that. They think I must have been ecstatic to come home to England, to suddenly acquire the title and estate. I wasn’t. For a short while, I even thought about not returning. But I knew the estate would suffer. One cannot really manage effectively from thousands of miles away. And there were Mother and Belinda to consider. So in the end I sold out, and I came back here.”

“Do you regret it?”

He did not answer right away, considering her words. Finally he said, “No. I don’t regret it. It’s a different sort of life, but I suppose it is really the one I was born and bred for. No matter how beautiful the Rockies are, however challenging the land or the work, this is where I belong. Blackhope is my home.” A quick grin quirked up the corners of his mouth. “Even with all the lost spirits.”

Olivia smiled back. “Do you think we shall have a repeat performance tonight? More words from the spirits?”

“My guess would be no.” His face turned serious again. “I think our Madame Valenskaya will make Mother wait for a while. Bring her eagerness to a greater level. I think she will find it too enervating to go into a trance again, or she will declare the spirit guides unwilling to return to the house of a disbeliever. She wants Mother to be so impatient for word from Roderick that she will believe anything, no matter how implausible.”

“No doubt you are right,” Olivia agreed with a sigh. “I feel so sorry for Lady St. Leger. It must be horrible to wait and hope like that.”

“Yes.” Stephen’s mouth turned down grimly. “That’s why I intend to expose these charlatans as soon as we possibly can.”

The pleasant mood of the afternoon was gone, chased away by thoughts of Madame Valenskaya and her fraudulent schemes. Stephen and Olivia turned away and began to pack up the remains of the food. He stood up and reached down a hand to Olivia to help her. She took it and rose to her feet.

He did not release her hand immediately, but stood for a moment holding it. Olivia looked up into his face and found him gazing at her in a way that made her pulse speed up.

“I am glad you came here,” he said. His eyes glinted silver in the day’s light.

“I am, too,” Olivia found herself answering a little breathlessly.

He bent closer to her, and her heart knocked frantically against her ribs. She closed her eyes, and then his lips were on hers, soft and lingering. Olivia’s fingers curled into her palms. She had never been kissed before, and she found that it was unlike anything she had imagined. His kiss deepened, and heat flooded her.

Her hands came up. She wasn’t sure what she intended to do, but when her fingers came into contact with his jacket, they curled into the lapels and she held on fiercely. Stephen’s arms went around her, pulling her up into him, and Olivia rose onto her toes, pressing her lips against his. Glorious sensations radiated through her, and she trembled, eager and excited.

At last he released her, and she slipped back down flat on her feet. She lifted her eyes to him, her mouth slightly open with astonishment. Stephen stared back at her, almost as stunned as she.

“I—I—” He stepped back, his hands balling into fists. “I beg your pardon. I should not have done that.”

Olivia wanted to protest his words, to tell him that she was quite glad that he had, but she caught herself. To say such a thing would not be at all ladylike. Indeed, what she had just done was doubtless not ladylike, either, and she suspected that her unusual upbringing was again at fault. So she swallowed her words and merely shook her head.