Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) (9 page)

Her heart was thudding in her chest and she
leaned into him once more. It was safe…and warm…and comforting. She could get
used to this very quickly.

Dougal lowered his head into her hair and
breathed in the exotic fragrance. She was so small, he thought. Delicate
shoulders barely reached the middle of his chest, her waist beneath the flowing
cloak was tiny— he could almost have spanned it with his hands. Without giving
it more thought, he gathered her even closer and a soft sigh settled in the
air. She fitted against him so well, almost as though she had been tailor-made
to fit into his body. He inhaled the fragrance of her hair once more as he
stroked the tension from her shoulders. Guilt overcame him as he understood how
much the chase at the station must have frightened her. But despite her fragile
appearance, he knew she was brave and determined.

Would she be so brave if she knew she
was beneath the watch of the Knights Templar?

An overwhelming desire to protect her
consumed him and he vowed to himself he would protect her. Before he knew what
he was doing, his mouth lowered to hers and it took his breath away. Her soft
lips opened under his and her sweet breath mingled with his. His knees trembled
and his mind cleared of any thought apart from the delight of her lips. She
returned his kiss and the sensation ran through his blood.

“Dougal,” she murmured his name against his
mouth as she lifted her hands to caress his neck.

The soft gasp of his name brought him back
to reality and he pulled back and blinked to clear his head.

Dear Lord, what was he doing?

He was here to protect her, not molest her.
He could ill afford for her to get into his blood. Look how much one simple
kiss had distracted him. He had a mission to accomplish although he had no idea
what he was going to do about it.

“I’m sorry, Sofia.” He lowered his hands and
put his arms by his side, away from temptation. Her wide green eyes looked up
at him and the flickering light from the lamplight reflected in the four small
brass studs in her delicate ear lobe.

“Don’t be,” she replied softly. She turned
to the door and ran her hand in front of a square brass plate. A sharp snap was
followed by the slow opening of the door as the cogs freed the lock. She looked
up into his face, which he knew was full of curiosity; he had never seen a door
open with a simple touch of the hand. Most of the doorways in his castle did
not even have a door to lock…and that would be problematic if the plan
formulating in his head came to fruition.

“A recognition device embedded in the
cogs,” she explained with a laugh. He sensed she was trying to lower the
emotional tension lodged between them like a solid door. At the moment, he had
no wish to pass through that doorway, although if all went to plan…

He gathered his thoughts and harrumphed
before taking his leave. Taking her small hand between his, he lowered his lips
gently to the inside of her wrist and pleasure shot through his body as she
shivered at his touch.

“May I call on you again before I depart
for the Alps?” he asked.

Sofia nodded without speaking and stepped
through the doorway. She turned and smiled up at him.

“Thank you for a pleasant evening, Dougal.”

Before returning to their lodgings in
Mariahilfer
Strasse,
Dougal called into the Café Schwarzenberg to collect Edward. The
young man was still sitting in the entry flirting with the cashier.

“There is no doubt, Edward. We are a fine
pair. Too long in the wilds of Scotland and the first pretty face brings us
both to become a quivering mess.” Edward followed Dougal to the street and
flushed when Dougal slapped him jovially on the back.

“Enough of that. We have some serious
planning to do.” Dougal lowered his voice as they retraced almost the same
route he had taken with Sofia, less than an hour ago. The streets were now busy
with carriages, both horse-drawn and steam-powered as the city came alive after
the end of the evening’s music recitals.

They entered their lodgings at the end of
the street and Dougal looked across at
Westbahnof,
just across the road
from their building. Much had happened since he had chased Sofia along the departure
platform and he smiled grimly as the sight of the railway station reminded him
of the journey ahead.

“Tomorrow we shall book out our tickets to
Salzburg. I would not feel safe travelling through the Alps in our airship. And
if the quality of the mechanicals in the ship is anything like those in dear
Celestine, I would prefer to be on the ground.”“How we will travel from
Salzburg to Schladming?” Edward asked.

“It all depends how quickly we want to get
there and when we wish to arrive.” Dougal laughed at the expression on the
younger man’s face as he tried to decipher the cryptic reply. He crossed the
room to his travelling bag and removed a velvet pouch.

“It will all depend on how long Madame de
Vargas takes to return from Cornwall with her nephews.” If the interlude with
Sofia in the
Kaffeehäuse
had not been pleasant enough, he had also
gleaned information from her about her forthcoming trip to Schladming and the
fact she would have her nephews with her.

He reached into the pouch and slowly
withdrew an elaborate inclinometer from the bag.

“What is that?” Edward asked curiously.

“This, my dear man, is an Astrolaberors
which will get us to our destination. As long as we can plot against the
sunrise or sunset, it will allow us to navigate through time. We shall arrive
at Schladming before we leave Salzburg if we so desire.

The young man’s eyes were huge in his face.
“So we
dinna
need the airship after all?”

“Yes, we needed to bring the automaton.
However, now she is no longer functioning, we may send her back to England on
the airship. We will use the Astrolaberors for our return journey when the time
comes. An inclinator of this size can transport three people with little worry.

Dougal smiled as understanding dawned on
Edward’s face.

Sofia passed the first two days of her
journey in Paris taking delight in visiting three couturier houses. At the end
of the second day, she was met by Mr. Grimoult, her sister Indigo’s manservant,
who conveyed her to Indigo’s airship for the short journey across the English
Channel to the manor house in Cornwall.

The old man held her arms and looked at her
closely. “As usual you are working too hard. You have shadow under your eyes,
Sofia.”

“The season has been very busy and business
from the colonies is growing,” she replied with a smile. The Grimoults had
looked out for both her and Indio after their father had been murdered in the
Amazon jungle.

“And the other business?” he asked softly.

“There has been a problem,” she answered.
“I believe the information sent from Captain Thoreau was a set-up. We are
obviously being watched so I have taken the utmost care. Ernst is working at
the laboratory alone and we have stopped all shipments for the time being.”

“And I am sure there is a reason for your
holiday to Schladming with the boys…apart from being a loving aunt?”

Sofia reached down and handed her carpet
bag to Mr. Grimoult. “Yes, we are going to have some walks in the alpine summer
and who knows we may even come across some botanicals. It will be a good experience
for the boys.”

Mr. Grimoult rolled his eyes. “Those
scallywags. Quite honestly, their behavior has been appalling and they need to
be taken in hand. Captain Thoreau and madam are both so strong-willed, they can
never agree on a suitable consequence for the two lads and they are becoming
wilder by the day.” He put out his hand and assisted Sofia up the steps of the
dirigible. “A week with the calm influence of their aunt will do them no end of
good.”

“I am looking forward to it.” Sofia smiled.
“As I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with my dear sister…and
Captain Thoreau of course.”

She settled into her seat and closed her
eyes as Mr. Grimoult prepared the airship for ascent. Thoughts of Dougal
flitted through her mind and she wondered if he would write to her as he had
promised when he had come to bid her farewell two days ago. He had been quite
withdrawn and although her heart had raced when he took her hand and kissed it
farewell, she doubted she would hear from him again. Although it had been very
kind of him to visit her, he had been distant. The mistruth he had told her
about having being married to the strange woman they had fitted in the salon,
had been peculiar and she could still see no reason for it.

A strange interlude, a pleasant kiss and
she would not see him again.

There was much to do and much to plan and
she would put the handsome earl out of her thoughts.

The journey was pleasant and the sky was
clear as they approached the manor house. The dirigible passed over Castle
Lorcathian, the home of her sister’s arch enemy, Duke Lorca. It would not be
surprising to her if he had somehow been involved in the conveying in the
recent misinformation conveyed to Captain Thoreau in his capacity as Sheriff of
Cornwall.

Sofia stood and looked down at the sloping
green grass at the cliff top. She smiled—Indigo’s holiday biomes were in the
distance and there was a welcoming party gathered on the lawn. Although perhaps
gathered was not the correct term. The four boys raced around and Indigo’s voice
floated up to her as she called the boys back from the edge of the cliff.

To no avail.

Sofia watched with mounting horror as a toy
dirigible inflated at the edge of the cliff and Ruan, the youngest, egged on by
his older brothers, grabbed the trailing ladder as it ascended. His little feet
left the ground and his screams of delight reached their airship as he climbed
higher and higher above the cliffs.

“You bring your brother down immediately,
Jago Thoreau.” Indigo’s cross voice carried up to Sofia. “Right this instant.”

Sofia craned forward and followed the
direction in which Mr. Grimoult was pointing. Jago held some sort of device in
his hand and was pointing it at the toy dirigible. As he lifted it, the small airship
rose and when it was lowered, Ruan’s feet almost touched the ground.

“Last chance, young man. Bring him down or
you will not be going to Austria with your Aunt Sofia.”

“Oh, Mama.” The shrill young voices floated
in the air as the small toy plummeted to the ground. “You spoil all our fun.”

Mr. Grimoult chuckled. “Young Jago and Jory
built that airship and the device which allows it to be controlled from the
ground. They have inherited the scientific mind of their mother, their aunt and
their grandfather. God rest his soul.”

“And the other two boys?” Sofia asked.

“Kit and Ruan do play with their older
brothers, but much to their father’s delight they are far less adventurous and
prefer their studies to creating chaos,” he replied.

With a final whoosh of steam, Mr. Grimoult
maneuvered the airship onto the landing pad. When it was secured, Sofia
descended the ladder to the ground and into her sister’s waiting arms.

“Oh, look how elegant you are,” Indigo
exclaimed. “You make me look like a country matron.”

Her husband, Zane stepped across and kissed
Sofia on both cheeks. “You are a country matron, my dear.” He laughed when
Indigo glared at him. The four boys lined up to receive a kiss from their aunt
and managed to contain their excitement for a few moments. Indigo looped her
arm through Sofia’s. “Come, Mrs. Grimoult has prepared your favorite
refreshments. We have much to discuss.”

Much later that evening, Indigo, Zane and
Sofia retired to the viewing room on the top level of the manor. Sofia placed
her hands on top of the ear muffs as they rode up in the directional
perambulator. The squeaks, grinds and the humming of the perambulator as it
ascended were not masked by the ear muffs.

“God’s truth, Indigo. You need to maintain
your equipment. There is no need for that noise.”

Indigo smirked as she gestured for her
sister to enter the viewing room. At first, Sofia’s attention was taken by the
spectacular view through the glass walls of the circular room. The sun was
setting over the Celtic Sea and the sky was shot with all hues of gold and
purple. Indigo cleared her throat and her impatience was conveyed to her
sister. Sofia turned and gasped as she surveyed the new equipment in the room.

“No wonder you cannot afford to replace
your perambulator,” she said as she walked around touching the analytical
engines filling one entire wall.

“And look at this.” Indigo’s excitement was
contagious and Sofia smiled. “We now have a new communication device which
allows us to speak to you anywhere in the world…and in any time.” She handed
her sister a small brass device. “If you place this within your clothing as you
walk the Alps with the boys, you will be able to contact us at any time.”

“Amazing,” Sofia replied. “It may come in
very useful. Where did you source that?”

Zane smiled. “Mr. Grimoult and I developed
it. When we were in the Amazon, ten years ago, the chronometer which allowed us
to stay in touch with the submarine gave me an idea. It has taken a long time,
however it is now refined and can be used with little trouble and with little
knowledge. We have a device for you to travel with to—”