Snippet #1519643

“Moonflower” her voice cut through the silence like a silver knife, “known as Datura Inoxia, meaning ‘dreaming of love’. Primrose, Primula Vulgaris, ‘I can’t live without you’, or, better yet, ‘eternal love’.” She stopped to take a deep breath and then continued with the enlisting of flowers and their meanings.

Duncan remained silent as the woman spoke, eyes staring into nothing as he mulled over her words.

“The small flower you observed, the common Violet, means ‘faithful love’. And then there are the roses, the worst offenders.” the words came as a bitter reminder of how every woman got easily swayed and romantic when presented with just one of these already common plants. Thing that sickened her even more because every man opted for a single red rose in order to express their ‘feelings’. She continued, detaching herself from her experiences. “Red represent love, white say ‘I am worthy of you’ and yellow symbolize the concept of ‘forgive and forget’. And all of these are found in Lady Mayfair’s garden, in full bloom. Of course this all isn’t proof enough that she is deeply and irrevocably in love with her husband. But it helps the prognostic.”

Tiredly rubbing the back of his neck, the Captain took a long drag of his cigar and let out the smoke thereof in a weary breath as the Scientist finished her explanation. Mind you, he still couldn't quite comprehend how a woman like Genevieve could feel so much love and devotion for a man like Byron who, from what he'd seen and heard that night, wasn't someone he'd immediately judge worthy of such affections; though that may have just been his critical lack of experience in dealing with the fairer sex making itself readily apparent.

He snuck a glance at the woman on the other end of the bench at that last thought, eyes quickly flicking away as she turned to him herself and almost caught him staring, the night's shadows obscuring yet another unusual outbreak of heat on his face. The Scotsman wasn't quite sure what to think of the brunette, even less so about the cartwheels his stomach seemed intent on performing in her presense.

Finally noticing the silence that filled the gazebo, Duncan chanced another look at Annabelle, only to reflexively reach out and catch her by the shoulders before she could hit her head off the bench as she fell over onto her side, clearly asleep.

"Nae a moment's rest with ye people, is there?" The man chuckled quietly and ruefully as his heart slowly started to calm down... Only to almost stop entirely as gravity saw fit at that moment to compel the woman's sleeping head to fall towards him, leaving nary an inch or two of space between them as he'd had to lean over to catch her.

Everything froze. His mind, his body, the world around him... everything just stopped. All the man could think, fathom or even comprehend semi-intelligently was the feel of something gently blowing across his lips.

"...Oh." Was all he managed to vocalize upon realizing that it was her breath... and that it felt very much the opposite of bad.

Suddenly, the Scotsman's conscious mind caught up to the rest of him and he suddenly remembered how to breathe and think rationally again, gently laying the Englishwoman down on the bench as his hand hurriedly dived into his pocket to find a replacement for the cigar that fell out of his mouth when he caught her.

'What the bloody damned hell was that?!' The Captain's normally disciplined mind screamed into his subconscious as he worriedly rubbed his temples.

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At last the morning came, bathing the garden in a warm glow as birds began their morning songs. Duncan remained where he had been all night, head resting in his palm as the sleeping form next to him began to stir, before suddenly jumping up in surprise.

The Scotsman took the moment to force his humour, the old defense-mechanism he used to hide his thoughts and feelings, back to life as the woman frantically looked around trying to ascertain just where she was.

“Captain MacCraigh, were you awake all night long?” Anna asked him, having apparently gathered her bearings

"I wisnae gonna leave ye out here by yerself, Miss Penclave" He replied, forcing the previous night's events as far from his mind as he possibly could "'Sides, I told ye I dinnae sleep much anyway, r'member?"