She shut her mouth and nodded, shuffling backwards toward the door.
“Everything will be clearer in the morning,” he promised.
10
The next morning nothing was clearer.
Delilah nibbled on a pastry Mrs. Tate had brought her along with tea and a basin of water to freshen herself.
If anything, she was more confused than ever.
She had half a mind to tell Mr. Calloway that he was a liar. Making promises he couldn’t keep.
Like promising to marry her.
Her mouth stopped working mid-chew. Her heart did that thing it had taken to doing lately. It seemed to be attempting an escape, and every time it happened, it stole her breath and made her insides ache.
He’d offered to marry her. The crazy man with the nice home and lovely servants had offered to marry her.
She looked around her. How did he afford all this as a private investigator? She supposed it would be rude to ask.
Although, rudeness rarely stopped her from anything. It certainly hadn’t stopped her from refusing his marriage offer.
She winced and shoved the rest of the pastry into her mouth all at once, as if a mound of sugar might tamper the guilt and humiliation.
She might not be known for her sweet nature, but even she knew better than to insult the man who’d saved her life.
She hadn’t meant to, but the unexpected proposal had been the proverbial last straw.
For the first time since her carriage had come under attack, she’d honestly feared for her life. Not because she thought Mr. Calloway would hurt her. Her heart did that silly move again as she remembered the way he’d treated her yesterday. He’d been nothing but kind and caring. For a man who looked so brutish, he’d been surprisingly gentle with her.
On top of that, he’d done the unthinkable and made her feel safe and secure.
Until he’d mentioned marriage. Up until that moment she hadn’t really given much thought about the future. She hadn’t been able to as she’d been consumed with fears for her imminent safety.
But with that odd half-proposal, she’d realized with a start—her life might never be the same. It had shaken her to her core and she’d spoken without thought, fear and confusion winning out over any sort of politeness or etiquette.
She sighed as she swallowed the last of the pastry. Sugar did indeed help her nerves. As did the morning light streaming through the window. It was hard to feel terrified of an ominous fiancé when she was safe and well-fed with the sun shining and birds chirping outside her window.
And yet…what she would do next?
That was still unclear.
How Mr. Calloway would ensure Lord Everley did not hurt her again?
Equally unclear.
And then there was the matter of her father. She would have to explain to her father that she could not perform the one duty she’d been raised to perform. Her sole reason for existing in this family was to make a good match, and now…
Now she had no idea where she’d end up or with whom.
The only thing clear was just how uncertain her future was.
She did her best to freshen her appearance but was forced to wear the same gown as the day before. She pinched her cheeks to try and ward off the pallor that was making her look like a ghost.
Fear for one’s life tended to wreak havoc on one’s complexion, she now knew. This was a life lesson she could have done without.
When at last she could not delay the inevitable, she found herself walking slowly down the steps toward the dining room, where she’d been told she could find the master of the house.
A whole new set of nerves had her steeling her spine and tilting up her chin. These nerves had nothing to do with her safety and everything to do with seeing the man who had kissed her last night.
Her first kiss…and oh, what a kiss.
She stopped in the hallway just outside the dining room, giving herself a moment to let her silly heart do that ridiculous dance and waiting for her insides to settle.
It was just a kiss.
A big deal to her, of course, but it had likely meant nothing to him. The best thing to do was to ignore it. Pretend it never happened. Emotions had been high and the situation tense.
Kisses were likely to sprout up at times like that. Like smelling salts. Or a cup of tea.
Kisses were just a way of calming one’s nerves. Everyone knew that.
She clasped her hands together, single-mindedly ignoring the voice of reason that told her last night’s kiss had done nothing to calm her. It had done the opposite, in fact.
She’d lain awake for hours replaying that kiss as her heart had thudded in her chest like a runaway horse.
And now she was frozen, stuck standing in a hallway because her silly heart was overreacting. Her belly too. Her entire body seemed to be suffering a fit of nerves, and over what…?
A meaningless kiss.
“He’s just in there, miss,” a servant kindly pointed out, as though she were lost.
Delilah nodded her thanks. There was nothing for it but to face him. Head held high, a smile on her face, and her heart firmly in its proper place.
“Good morning,” she said as she entered.
Mr. Calloway was finished with his meal, it seemed, and was stretched back in his seat with a newspaper spread wide before him. “Morning,” he muttered, never looking up as he scowled down at the news.
“Not a morning person, are we?” she asked lightly.
He grunted.
She grinned. Her tension dissolved a bit at the normalcy of it all. Well, not normal. She couldn’t say she’d ever had breakfast alone with a gentleman she barely knew before.
Though she wasn’t sure she could continue thinking of him as a stranger, she realized as she sank into the seat opposite him.
She studied him now, from his too-long, far too disheveled hair, to the blunt nose, the seemingly permanent stubble on his chin… She had a
