Kaleidoscope: A Regency Novella by Hannah Meredith Page B

and grasped hers. His spirits were buoyed by her belief that his version of the situation was true. If only he’d had the same support from his family.
    “I should be going,” he said abruptly. If he stayed much longer he couldn’t resist the urge to gather her into his arms. He hadn’t felt this comfortable with anyone in years and didn’t want to destroy their growing closeness.
    “You’ll come again?”
    How could she doubt it? “If I’m invited,” he said.
    “You will be.”
    The warmth of her dazzling smile carried him out into the street.

 
       
     
    Patterns for June 1825
     
    C aro waited impatiently for Sanjeet to finish reviewing the documents that examined the feasibility of importing wine from Madeira. She could see his dark head bent over the papers through the door to the outer office. As he methodically turned the pages and made notes, she nudged the cut glass oil lamp and two paperweights on her desk into a slightly different configuration. She realized she was fidgeting but could do nothing about it.
    When he finally finished and stood, she pretended to be engrossed in an unread shipping schedule.
    “It’s a workable plan,” he said, entering her office. “I know this isn’t your work, so who came up with this idea?”
    “A friend. I thought it looked good, but I wanted to have your unbiased opinion.” She hoped she didn’t look too delighted with Sanjeet’s evaluation.
    He grinned as if he weren’t fooled by her attempt to suppress her excitement. “Once the new East Indiaman is in service, short hauls to places like Madeira would put one of the smaller ships to good use. Especially if the projected sales figures are correct. But the potential market seems to have been carefully researched and the sale of fortified wine appears to be steadily growing. I assume you will want to pursue this.”
    “Yes. It would make sense to have contracts in place before the new ship is finished. Assuming the shipbuilder meets the anticipated dates—”
    “Perhaps a big assumption.” Sanjeet raised his eyebrows and gave her an apologetic smile. He’d recently been spending a lot of time at the Blackwall Yard, coaxing the shipbuilder into staying on schedule.
    Caro smiled back. “I’ve no doubt your persistence will ensure that Rydell’s Pride will launch very close to when expected. If that’s the case, Fancy’s Flight should be available to try this shorter run.”
    “Do you want me to begin working on this?”
    “Not immediately. I thought I’d see if the friend who had the idea wanted to be involved.”
    Caro could tell that Sanjeet wanted to quiz her about this mysterious “friend,” but he wisely chose to forego that line of inquiry and returned to his own work. She wished she too could get something done, but her mind was now firmly fixed on her friend—for Luke had indeed proved to be one.
    And that was the problem.
    Over the past month, she’d come to want something more than friendship from him. But Luke had dutifully stuck to the role she’d assigned, restricting physical contact to a brief brush of his lips across her forehead when he left her house after dinner. At least they’d progressed to meeting for dinner twice a week and the intimacy of using first names, but she wanted more—and wasn’t sure how to get it.
    She’d attempted seduction last week by wearing a sari to dinner. Her late husband Charles had told her the consensus of the men at the English clubs in Calcutta was that there was nothing more exotic and alluring than a woman in Indian dress. This must have been the opinion of only men on the Indian subcontinent, however, since wearing a sari seemed to have no effect on Luke at all. If anything, he was more meticulously proper than ever.
    Of course, this was the same evening that he’d arrived with his idea of importing Madeira. His extensive research confirmed that the market for the wine was expanding and that of all vintages, Madeira was the most