Read Online Moonflower Madness by Margaret Pemberton - Free Book Online Page B

she stumbled. ‘And if you had come to grief, don’t you realise who would have been held responsible? We would have!’
    His brows were pulled together satanically, his black eyes blazing. ‘We would have been accused of luring you from home with God knows what kind of intentions. Our expedition would have been ruined and your uncle’s colleagues in the diplomatic service would have made it impossible for us to mount another. All because you have fallen victim to a foolish infatuation.’
    â€˜How dare you?’ Gianetta was nearly robbed of speech. ‘How dare you suggest that I rode out here because … because …’ She was aware of Lord Rendlesham standing only feet away from them, and her cheeks burned at the memory of how she had thought it would be pleasant to be his companion on the long, lonely journey to Kansu.
    â€˜And so you follow me here,’ Zachary Cartwright was thundering, ‘and now days have to be wasted in returning you to Chung King and heaven knows how many more days wasted in explanations to your uncle!’
    It was dark now and the only light was from the fire, which continued to burn and cackle, sending golden-blue tongues of flame skywards.
    â€˜Follow you? ’ she gasped incredulously. She remembered her curiosity about him when she had been at the Residency, the way she had gazed speculatively at him in the drawing-room when she thought he was unaware of her doing so, the way he had spun round and taken her by surprise, and the assumption she had seen in his near-black eyes, that her gaze had been one of admiration.
    Rage and mortification swept hard on the heels of her incredulity. ‘Follow you? ’ she repeated, panting. ‘Why, I wouldn’t follow you anywhere, Mr Cartwright! Not even out of a room! Certainly not to the furthermost parts of China!’
    There came the sound of a quickly stifled laugh and Lord Rendlesham stepped forward. ‘Why did you follow us, Miss Hollis?’ he asked, amused curiosity replacing his earlier stunned bewilderment.
    Gratefully Gianetta turned towards him. ‘I came because …’ She paused. How could she tell him in a few words that she had come because of Serena’s impending marriage and the change it would make to her own way of life, because of the tedium of life in the Hollis’home in Lincolnshire, because of the horror she felt at the alternative prospect of living on Serena’s charity. She had come because she longed to live her own life independently, she ached to see the real China, the China that existed beyond the high, confining walls of the British Residency. She had come because, above all, she wanted to search for exotic flowers, flowers that had never bloomed in England. Flowers that she could help introduce into English gardens.
    â€˜I want to be a plant-hunter,’ she said at last, succinctly. ‘I want to find blue Moonflowers.’
    â€˜God’s teeth!’ Zachary Cartwright exploded. ‘This isn’t a pleasant botanical outing in St James’s Park! This is a scientific expedition and there is no place for a woman on it. Especially a woman who is inexperienced, under-age and who has no more brains in her head than a bird.’ In the flickering firelight the harsh, abrasive lines of his face were taut and threatening.
    Lord Rendlesham ignored his seething companion. ‘Does the Consul know where you are and what your intentions were when you left?’
    â€˜Yes, I left a letter …’
    Zachary Cartwright swore again, savagely. ‘You’d think if the man had an iota of commonsense he would have caught up with her before she even left the city. As it is, with luck we’ll meet up with whoever he’s sent after her and not have to return every step of the way to Chung King.’
    â€˜I’m not going back,’ Gianetta said defiantly.
    â€˜You damned well are!’ Zachary Cartwright