“Down there?” Patrick asked.
“If you plan on coming with our team, you cannot be afraid of a little jungle path,” she replied, dragging him down the dirt track. “Where we are going, there are no people. And not everyone who ventures that deep into the wilderness makes it back out.”
Patrick swallowed. “You mean we could…die?”
She stopped and spun around, facing him. “If you are not up to the challenge—”
“I’m up to it,” he said. “I just wonder if you ever stop to consider the risks you are taking.”
Linley rolled her eyes at him. “If I did that, then it wouldn’t be any fun.” She turned and plodded down the path, staying a few steps ahead of him. “Besides, if I worried about all the dangers in life, I’d end up like you.”
“Just what is that supposed to mean?” he called after her.
“You said it yourself,” she said, slowing her pace to let him catch up. “You’re bored. You’re bored and you’re restless, and you need me to shake you up.” The jungle air was heavy and thick, and her chest heaved with every breath. “That is why you went to Africa, and that is why you are here.”
Patrick stopped in front of her, his chest also rising and falling as he struggled to catch his breath. “You are right that I needed you to shake me up. And you’re right that I’ve been bored, but we cannot all be ‘little Linley Talbot-Martin, thrill seeker and adventurer’,” he said. “Some of us have responsibilities.”
“Responsibilities!” Linley cried, “What responsibilities do you have? Going to parties? Driving around London in your fancy motorcar? Playing big brother to a sister who doesn’t need you?” She took a step forward, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. “You are so pompous! So pretentious!” she cried. “You think you’re important just because you inherited some stupid title and a rotten old house to go with it. Well, I’ve got news for you—”
Patrick pushed her finger away. “I sold the London house,” he spat. “I sold it after I spent a fortune fixing it up for your party.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” he said, jamming his fists into his trouser pockets.
“Patrick, why would you do such a thing?”
He shrugged and looked away.
Linley grabbed his face and turned it back to hers. “Why, Patrick?”
“Because I needed the money.”
She sucked in her breath. “I—I don’t know what to say…”
“There is nothing to say,” he told her. “What’s done is done.”
Linley sank down onto the wet grass, burying her head in her hands. “I feel like such an ass.”
He almost smiled. Almost. “It was either that or marry Gaynor Robeson. And I’d much rather part with my house than my dignity.”
“Oh, Patrick. I had no idea it had come to that.”
“I made you a promise, didn’t I?” he said. “The night before you left I swore I wouldn’t marry Gaynor. And I am a man of my word.”
“But to sell your house? All because you made a promise to me?”
He shrugged. “It’s only money. Aren’t you the one always accusing me of being a slave to my fine things? Now that I am finally taking your advice, you seem a little shocked.”
“It’s just that I think you might have taken me too literally.”
“Beg pardon?”
“It goes back to what we were just arguing about, what we always argue about—I know you are unhappy. I know you have been unhappy for some time. But changing your circumstances isn’t going to help you. It doesn’t matter if you have money, or where you live, or who you marry, or who you don’t marry. None of that will make you happy. And I’ve hammered it into your head so much that now you think I can make you happy.”
“You’re one to talk, always telling me what I need or don’t need in my life. Pretending all the while that you have yours all figured out,” he said. “You cannot even make up your mind whether you want me or not.”
It was true, Linley had to admit. Half the time she wanted to kiss him, and the other half of the time she wanted to strangle him. Even in the span of one conversation, she’d jumped the fence so many times she lost count. And if she were truly honest with herself, she wasn’t exactly sure where she stood now.
***
They walked down the path in silence with only the sound of birds and the rustling of the leaves to keep them company. It was true that Patrick sold the London house because he needed the money, but it wasn’t the whole truth. He wanted to tell her. He intended to tell her everything, but he needed to find the right time. He only hoped he would know it when he saw it.
Behind them, the village faded out of view. In front of them, the mist still shrouded their destination. As they plodded on, mosquitoes zipped past their heads, causing Linley to flail her arms and swat them. The Talbot-Martin team always carried Quinine, but with the ever-present risk of malaria, mosquito bites were nothing to take lightly.