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.He d just finished  Cliffs of Doneen, his mother s favorite,when he heard Anna speak close to his ear. Oh, Mr.Allen, that was lovely, Anna said, and her eyes weresuspiciously bright in the lamplight.Kyle looked up after the last notes had faded and smiled at her. Thank you, Miss Ashton.The songs were some of my mother sfavorites.It has been a long while since I played them.He couldn t help another glance at the two by the fire, and thistime he found Warren gazing intently at him, an unreadable expressionon his face.Their eyes met, and Kyle wished with all his heart that hecould know what the older man was thinking.Suddenly, Warrenlooked away, breaking their gaze, and stood, leaving Kyle feelingbereft.Appearing to address no one in particular, he said,  Well, it hasbeen a long day for me, and I believe I will retire for the evening.Please don t let me stop you young people from enjoying yourselves,though.I will bid you good night.Kyle and Ashton stood, nodding good night to him as Annasaid,  Good night, Uncle.I believe it s been a long day for me aswell, so I think I will say good night to you all also.When they had left, Ashton offered Kyle a glass of port, andKyle decided that that would be a wonderful idea.The object of hisobsessive thoughts had gone to bed, and there was little else he coulddo but wait until morning to try and win the man s favor again.Healso needed something to calm his nerves and help him sleep tonight.While they drank, he and Ashton talked about nothing inparticular.Ashton bragged of his exploits at the card tables, and Kylejoked that he would have to witness that for himself.As they talked,Kyle was reminded of how much he really liked Ashton.His feelingsfor his new friend weren t nearly as confusing as they were for hisuncle, and he hoped very much that they could remain friends once hebegan his new life.began his new life.Well into their third glass of port, Ashton grimaced suddenlyand said,  I wanted to tell you something, but I wasn t sure howexactly to do it.I don t have my sister s talent for this sort of thing, soI ll be blunt, if I may?When Kyle nodded warily, he said,  I saw Weir at theassembly we attended before we left London.He had the ruddycheek to ask me about you when he caught me alone, and, when Iwouldn t answer, he gave me a message for you.I thought perhaps Iwouldn t tell you, but I decided you really ought to know and it wasnot my place to keep it from you.He told me to tell you that he didnot consider your debts to him discharged and that he would find away to collect and soon.Ashton paused for a moment and waited, but when Kyle didn tsay anything, he leaned in with concerned eyes and said,  Allen? Areyou all right?Kyle shook himself out of the panic Ashton s word put him inand cleared his throat, managing to croak,  Yes, thank you, Ashton, Iam well.I suppose I should have expected that he wouldn t let go soeasily.I had hoped he would but never really believed it. If you would not consider it impertinent of me, may I ask ofwhat debts he speaks? Is there aught we could do to pay him off sohe ll leave you alone?Now Kyle felt himself blush, though the rest of him remainedcold.Clearing his throat again, he said,  No, Ashton.I, um, I don tbelieve he means money. Noting Andrew s blush of embarrassment,he said quickly,  Thank you for giving me the message.You wereright to do so.I m so sorry to have caused your family so muchtrouble.I never wanted to be such a burden. Don t trouble yourself over it, Allen.You know my sister andI are quite fond of you, and our uncle now as well.We will do whatwe can to help you.Everyone deserves a good turn now and again,and next time around, you can return the favor, Ashton said, smiling. I will do everything in my power to make sure I do just that.Thank you again, Kyle said earnestly over the lump in his throat. But now I believe I should go to bed myself.It has been a long day,and I look forward to spending tomorrow with you and your sister,so I had better get my rest.Andrew still looked concerned, but he only said,  I lookforward to it too.Good night, Allen. Good night, Kyle replied, heading for his rooms before hisknees wouldn t carry him anymore.He hadn t realized the dream he d been floating in atKentwood was quite so fragile.After the upsets of the afternoon andWarren s distant behavior that evening, all it took was one mention ofVictor, and the fantasy had shattered into a thousand tiny little pieces.He d been a fool to think he could escape so easily, and he hadn tdrunk nearly enough port to give him a peaceful night s sleep.YET again, James couldn t sleep.If he kept on like this, he d fall offhis horse or end up facedown in his soup at dinner.Perhaps some brandy to ease the way.He donned hisdressing gown and went to the library in search of it.After his third glass of brandy, however, he was beginning tobelieve that nothing would stop the thoughts in his head from theirmerry dance.He d managed to find a measure of peace this afternoon byimmersing himself in boring estate affairs and more letter writing, tothe point where he d felt much better collected when he d gone tojoin the others for dinner.Then Kyle had descended the stairs in his new finery, andJames s pitiful illusion of calm had fallen apart in seconds.The manhad looked even more strikingly beautiful than ever, and after thecloseness they d shared in the woods, he was finding it extremelydifficult to think of anything other than touching him again.So he d done his best to keep his distance and remained quietthroughout the meal, lest he give away his feelings to his family and hisguests.He d managed to maintain his composure throughout theevening until Kyle had begun singing in that achingly beautiful tenor.At that point, he had lost what little control he had and fled the roomas quickly as he could.Bloody hell! he swore, not for the first time that night.My will,my reason, and my sanity all seem to have abandoned me themoment I met the man.What happened to my perfectly contentand comfortable life?Sighing, he put back the last of the brandy in his glass, pickedup the bottle, and rose to head back to his rooms.If I m going to drink myself to sleep, I d best be in my bedwhen I do it.He was in the hall, headed for his bedchamber, when he hearda frightened cry come from Kyle s room.Foxed as he was, he didn teven stop to think about what he was doing, he just pushed open thedoor and rushed right in.There was enough light from the nearly full moon outside to seeKyle s thrashing form in the bed, and as he hurried to the bedside,Kyle cried out,  NO! and flung out his arms [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]