He slid his hands out of hers and sighed.
“As you promised to help me?”
“It is a pledge I intend to keep.”
“But, Linnea, you do not understand.
We must leave without delay.”
“Why?
What has changed so much that we cannot wait a few more days?”
He stood.
“You would not believe me if I told you, Linnea.”
“You sound frightened.”
Coming to her feet, she clutched onto his arms.
“I never thought I would see you frightened.”
“Nor did I.
I thought no one was braver than Nils Bjornsson, who was respected by his
“But?”
He clasped her elbows, drawing her to him.
“But what happened to me today, what I saw and heard, you will not believe.”
“I am trying, Nils.”
She leaned her head against his chest.
“I wish I could believe.”
“It may not matter if you believe or not.”
He rested his head atop hers as he told her of Odin’s words to him.
He paused, then said, “If I do not complete my quest soon, all may be lost.”
She stepped back.
“But I promised
Randolph
.”
“I know.”
He slanted his mouth across hers for only the length of one beat of her swift pulse.
“I will not ask you to break any promise you make.”
“I
will
help you.
Let me think of a way to persuade Mama and Papa to let me escort you to
London
.
There must be a way.”
“I hope so.”
He turned and looked out at the sea rising and falling in its endless rhythm.
“I hope there still is a way to complete my quest.”
“And if you don’t?”
She tried not to let too much hope enter her voice.
If he did not fulfill his vow, he would have to stay here...with her.
“I don’t know.”
Nineteen
“An outing?
How wonderful!”
Linnea tried to sound enthusiastic.
It was not easy when all her thoughts were focused on how bleak Nils’s face had been during their short conversation on the balcony the previous night.
Minnie smiled.
“Yes, I thought it could be just Martin and me and Randolph and...”
She hesitated, then said, “
Niles
.”
“What?”
Linnea realized Minnie was staring past her.
Twisting to look over her shoulder, she saw Nils entering the room.
She understood why her sister-in-law’s mouth was open and her eyes wide.
Nils was dressed to take a ride about the countryside.
His elegantly cut coat did not give any hints that it had been remade for him from one of Martin’s.
Somehow, the shoulders of the coat had been widened to accommodate his broader ones.
His nankeen trousers that hooked beneath his brilliantly polished shoes accented the lean strength of his legs.
“Oh, my!” Minnie whispered.
“What is wrong?” Linnea asked.
Her sister-in-law shook herself, looked at Linnea and quickly away, but not before guilt flashed on her face.
Putting her hand on Minnie’s arm, Linnea murmured, “It is not a horrible thing to look at other men when you are wed.
After all, men look at women all the time.”
“Linnea!”
Minnie giggled, then put her hand over her mouth to hide the sound as Nils came closer.
“Will you share the jest?” he asked.
That set Minnie off onto another round of giggles.
Linnea chuckled as she said, “It was something I doubt a man would understand.”
“Or something he would be wise not to delve too deeply into?”
“Exactly.”
Putting her arm around her sister-in-law’s quivering shoulders, she said, “Minnie was just speaking to me about an outing she thought we might enjoy.”
“An outing?
Where?”
Minnie composed herself enough to say, “An
al fresco
meal.”
“By the shore,” Linnea hurried to explain when she saw the confusion on Nils’s face.
“We would take the food there and eat on blankets.”
“And this is something you enjoy?”
“Yes.”
“Even when you get sand in your food?”
Linnea laughed.
“The idea is to enjoy the sunshine and the water and to get away from the decorum of eating here in the house.
We have the opportunity to set aside the napery and eat with our fingers.”
“Ah, I understand,” he said, although she was not sure if he did.
Minnie stood.
“I shall let Cook know.
Randolph
should be here soon.
He told Martin that he would be calling before midday today.”
Nodding, Linnea waited until her sister-in-law was out of earshot before she asked, “Were you planning to go for a ride, Nils?”
“Yes.”
“To
London
?”
“There is no reason to go without you.”
“I have already spoken to Mama.
She is willing to listen, suggesting that Minnie might like to go to Town to visit some friends.
It is a wondrous idea.
Minnie loves any chance to go to
London
to call on the friends she has made.
Having Minnie with us will give countenance to the whole arrangement.”
“Or I could simply abduct you from the spot where you stand.”
He stepped so close that his beguiling strength seemed to overmaster her.
“I could sweep you up into my arms and run out of this house with you.”
“You could,” she whispered, losing herself in the mysterious depths of his glorious eyes.
“I would toss you into a carriage and shout the order to take us to
London
without delay.”
“You could.”
His finger traced an aimless path along her shoulder.
“It is not a short journey, so we would have to find a way to spend the time.”
“We could speak of how best to find the knife.”
“Or we could become lovers.”
A roguish smile tilted his lips.
“The motion of a carriage would not be as wondrous as making love with you on the deck of my ship, but it would do.”
“Would do?”
She laughed, trying to ignore the images his brazen words suggested.
“I would and so would you.”
“You presume much, my lord Viking.
I am no frightened lass hiding from your rapacious pursuits.”
He laughed.
“When I hold you, you would see that the pursuit is over and the prize has been won.
Or I simply could toss you over my shoulder and take you to your room and show you there what you have denied us.”
“You would not dare.”
When he smiled, she whispered, “You would not, would you?”
A devilish twinkle brightened his violet eyes as his arm crept around her waist.
“You have changed me,
unnasta
.
In times past, no Englishwoman would have dared deny me any request I made.
Then, if we had met, you would have gladly taken me to
London
to keep me and my comrades away from your home and family.”
“Then, if we had met, I would gladly have seen you with a blade driven deep into you.”
“True.”
He whispered against her ear, “A knife is not what I would like to drive deep within you,
unnasta
.”
“Nils!”
His hushed laugh sifted through her, as electrifying as if she had tried to capture a bolt of lightning in her bare hands.
“Be honest.
Tell me,
unnasta
, that you have not had thoughts of the ecstasy we could share, and I will speak of them no more.”
“I have had such thoughts.”
She stroked his wind-scored cheek.
“Many, many times.”
“Then we should—”
Linnea heard the same footfalls Nils had.
Stepping away from him, she hoped no one detected her high color as she went to speak with her brother and Randolph, who must have just arrived because he was smoothing wrinkles from his coat.
She tried to heed what they were saying and to answer, but she was too aware of Nils.
He was more than an arm’s length from her, but her skin tingled as if he held her.
When he spoke with her brother about whether to take horses or to walk to the spot where they would be having their meal, she could have sworn she was a marionette and he was the puppeteer.
She seemed somehow connected to him with invisible strings that pulsed with all the longing that she could no longer deny.
She wondered how much longer she would be able to hide this desire for a man who should not even be here with her.
And what would happen if she did not keep denying it...
* * * *
Sunshine burnished the sand to brilliant off-white.
This cove was not the one where Linnea had found Nils, for the walls of the cliffs were higher but not as steep.
This cove was on the opposite side of the boulders that had not been by the sea in Nils’s time.
Two open carriages waited by the boulders.
On the cove’s far side, trees grew nearly to the tide line, offering some respite from the hot sunlight.
Linnea sat beside Minnie, her parasol knocking her sister-in-law’s if she was careless.
The wool blanket beneath them itched, and she would have preferred soft sand to dig her toes into.
But Minnie came to the strand only when she could have these comforts, so Linnea acquiesced.
Farther along the shore, Martin and Randolph were fishing.
She could not remember the last time her brother had caught any fish in this cove, but he relished the chance to try.
She considered telling him that Jack regularly pulled fish from the next cove.
She did not.
Although Nils had been all alone on the deserted beach when they found him, something from his time might linger beneath the waters where a chance cast could find it.
Linnea laughed as Scamp ran past, showering her with sand.
Calling the puppy’s name, she was surprised when he trotted back to her.
He usually paid her little attention.
When he raced past her again, she heard a laugh behind her.
She smiled at Nils.
No wonder Scamp had seemed to obey her.
He adored Nils.
Did Scamp believe in his puppyish brain that Nils was
his
pet because Scamp had found him on the shore?
“You are a troublemaker, pup,” Nils said, holding out his fingers for Scamp to sniff.
Scamp’s tail wagged so rapidly that it was a golden blur as the puppy stuck his head under Nils’s hand in a plea to be petted.
“He makes his wants known, doesn’t he?”
Nils squatted beside the puppy which jumped up to put front paws on Nils’s knee.
“He does.”
Linnea stretched to stroke Scamp’s silken head.
Nils put his fingers over hers, caressing them as gently as she was the puppy.
“We could learn a lesson from his honesty.”
“A hazardous lesson.”
She glanced at Minnie, whose eyes were closed.
Was her sister-in-law asleep?
“Nothing is gained without some peril,” Nils whispered.
“Is that the creed of the
Norrfoolk
?”