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enjoyed.
Combined, they were sickening enough to make her stomach churn
alarmingly.
    When he
placed his cup back into its saucer, and it rattled alarmingly, she
studied the fine trembling in his hand. Immediately, a wave of
guilt swept through her at her lack of manners.
    “You
must be frozen. You have been outside in the pouring rain and are
soaked through.” She assessed his height. “Would you like to change
into something dry so you can get warm? You are about my uncle’s
build, I am sure that there is something in his wardrobe that will
fit.”
    Ben
contemplated the wisdom of that for a moment. His first instinct
was to say no, but then really wanted to know a bit more about the
plant; and her. Now that he was in her house, he found that he
wanted to stay with her for as long as possible.
    “I think
that would be a wise idea, if you don’t mind,” he replied ruefully.
“Before I get your floor too wet.” He studied the water that
dripped steadily from the hem of his trousers and threw her an
apologetic smile.
    She
smiled at him, relieved that he was going to allow her to at least
try to make amends for her lapse of manners. “If you go to the top
of the stairs, the bedroom immediately to the left was my uncle’s.
I haven’t touched any of his belongings yet, so you should find
plenty there that should fit you.”
    “Thank
you,” he murmured gently and nodded to the tea tray. “Will you be
alright to pour another cup while I go and change?”
    Beatrice
nodded and watched him go. With nobody to talk to, and nothing else
to do, Beatrice placed her saucer onto the table beside her and
picked up the packaging paper again. She studied the label but it
really was completely illegible, and there was no sender address.
Curiously, there were no stamps either, which pointed to the fact
that it had been hand delivered and not posted. Once again, she
thought of the strange thud she had heard in the hallway and
wondered if someone had attempted to knock on the door. If so, why
hadn’t they knocked again when there was no answer?
    “What is
it?”
    Beatrice
jumped and turned to study him, and felt a surge of awareness at
the sight of him in the doorway. He had borrowed one of her uncle’s
white shirts and had folded the sleeves back to reveal the corded
muscles of his forearms. Her stomach fluttered and she studied the
thick patch of chest hair hidden beneath the pristine cotton which
lay open at the neck. The rather casual look was emphasised by dark
brown trousers, which made him look more like a workman than an
urbane gentleman, but even that seemed to emphasise his rugged
handsomeness.
    She
watched him walk toward her but it was only when he took a seat
beside her that she realised he still waited for her to
reply.
    “I was
just thinking that it is rather curious that someone would travel
all the way out here to deliver something like this and not even
leave a note.” She looked at him. “I don’t know how to look after
it,” she declared and wafted her arms around the room for emphasis.
“I mean, does it like sunlight, or does it prefer to be somewhere
cold? Is it a tropical plant, do you think?”
    “Did
your uncle work on his botany projects here?”
    “Well,
yes. The conservatory is stuffed full of things he worked on. Why?”
Beatrice frowned at him.
    “Did he
work on his plants in the study?”
    She
shook her head. “No, he only did his paperwork in there. He had a
conservatory out the back where he spent time with his plants when
he wasn’t in his study.”
    Ben
drank his tea for a moment. He wanted to kiss her and see if her
lips really were as soft as they looked, and knew that if he
remained on the sofa with her much longer, that was exactly what he
was going to do. He sighed and forced his attention back to the
plant.
    “Let me
go out to the conservatory and see if there is anything like that
plant in there. If there is, we know that this one you have is
something that your uncle may have