“How could I resist when Mr. Brown has such a beautiful singing voice?” she enthused.
Benedict turned to look at the younger man. Jimmy was no longer dressed in the work clothes he had favored in the day since arriving her. The other man now wore the dark gray superfine given to him by Benedict, along with a cotton shirt, cravat, and waistcoat, and pale gray pantaloons. The black boots he wore, also old ones of Benedict’s, were slightly scuffed, but otherwise, Jimmy looked and behaved every inch the gentleman at this moment.
“Mr. Brown does indeed have a pleasant singing voice,” Benedict drawled. “I am merely surprised to find him here when he was explicitly advised against entering the east wing.”
Jimmy looked unabashed by the obvious reprimand. “I was drawn to investigate after seeing how lonely Lady Beatrix has looked whenever I have chanced to see her at the window these past few days.” The censor could be heard in his voice.
It didn’t surprise Benedict that Beatrix had remained curious about the young man now working in the stables. Any new diversion must be welcome to her, shut away as she was in this suite of rooms from morning till night.
But it was a curiosity on Beatrix’s behalf which did not explain or excuse Jimmy’s blatant disregard for Benedict’s instructions to him upon their arrival here.
Nor did Benedict care for the underlying criticism he could hear in the younger man’s tone. “I am sure, if asked, Beatrix would tell you it is by her own choice she remains in the east wing.”
“Oh, it is,” Beatrix instantly confirmed. “But it was pleasant,” she added shyly, “to be able to play once again and to hear singing.”
As Benedict’s own singing voice resembled that of a constipated frog, he accepted he could not have fulfilled that role for her. “I am pleased Mr. Brown has been so obliging.” There was an edge to his voice which warned that gentleman Benedict would have more to say on the subject once the two men were alone. “I hope you have not overtired yourself,” he added with a frown as Beatrix tried and failed to suppress a yawn.
“Perhaps a little nap would be beneficial before dinner,” she acknowledged ruefully.
Benedict nodded. “I will come back and see you after your nap.”
“That would be lovely.” She squeezed his arm, then smiled shyly at the other man. “Thank you for your company this afternoon, Mr. Brown.”
“You are more than welcome.” Jimmy’s expression was warm and open. “If you require my singing to accompany you on the piano again, please send word to me in the stables, and I will happily join you.”
Beatrix’s smile widened. “Thank you, I will.”
“Brown.” Benedict tipped his head in the direction of the doorway leading out to the stairs.
Jimmy gave him a mock salute. “I’ll see you again soon, Lady Beatrix. Perhaps next time, we can play a duet on the piano together.”
Benedict’s eyes narrowed. “You play the piano as well as sing?”
“I do, yes.” The younger man raised challenging eyebrows.
Benedict’s nostrils flared. “You are very accomplished for a man who, until two weeks ago, was living—”
“As you said, we should leave Lady Beatrix to rest now,” Jimmy cut in before preceding Benedict out into the hallway. He turned to him. “You—”
“Not here,” Benedict told him firmly as he continued on his way down the hallway and wide staircase. He didn’t stop until he reached the privacy of his study, at which point he waited for Jimmy to precede him into the room before closing the door behind the two of them. “You completely disobeyed my instruction in regard to visiting the east wing,” he immediately accused.
“Grateful as I am for your having brought me here to convalesce,” Jimmy bit out tersely, “it does not give you the right to tell me what I can or cannot do now that I am here.”
“This is my estate and home, and you are my guest—”
“I am also a grown man of six and twenty, and I will not be ordered about by you or anyone else,” Jimmy insisted.
“You had absolutely no right to trespass into the east wing after I had explicitly told you not to do so.” Benedict’s voice rose.
“I have the right of one human being who is concerned for the well-being of another.” Jimmy’s voice was even higher and louder.
“Exactly what do you mean by that?” Benedict’s chest expanded with indignation as he drew himself up to his full height.
The younger man shrugged. “I had thought I was making a joke the day we arrived and I asked if you were keeping your insane wife hidden away in the east wing. But it would seem that’s exactly what you’re doing. Not that Lady Beatrix is in the least mad, of course, but you are most definitely hiding her away.” He glared accusingly at Benedict. “I believe I can guess why, but I certainly cannot condone it.”
“You believe you can guess why?” Benedict repeated in a barely controlled voice.
The younger man eyed him with disgust. “Lady Beatrix is a lovely woman, inside and out, and I deplore anyone for thinking differently—” He broke off with a choking gurgle as Benedict used his hand about Jimmy’s throat to press him up against the wall of books.
“I do not think differently,” Benedict told him harshly.
Jimmy grimaced. “All evidence to the contrary.”
“You know nothing about this situation. As I told you, it is Beatrix’s choice to shut herself away.”
“And why would a young and lovely woman ever choose to remove herself from every pleasure of society?”
Benedict’s eyes narrowed. “Not because of anything I have said or done, I assure you.”
“As I said, all evidence to the contrary.”
“I do not at all care for your tone.”
“And I do not at all care for your having shut away an innocent woman just because—”
“Choose your next words very carefully,” Benedict warned in a dangerously soft voice.
Jimmy continued to glare at him. “Because you are the one who is ashamed of her.”
“You fucking ingrate!” Benedict released the other man’s throat before clenching his hand into a fist and letting fly.
Jimmy, unable to move fast enough, gave a pained gasp when that fist made contact with his jaw. “Arrogant bastard!” He bent at the waist to plough his shoulder into Benedict’s abdomen.
The momentum caused both men to crash onto the desktop, knocking several items onto the floor as they wrestled for dominance, both of them so lost to the aggression of the moment that neither of them heard the study door open.
“What on earth is going on here?” Chloe quickly entered the room and shut the door behind her. “Your raised voices can be heard all over the house.” Her eyes widened as she saw the two men fighting on the desktop.
She hadn’t been able to hear the actual words they were shouting at each other. It had been enough to hear their raised voices as she walked through the entrance hall, having just returned from her daily walk.
She left an openmouthed Carlton holding her cloak, bonnet, and gloves, that poor man obviously as startled at the sound of those raised voices as she was. Chloe had rested her hand briefly on the butler’s forearm in reassurance before hurrying down the hallway to the study, where the voices were loudest.
The last thing she had expected to see after opening the door was Benedict and Jimmy raining blows upon each other. “Release Jimmy at once, Benedict,” she now instructed when she saw one of his hands was about the younger man’s throat. “Whatever has occurred, I am sure strangling one of your guests is not the answer.”
“The satisfaction might be worth any repercussions,” he scorned.
“Do not be ridiculous.” Chloe stepped forward to release Benedict’s fingers from about Jimmy’s throat. “I have no idea what started the argument, but it now seems to have been reduced to a clash of male egos.” She shook her head as the two men, now both standing, continued to glare at each other. “Benedict, why were you trying to strangle Jimmy?”
she prompted briskly.
“If that had really been my intention, I should have succeeded.” he assured her.
“You might have tried!” the other man came back sharply.
“Will the two of you please stop behaving like small children!” Chloe snapped her exasperation with both of them. She might have expected better from Benedict, at least. “And if you cannot talk to each other sensibly, then talk to me instead, so that I might try to arbitrate and help resolve the situation.”
Benedict’s glittering gaze remained fixed on the younger man, just as Jimmy’s was accusatory. But neither spoke, in their own defense or otherwise.
Finally, Jimmy let out a sigh. “Are you going to tell Chloe, or am I?”
“That would depend upon what it is you intend telling her,” Benedict bit out.
The younger man gave a sneer. “Why, that you are keeping the young and lovely Lady Winter locked away in the east wing!”
Chloe recoiled, hit with a wave of dizziness as the blood drained quickly from her head.
Both because of the accusation and the possibility of there being a Lady Winter—Benedict’s wife?—who was both young and lovely.
Chapter Eleven
“You idiot!” Benedict glared at Jimmy the moment he saw how pale Chloe had become as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. He stepped forward with the intention of assisting her if she fell, but Chloe roused herself and neatly avoided his touch by moving deftly away from him.
As if, Benedict realized with an inward groan, his very touch now repulsed her.
“I’m the idiot?” Jimmy scorned incredulously. “It seems to me that you’re the one who has a wife hidden away but is leading another young lady on by bringing her here and decking her out in beautiful dresses and jewelry.”
“I am not leading anyone on,” Benedict thundered.
Jimmy snorted. “I’ve seen the way you look at Chloe and the way she looks back at you. You should be ashamed of yourself, behaving that way when you ain’t free to do so.”
“I’m not so young, nor am I that impressionable,” Chloe rallied, indignant color returning to her cheeks.
“And I am free to do exactly as I please,” Benedict stated firmly.
“As I said earlier, you’re an arrogant bastard,” Jimmy muttered.
Benedict drew in a deep and steadying breath. “Could we all just calm down, and try to resolve this situation in a way there is at least some modicum of politeness left between the three of us at the end of it?”
“Fine with me,” Jimmy muttered as he dropped onto the chaise in front of the window, the ankle of one leg resting on the knee of the other as he looked up at Benedict expectantly.
“Of course.” Chloe kept her gaze lowered as she crossed the room to sit perched on the edge of the chaise beside Jimmy.
Leaving Benedict, as he loomed over the two of them, feeling as if he were a stern father, or possibly a headmaster, addressing recalcitrant children.
The last thing he felt toward Chloe was fatherly!
He could only hope that, after he had given his explanation, Chloe could forgive him for not having been honest with her. “The lady who resides in the east wing is indeed Lady Beatrix Winter.” His steely gaze remained on Jimmy. “She is my sister.”
Chloe was so relieved at hearing this that she fell back against the chaise, lightheaded for the second time today.
The very thought of Benedict having a wife had been enough to cause her to feel ill. Not just because of the intimacies the two of them had previously shared, but also because it would mean Benedict wasn’t the man she had previously thought him to be: a man of moral strength and kindness.
Which begged the question, why would a man of moral strength and kindness hide his sister away at his country estate?
The three of them had arrived in Surrey four days ago, and not once had there been any mention of a Lady Beatrix also being in residence. Nor had Benedict’s sister joined them for any of their meals.
Chloe looked up at him searchingly. “Why are you hiding her in the east wing?”
“For the love of—!” Benedict broke off to draw in a long and calming breath. “I will say this only once more—I am not hiding Beatrix. Do not say it again,” he warned Jimmy icily as the younger man seemed about to speak. “It is Beatrix’s own wish that she live quietly and in solitude here and in that wing of the house. She… Nine years ago, when Beatrix was aged only seventeen, there was a carriage accident in which my parents were killed and my sister grievously injured.” He sighed heavily. “Beatrix has preferred to remain in seclusion in the east wing here ever since.”
Chloe’s brow creased into a puzzled frown. “I do not understand. Why, once her time of mourning was at an end, would such a young lady choose to hide herself away from all society?”
“Exactly the question I put to him,” Jimmy interceded.
Benedict’s nostrils flared. “Having spent time with Beatrix, you are well aware of why she prefers to live in seclusion.”
Jimmy rose restlessly to his feet. “No, I really am not. If you are referring to the scar down her left cheek—which I presume occurred during the accident—then yes, I can see how that might make her feel self-conscious in society. But it does not detract from her beauty and the warmth of her personality, nor is it reason for her to shut herself away from others.”
Benedict agreed with him wholeheartedly; unfortunately, Beatrix did not.
His gaze narrowed on the younger man. “Whatever thoughts you might have of duping my sister into falling in love with you, then let me assure you that—” Benedict’s words were cut off abruptly as Jimmy lashed out and his fist connected with Benedict’s jaw, causing him to reel backward before he was able to regain his footing.
He surged forward as his own fist struck out and knocked the other man back into the bookcase along one wall, causing the books to shake on the shelves.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He loomed over the younger man. “But that is an interesting question in itself, is it not?” he taunted. “Who you are and why you choose to hide behind the persona of Jimmy Brown. Because your speech now indicates you are James, not Jimmy, and I seriously doubt that Brown has ever been your name.”
Chloe was sure Benedict didn’t even see Jimmy’s second punch coming. A blow struck so hard against Benedict’s jaw, it caused him to stagger back before sprawling across the chaise.
Jimmy glared his distaste. “Whatever my name or circumstances in life, I know enough of manners to realize that you have just insulted your sister as much as me.” He gave Chloe a terse nod before striding across the room to open and then slam the door behind him.
Leaving the study bathed in an eerie silence.
Chloe’s first instinct was to go to Benedict’s side and see if there was anything she could do in regard to the bruise quickly forming on his jaw. The icy hauteur in his expression as he once again rose to his feet warned her against approaching him in any way.
Instead, she spent several seconds picking up things from the floor and returning them to the desktop before speaking again. “Do you think I might also meet your sister?” she prompted. “I might welcome the female company as much as she.”
Whatever Benedict had expected Chloe’s next words to be, it hadn’t been that.
But when he considered the request, he realized that of course Chloe would enjoy some female company rather than spending so much time on her own. She’d had enough of loneliness within Lord Gordon’s household.
He forced the tension to ease from his shoulders. “I will ask Beatrix, but I feel sure, after seeing her with Jimmy today, that she is more receptive to meeting new people than she has been. Also, she has previously expressed curiosity regarding both yourself and Jimmy,” he admitted with a smile. “She is resting for now, but I will ask her permission to introduce you when I visit her before dinner.”
Chloe nodded. “Thank you.” Her gaze became rueful as she looked at his jaw. “Do you have some
thing you might apply to help ease your discomfort? A bruise is already forming, and it looks painful.”
He gave a wince after gingerly touching that abused flesh. “My other guest has a powerful right hook.”
She eyed him teasingly. “How do you know this guest doesn’t too?”
“Would you like to put it to the test?” he drawled ruefully. “Where you are concerned, I feel I should give you license to take at least one free hit,” he acknowledged softly.
Chloe’s cheeks became suffused with color. “I could never physically harm you.”
“Is that because I am so kind and honorable?” he bit out self-disgustedly.
She raised her chin. “I know of no other gentleman who would have taken me in when I collapsed on your doorstep, and who has also continued to protect and care for me since then.”
He flinched after tightening his bruised jaw. “I have also made love to you—twice!—when I have absolutely no right to do so.”
The color deepened in her cheeks. “As I recall, you did so with my full and enthusiastic cooperation.”
“After which, the second time, at least, I rejected you in a harsh and insulting manner.” That knowledge sickened him every time he thought of it, and yet at the time, he had thought he had no choice but to try to put Chloe at a distance.
But perhaps now that Beatrix appeared to be becoming more social, he did have a choice, after all.
Chloe’s gaze became searching. “Do you push people away from you because of your deep love for and the responsibility you feel to care for your sister?”
Benedict drew in a sharp breath at her astuteness. “Most in Society believe Beatrix perished in the accident with my parents, and those who do not are very close friends of mine and feel as protective of Beatrix as I do. I could never—will never—force her to show herself in Society when she has no wish to do so. Nor will I willingly subject her to how hurtful others can be, by even the possibility of exposing her to their thoughtless cruelty.”
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