Captured by Love (Michigan Brides #3)(37)
Even so, she couldn’t stop herself from approaching him. She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, forcing herself to be bolder than she’d ever needed to be before. Her breath hitched in her chest, and she prayed Pierre wouldn’t push her away.
She held herself stiff, not daring to look at either Pierre or Lavinia.
But the solidness of Pierre’s arm radiated against her fingers, and he surprised her by not only capturing her hand with his but pulling her closer.
“Miss McDouall, you remember my little friend, Angelique?”
Little friend? She wanted to protest. But when he smiled down at her, there was something warm in his expression.
“Yes, I remember Miss MacKenzie,” Lavinia said, turning to Angelique. “It is good to see you again, my dear, although I have to say I’m surprised you’re here today.”
“I’m with Pierre.” The words felt stiff, and Angelique couldn’t keep from wishing she knew how to make polite conversation and flirt with Lavinia’s ease.
Lavinia didn’t seem disturbed by the fact that Pierre had wrapped his fingers around hers. In fact, her features softened as if with pity. Did she think Pierre was being kind to her out of sympathy?
Angelique glanced up at Pierre, to the chiseled angle of his jaw, to the layer of scruff that gave him a rugged look. Was Pierre being sweet to her because he felt sorry for her? Maybe he’d felt pity for her when she was a scrawny little girl, but he didn’t feel that way anymore, did he?
“I’m very sorry my illness postponed your lessons,” Lavinia said as she eyed her tattered and dirty skirt. “Perhaps now that I’m on my way to recovery, I can convince my daddy to let me begin my charitable work again.”
Angelique hadn’t minded missing the lessons. Yet maybe she should try to improve herself, especially before Pierre left the island. Then he would leave with a different picture of her in his mind. Maybe he wouldn’t forget about her so easily this time.
“I’ll send Lieutenant Steele to retrieve you just as soon as Daddy allows me to have visitors again.” Lavinia smiled at the lieutenant, who leaned against the open doorway of the storehouse. His entire focus was on Lavinia, as if he’d been watching her for quite some time, waiting for her to turn and acknowledge him.
He straightened and returned her smile. Over the past couple of weeks, the leanness in his cheeks had disappeared and he’d begun to fill out. In his crisp, clean uniform he was actually quite striking.
Lavinia tilted her head and batted her eyelashes at the quartermaster.
Pierre narrowed his eyes at Lieutenant Steele. Was Pierre jealous that Lavinia was flirting with Lieutenant Steele?
“I’ll bring Angelique up to the fort,” Pierre said without breaking his attention from the lieutenant. “Just tell me when you want her here.”
“Why, Mr. Durant, how kind of you.” Lavinia clasped her hands together but continued to make eyes with the quartermaster. “Lieutenant Steele has been so gracious and willing to help me in any way he can, but with his increased responsibilities, I’m sure he will be all too glad to relinquish this duty to you.”
“And I’ll be happy to relieve him.” Pierre’s grip on Angelique’s fingers tightened.
Angelique couldn’t keep from sagging against Pierre. Whatever the case, whether Pierre was jealous of Lieutenant Steele or not, she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to avoid the quartermaster. Even if the bruises on her neck had gone away, she couldn’t forget what he was capable of doing.
Besides, she’d take any time she could get with Pierre before he left, even if it was only for a short walk to and from the fort.
He’d be gone all too soon from her life. While everything inside her cautioned against allowing herself to get too close to him, she knew she’d already shoved away the warnings about how he’d broken her heart when he’d left the last time. And now she’d opened herself up to him again.
Maybe if she pretended he wouldn’t have to leave . . . maybe if she prayed that he’d change his mind and stay . . . maybe if he decided to give up fur trading . . .
She whispered a desperate prayer—a prayer for a miracle.
Chapter
11
Lavinia’s lavender perfume was like a thick fog in the air weighing on Angelique. She sat as straight and still as she could on the cushioned bench in front of Lavinia’s dressing table. The books Lavinia had placed on her head had already slipped off more times than Angelique could count, and now she hardly dared to breathe for fear of suffocating from the perfume or being battered again by falling books.
The thick ointment on her hands underneath the gloves had begun to itch, and the salve Lavinia had rubbed across the freckles on her nose only added to the torture.
“The ointment will make your skin as smooth as a baby’s,” Lavinia said, digging through one of the trunks she’d had delivered to her cramped room in the officers’ quarters. “You’ll need to make more of it at home with lard, honey, rose water, and an egg. Then apply it to your hands every evening before bed, cover with the gloves, and wear it all night.”
“Ebenezer won’t let me use any eggs—”
“Nonsense. I shall send the instructions along with you. I’m sure your stepfather will be more than agreeable when he realizes the egg is going for a good cause.”