.Chapter 4.
For several seconds after the stranger had disappeared, Elena stood unmoving, simply staring down the empty corridor.
She realised that her heart was pounding.
What happened then? She wondered dazedly, her head still spinning lightly.
Moving very slowly, Elena turned back to her carriage and sat down, calming the rate of her breathing with a conscious effort. Still thinking of the very strange encounter she had just experienced.
She supposed, now that she thought back on it, that it had been his eyes which had disconcerted her... She'd seen grey eyes before, of course, but never quite like his. Grey eyes were usually speckled with darker colours, or more smoky blue than truly grey. But this man had eyes like the sky before a snowstorm - cool and clear, pure unblemished slate.
He had not, her memory conceded, been especially handsome. But there was a word for him. Intriguing? With those eyes, it was inarguable. Compelling? Well yes, most definitely compelling. More than that though, he was . . . Elena strained to think of the word she sought, then released her breath in a sigh of mild frustration. The elusive quality she had sensed so strongly in him refused to pinned down by any convenient phrase.
All Elena knew was that there had been something about the man in the corridor which had affected her very strangely indeed, and she would give a lot to know what it had been.