Eight Hunting Lyons (The Lyon’s Den Connected World)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

D aniel did not have time to see Li-Na’s painting. He was too busy finding clothes for himself. He’d rushed here direct from Cornwall without benefit of any of his usual court attire. Thankfully, Mrs. Dove-Lyon sent a message to his valet who came immediately. Very soon, he was dressed appropriately and was rushing to one of the gaming hell’s carriages. There was a very small window of time when he could be sure that the Prince Regent was awake, not surly, and not in his cups. That time was rapidly dwindling, and so he all but leaped into the carriage when it arrived.

And then he sat dumbfounded because Li-Na was there before him.

“You look stunning,” he breathed. She wore green velvet that hugged her body, and in a move that shocked him, her hair was completely unbound. It fell down her back in a river of black silk that made him want to stroke his hands through it.

She flushed and her hands fluttered above her bodice. “I cannot understand the English need to bare the chest. I feel naked.”

“The Chinese do not have low bodices?” he asked, thinking that was a terrible shame.

She shook her head. “The chest is covered completely, but…” She flashed him a mischievous look. “The skirts have slits that reveal the leg. Madame Zhong cut hers up to here!” She touched the middle of her thigh.

Lord, now he was envisioning her in such a gown and was becoming very uncomfortable where he sat. That was not a fit state in which to meet the Prince Regent.

“Don’t be afraid. I shall do all the talking.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Then why did you need me to come? You could have presented this yourself!”

He could not do half as much without her there. “Prinny likes to meet the artist. He likes to talk to them about their work and…” He shrugged. “He also likes beautiful women. Even if you say nothing, you will interest him beyond anything I can do.”

She bit her lip and her shoulders tightened. She said nothing, but the fear in her was rising.

“You will be safe. I will not abandon you.”

She swallowed twice, but then found the courage to speak. “I was only once in the Zhong family receiving room. In all my years serving that family, I never went there. It was the most beautiful, the most expensive room in the entire area. Servants were not allowed there, and so I never went. Not until the day…” She took a breath. “Until the day I was given to the English captain.”

He watched her hands shake and her eyes dart nervously about the carriage. They were seated face to face, their knees touching, but there was room for him beside her. He quickly crossed over and took her hands.

“This is different from that other time. You cannot imagine that I would do such a terrible thing to you.”

“I don’t,” she said as she looked down at their hands. Hers were gripped tightly together. His lay atop hers. “I don’t,” she repeated.

“But it feels the same?”

She nodded, and he ached that he had no way to reassure her. “Li-Na,” he said, as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Do you want to go back?” he asked. It hurt to offer such a thing. Without her, he feared he could not lure Prinny to interfere on his behalf. Without her, he doubted he could convince the prince that the artwork was good. That wasn’t a rational or even a learned reaction, but Prinny was moved by presentation. He liked the drama of discovering a new talent. And without her there to package the art, he had no hope of convincing the prince to help in this other matter.

But he would not sacrifice her for his nephew. Lord Gordon was a bastard, to be sure. He might even beggar the earldom with his bad management. But lost fortunes could be recovered, and she was too important to Daniel to risk hurting her. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t.

He squeezed her hands. “I cannot turn the coach around now. I need to go there, but you can remain inside the carriage. You can go back to the Lyon’s Den and—”

“No.” Her voice was firm. “I will not stay the woman I was, cowering in a gaming hell, unwilling to risk speaking with a soul. If I am to live again, then I must face these fears.” She took a deep breath. “I will meet your prince, and I will hold my head up high.”

“Thank—”

“And if I am harmed by this, then my ghost will haunt you until you tear out your own eyes from madness.”

He blinked. Well, that was certainly graphic. “You will not be harmed. I swear.”

“Then I will show your prince my painting, but you will have to explain the art to him. For me, it is only my thoughts shaped in ink.”

He pulled her hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss there. “Thank you,” he breathed. And then there was no more time as the carriage arrived at Carlton House.