Sweet Enemy

by Heather Snow

  Was learning the truth worth her future?

  “I think it’s an excellent idea,” she answered.

  “Splendid,” Geoffrey said, his slow smile lighting his face. Once again, Liliana’s breath caught, but this time for an entirely different reason.

  A thought occurred to her. “Since we shall be spending so much time together, would you prefer me to give you your solitude on your morning ride?”

  Geoffrey’s hand tightened over her forearm, almost as an involuntary response to keep her with him. “Of course not. In fact, I have plans for us at dawn,” he said.

  The pleasure that had uncoiled in Liliana earlier now spread through her, pushing out the unease. She couldn’t stop it if she tried. She told herself what she felt was due to him falling so easily in with her own scheme. Liliana let out a little breath. She wasn’t even good at lying to herself.

  “If you still wish to join me, that is,” Geoffrey amended, looking anxious for her answer.

  Liliana gave him her most brilliant smile, surprised to realize she didn’t have to fake it at all.

  “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  S

  he was late. Geoffrey strode another circuit around Amira’s stall. Of course Liliana wasn’t late. They hadn’t set a time to meet, after all, and the sun had barely pinkened the farthest horizon. It was only that he’d been dressed and at the stables since well before dawn, driven out of his bed by lustful dreams of the very woman he suddenly couldn’t seem to wait a moment longer to see.

  Whoever would have thought the Allemande could be so bloody sensual? Why the patronesses of Almack’s thought they should dictate which young debutantes possessed strong enough moral convictions to waltz while blithely allowing anyone and everyone to dance the Allemande, he couldn’t say. The waltz was tame when compared to the slow glide of the Allemande—the touching of hands, the leaning so close one seemed enveloped by one’s partner’s scent…

  Geoffrey cleared his throat. Indeed, an Allemande with Liliana had proven much more dangerous than a hundred waltzes with the likes of Lady Jane or Lady Emily. He supposed with the right person—

  “Where is Mr. Richards?”

  Geoffrey turned at Liliana’s soft question. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and her olive skin glowed against the white shirt she wore. She looked young, natural, yet more beautiful than any woman he’d seen. He drew in a deep breath, as if she were fresh air and he a man who’d been trapped indoors for an age. All of the nervous tension left his body, to be replaced by a low thrum of a different kind. Even covered completely in her scruffy boys’ togs, she had the power to arouse and titillate him.

  “I told him to enjoy his bed,” Geoffrey said. Truth be told, he’d come down to the stables last night after the ball to inform Tom his services wouldn’t be needed this morning. Geoffrey had felt ridiculous as he’d tromped through the dewy grass in his evening finery, but he’d wanted Liliana completely to himself. “I am perfectly capable of saddling a lady’s horse.”

  “As am I,” she murmured. “But thank you.”

  Geoffrey imagined that Liliana was perfectly capable of many things. Unfortunately for his rioting senses, each of those imaginings revolved around her luscious body and how she might use it to please him. He wondered if she even understood just what she was capable of.

  More and more, he wanted to show her.

  “What do you wish to show me today?” she asked, walking over to softly stroke Amira’s nose.

  Geoffrey started. Had he said that aloud? “I’m sorry?” he said, feeling as if he should apologize for the lurid turn his thoughts had taken, even if she was oblivious to it.

  “You said last night you had plans for us. Did you wish to show me another bog?”

  “Oh,” Geoffrey said with a relieved laugh. He really must get control of his wretched libido. “No, something altogether different. Do you feel up to a longer ride this morning?”

  “I feel up to anything,” she said, and though he knew her words were uttered in complete innocence, he had to turn away lest she see the evidence of desire they evoked.

  Geoffrey set the pace as he led Liliana toward the easternmost edge of the Wentworth lands. While the pace was far from the vigorous race of yesterday morn, he still kept up a brisk trot. There was much he wanted her to see and the sun was already edging the sky. They’d nearly been caught out yesterday, since they’d returned to the house later than was wise. Liliana would have certainly been compromised, leaving him no choice but to marry her.

  And would that have been so bad?

  Geoffrey mulled the question his mind tossed at him. His body tightened painfully and he rolled his eyes. It seemed at least that part of him was ready to admit he desired a union with Liliana.

  Geoffrey tried to push the idea out of his mind. He was just gently exploring the possibilities. He didn’t have the time or attention to devote to securing a bride, what with the vote on the Poor Employment Act coming up, a blackmailer to be uncovered and the Wentworth finances still to be sorted.

  But he slowed his horse a bit all the same.

  As the ground became hillier, a new excitement rose in him. It was as if he were a lad again, anticipating a visit from Saint Nick. He wasn’t certain when he’d decided Liliana would be the first to see his plans for employing ex-soldiers right here at Somerton Park, but as they neared the mine site, he knew he’d chosen well. He certainly had no desire to share this moment with his mother, and Joss had proven not to be a good confidant, either. Nor could he imagine someone like the perfectly biddable Lady Jane by his side.

  He looked over at Liliana, riding beside him in companionable silence, the breeze blowing through her loosely tied-back hair. She’d dispensed with the cap after that first morning, a fact he very much appreciated.

  An ache pierced his throat. He also appreciated her presence. It was a sad thing, to have no one to express your dreams to. Maybe it was just as sad that he had only a virtual stranger by his side, but he didn’t feel that way. He felt grateful.

  How nice it was not to have to put on airs, not to have to be the earl or the war hero or the politician or anything other than just a man enjoying his morning. His shoulders relaxed and his face split into a wide smile of contentment.

  “What?” she asked, a bemused smile riding her face.

  “I was just thinking how nice it was to be with someone who wanted absolutely nothing from me but my friendship,” he said, deciding on frankness. “You’re a refreshing change, Liliana.” He held her gaze and found himself saying, “One I could get used to.”

  Her smile froze, her eyes turning downward. Alarm clenched his gut. Damn. She didn’t look comfortable with his admission. Indeed, she looked much like he imagined he did when cornered by marriage-minded debutantes. He’d need to guard his words better so as not to push her away.

  They continued to the summit of the hill in silence, then rode along the ridgeline, where distinctive outcroppings of rocks marked a change in the landscape. Farther up the ridge, Geoffrey located what he was looking for. Wooden posts and steel chains dotted the ground where surveyors had marked the most appropriate and safest places to drop the mine shafts. Satisfaction stole over him at this tangible sign of his plan coming to pass.

  When they came upon the site, he found a suitable place to tie off the horses and assisted Liliana to dismount.

  “What is all this?” Liliana asked, reaching a hand out to run her fingers along links of chain. She looked over at him, her violet eyes wide and inquiring, curious and intelligent, sharp and incredibly sexy.

  “That,” Geoffrey said, “is the spot marking the first of three main vertical shafts of the new Fealty Lead Mine of Shropshire.”

  Liliana’s brows furrowed together, but her lips curled. “You’re digging a lead mine?”

  Geoffrey laughed. “Not me personally, but yes.” He pointed out several yards. “Shaft two will be there, and number three, off to the righ
t there. This whole area is rich with lead ore. My men will use the shafts to reach mineral veins, then dig horizontal tunnels or levels between the shafts so they can cut the lead ore out and bring it to the surface for processing.”

  Liliana turned in a circle, looking all around. Her nose crinkled and she cocked her head. “Why would you deface your land with industry?” she asked, but her tone held no judgment. Just that curiosity she seemed to exhibit for most things.

  “To put my money where my mouth is,” he said. “To create jobs for as many ex-soldiers as I can.” He explained much of what he’d told Joss last week, but telling Liliana seemed different. For one, an uncommonly vulnerable sensation settled around his heart. He hadn’t cared what Joss thought of his intentions, yet he became aware of a keenness for Liliana’s good opinion. His chest lightened with each thoughtful nod of her head as he laid out the situation. “So you see, I must lead by example,” he said. “If I’m not willing to put my own fortune on the line, why should I expect others of my class to do any different? I hope to prove to my peers that it would be to their benefit to fund projects such as this.”

  “You mean monetarily beneficial?” she asked shrewdly.

  He nodded. “I believe there is more benefit to be had for the country than that, but yes…profit is often the best motivation. My hope is to persuade a few to do what I intend to—take the profits and invest in other ventures that will create employment opportunities.”

  Liliana stared at him so long he thought he might actually squirm beneath her regard. He, who’d stared down armed combatants over a battlefield.

  “You’re not at all what I expected,” she said finally.

  Geoffrey huffed a breath, marveling at the tightness in his chest. “Is that a good or a bad thing?” he asked, because her expression wasn’t clear.

  A look Geoffrey could almost classify as sadness crossed Liliana’s face, making his heart clinch. “I’m not sure,” she murmured and turned away from him.

  Geoffrey stood there, as still as stone, uncertain as to what, exactly, was passing between them. Something intense, something unspoken and something he desperately wished came out in his favor. Once again, he recognized that Liliana was a woman with walls built around her heart. He knew it because he had similar walls. He knew where his had come from but wondered what comprised the mortar of her own.

  Liliana cleared her throat, and when she turned back to him, whatever she’d been feeling had been wiped from her face.

  “So you plan to bring soldiers here to work the mine,” she said. “Where will they live?”

  Geoffrey watched her face for a moment but saw no opening to explore what had just happened. He adopted an easy tone and said, “We’ll build a sort of barracks right there.” He touched her shoulder, bidding her to turn where another area was marked out. “This will be better lodging than they ever had during the war, and many of the men are unattached, so they’ll be happy to come. But eventually, my hope is for them to have families and homes of their own, so I plan to build a village.”

  She blinked up at him in surprise. “A village?”

  “A small one, yes. I’d hoped to build the village before the mine opened, and then a smelting mill, but—” Geoffrey snapped his mouth shut. He’d almost just blurted out that his finances were uncertain and he couldn’t justify the expense until he knew where he stood. Liliana was so easy to talk to, he’d nearly forgotten himself. “But that hasn’t worked out,” he said instead. “So I’ve had to adjust. For the first year or two, we’ll cart the ore to the smelting mill at Ironbridge for processing. That will cut into our profit, but we’ll use what little we have to build the village first, then a mill of our own. Once that’s operating, we should quickly have enough to invest in other things.”

  Liliana’s eyes softened, and the smile she gave him seemed filled with approval and admiration and something indefinable.

  Geoffrey’s lips lifted in response. The look in her eyes made him feel as light as air and filled him with a piercing happiness he hadn’t felt in years.

  “Where will you place your village?” she asked.

  Geoffrey nearly grabbed her hand but stopped short. What had gotten into him? He offered his arm, as was proper, but a deep satisfaction filled him anyway as she laid her hand upon him. He led her to the crest of the hill, where a wide valley opened up. “There,” he said, pointing to a green area that would make the perfect spot. “It’s flat, the land is fertile and that creek that runs through it flows year round. Eventually, I hope to add a small church and a school and—”

  Liliana stiffened beside him, and she gripped his forearm, drawing his full attention. “You can’t place a village there.”

  Geoffrey frowned. “Whyever not? It’s the perfect place—”

  “It’s the worst place possible,” she interrupted.

  “I disagree. The mine supervisor I’ve hired has much experience, and he says nearly all mines are laid out in such a fashion.”

  Liliana pulled her arm away from him and turned to face him, looking directly into his eyes. “That may be, but if you care for the health and well-being of your soldiers and their families, you will find a different spot.”

  Geoffrey crossed his arms, unaccustomed to being challenged. Yet he knew Liliana to be extremely intelligent and so was willing to listen to what she had to say. “Why should I take your advice when it flies in the face of years of practical experience?”

  She faced him squarely, challenge burning in her eyes. “My father spent his life studying the effects of contaminated air and water on the human body. I have continued his work, albeit in a different discipline, and I am telling you that placing a village in that valley will slowly but surely kill its inhabitants.”

  Geoffrey sucked in a breath. Liliana’s passion and conviction rang from every part of her being. But while he appreciated her stance, he wasn’t about to change months’ worth of planning without some proof of her claims. “Nonsense. My mine supervisor and I chose the valley precisely because it would be farther from the smoke of the mill. I don’t see what else could be a problem.”

  Liliana scoffed. “Yes, well, neither you nor your mine supervisor know anything about chemistry.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him over to an outcropping of rock. She ran a finger along it. “These mineral veins that make this area such a rich deposit of lead ore are precisely the problem. Lead ore, as well as other metals like copper or silver, are sulfides. Your men will be digging this out of the earth, bringing it to the surface, yes?”

  “Of course.”

  Liliana gave one sharp nod. “Do you know what happens to sulfide when exposed to oxygen and water?”

  “No, I do not.”

  “It becomes sulfuric acid,” she said. “Which means every time it rains, the sulfides will react and turn to acid, which will then leach into the ground or will rush down the hill if the downpour is heavy enough, right into the very creek your villagers will bathe in and drink from. And it will soak into the soil they grow their food in, as well.”

  Geoffrey examined the innocent-looking rock in a different light. “You’re certain? You can prove that?”

  “I can create sulfuric acid from this rock quickly enough,” she said. She took a deep breath. “But I can’t prove a direct health consequence so easily. I can show you what acute exposure to sulfuric acid would do to a body, but a deluge of water would dilute the properties of the acid so much that it might take time for a cumulative effect to be directly discernable,” she admitted.

  Liliana impressed Geoffrey with her honesty. He knew from the timbre of her voice and the fire in her eyes that she felt strongly about this issue, yet she’d willingly given him the flaw in her argument. Her obvious integrity only increased his respect for her.

  “But I can tell you that at normal concentrations, sulfuric acid burns skin and tissues and, if ingested, can perforate one’s esophagus or gastric tract,” she stated. “If inhaled, it damages one’s lungs. It only stands t
o reason that even in small quantities, over a long period of time, exposure cannot be good for people.”

  Liliana grasped his hand, sending a shock of awareness through him. Through her, too, if her expression was any indication, yet she held on, squeezing him firmly.

  “I know my theory is correct. It may take me some years to gather conclusive data, but I know it.” Pink bloomed in her cheeks and she sighed, releasing him. “Forgive me. I’ve overstepped myself.” She turned her face away.