‘It’s a common enough name,’ he said, moving a little closer to her, worried about the sudden change in her demeanour. ‘What do you associate it with? That might help you to recall.’
‘My brother had an acquaintance of that name, I think,’ she said slowly, closing her eyes in an obvious effort to recollect. ‘He called at the house once or twice. He was not a gentleman in the accepted sense; more middle class. I think he and Oscar had sporting interests in common.’
‘You did not recognise him?’
‘I only caught the briefest glimpse of those cold eyes. I was more concerned with not getting myself killed.’ She shuddered. ‘But something has subsequently occurred to me. The blue coat he wore was a full-length morning coat; not the sort of thing that a common criminal would garb himself in.’ She sent him a look of increasing concern. ‘Nor a poacher either. It seems to me that he had dressed warmly in anticipation of a long sojourn in your grounds.’
‘There’s more,’ he said softly, encouraged by her show of vulnerability to take her hand and gently squeeze her fingers. ‘The man Pickard was seen in conversation with a gentleman who can only have been Anglesey.’
She took the news more calmly that Brin had anticipated. ‘I begin to suspect Anglesey’s intentions,’ she said. ‘His behaviour has not impressed me. What’s more, I now wonder if he’s courting Hazel for her fortune. I made that suggestion to her when she complained to me earlier about the amount of attention he lavished during dinner on your Lady Melody—’
‘She is not mine, and never will be,’ he said with authority.
‘Sorry!’ She lifted a gloved hand to her lips but failed to hide an impish smile behind it. God, but she was compelling! He’d never met anyone quite like her, and could listen to the lilting cadence of her voice for hours. ‘I can’t seem to help myself from teasing you. I don’t suppose anyone has dared to before now, so it’s beyond time that someone treated you like a normal person.’
‘Wench!’ he muttered, causing her smile to widen.
‘Well anyway, I made that suggestion to Hazel, that Anglesey might have his sights set on her fortune I mean, but might as well have saved my breath. She took offence and stalked away from me. Actually, her mother called to her and she used that as an excuse to walk away from a possibility that she obviously preferred not to contemplate. She definitely doesn’t want to entertain the suggestion that her heart’s desire isn’t besotted with her for herself alone and that he has ulterior motives. That is one of the hazards of being born beautiful and universally admired, I suppose. Not that I will ever find out for myself.’
‘You do yourself a disservice.’
‘I didn’t say that in expectation of your contradicting me. I am well aware of my shortcomings, which are numerous.’ She sounded cross but Brin suspected it was more a case of being embarrassed, since she had not actually been fishing for a compliment, even though Brin was more than happy to provide her with one that was genuinely deserved. She really had no idea just how compelling she actually was, which only served to increase the attraction. ‘Anyway, Lady Melody has no fortune to speak of. I told Hazel that too, but it didn’t seem to gratify her. His interest in Lady M supports her argument that Anglesey is no fortune hunter, but I don’t think it made her feel much better.’
‘For what it’s worth, I have been led to believe that Lady Melody was well dowered.’
‘That’s downright deceitful!’ she cried indignantly. ‘Your mother’s doing, I suppose.’
Brin nodded. ‘She mentioned something to the effect that she would be snapped up for her beauty and fortune if one didn’t have a care. She didn’t actually say that she had a fortune and knows that I don’t need to marry for one.’
‘It was still very wrong of her. Lady Melody told me herself just before the attack that she was not well situated financially. It’s hardly the sort of admission she would make if it wasn’t true.’
‘I share your misgivings about Anglesey’s character,’ Brin said softly. ‘I spoke with him after you left my library and asked him how well acquainted he was with your family.’
She snapped her head around and gave him her full attention. ‘Whatever made you do that?’
‘I like to be thorough. He admitted to knowing your brother slightly through a gaming club in Southampton that they both frequent.’
She shrugged, not seeming to think it significant. ‘I wonder what possible reason he could have had to consult with Pickard,’ she pondered instead, glancing up at the roof as the patter of heavy rain beat a tattoo upon the glass. ‘Have you asked him?’
‘No, I would prefer for him not to know that we are aware. It could be entirely innocent.’
‘I am sure it must be. Mr Anglesey has no reason to want to see me dead,’ she said with authority.
He could see how deeply disturbed she was by the possibility and yearned to comfort her by enfolding her in his arms. Somehow, he found the strength to resist, aware that if he gave in to temptation there would be no turning back.
‘I am sure he does not. After all, you support his pursuit of Lady Hazel; or you did. You are of more use to him as an ally.’
‘It does no good to speculate. We shall just have to…’ She turned to look at him as a burst of muted applause reached them from beyond the door to the drawing room. ‘It sounds as though Lady Melody has put her long-suffering audience out of its misery,’ she said with the suggestion of a smile.
‘So it does,’ he responded, admiring her posture and the instinctively graceful manner in which she moved about the room, seemingly unwilling to meet his gaze. Someone in the drawing room struck up a popular tune on the piano and several people sang along. ‘What is it that you wanted to say?’ he asked.
*
What indeed? His close proximity as he prowled around her like a predatory animal caused her to shiver for reasons that had nothing to do with the lower temperature in the orangery.
‘Just that…’ She took a deep breath, struggling to recall what they had been discussing and why it was so important. Oh yes, her impending departure. ‘I’ve had a change of heart. I shall be leaving here tomorrow and returning home.’
‘Impossible!’ he said, acerbically enough to make her blink. ‘It isn’t safe for you to go anywhere alone.’
‘I can’t go back to the Beardsley residence even if I wanted to, which I no longer do. Lady Beardsley doesn’t want me there.’
‘She has told you that?’
Farrah shrugged. ‘She doesn’t need to. She didn’t want me there in the first place and tolerated me under sufferance. After today’s incident, she has a legitimate reason to have nothing more to do with me.’
‘But your friend—’
‘Won’t object to my not returning; not now that I have cast suspicion upon Anglesey’s reasons for courting her. She most certainly didn’t want to hear it and I begin to think that I have made a mistake in befriending her. She is vain, with not much to separate her manner from Lady Melody’s self-obsession. She is just better at hiding it.’ She sent him a bewildered look. ‘I consider myself to be a good judge of character. Why did I not see that about her before?’
‘We can all be taken in from time to time.’ He smiled at her. ‘Even someone as astute as you are.’
‘I hadn’t realised how important it is to Hazel to have her own way. Her attitude is sunny and obliging all the time she gets what she wants, but she showed a side to her character this evening that I hadn’t seen before.’ Farrah tapped the fingers of one hand on her opposite forearm. ‘It was she who took me up, now I come to think about it, and forced the friendship.’
‘Why would she not?’
‘She wouldn’t want to surround herself with attractive women who’d represent competition, I suppose. Anyway, I wouldn’t go back, even if she insists, which she will not.’ She let out a long breath that caused her breasts to strain against the silk of her bodice. She noticed Brin watching her, worried that he would think it was a deli
berate gesture designed to hold his attention and hastily turned away. ‘I am grateful to you and the other gentlemen making an effort to support me this evening, but I have to struggle through the rest of the long days in the company of a gathering of woman who all resent me.’ She swirled away from him with her arms folded across her torso. ‘I am not afraid of them, and I don’t care what they think of me, but don’t see why I should have to tolerate their ill manners when they have made it abundantly clear that I am not wanted here.’
‘I want you here.’
She glanced up at him, taken aback by the sincerity in his tone, and could see that he meant what he said. That only made her ten times more determined to distance herself from the man whom she found so distracting, so magnificent, so dangerous, so every wretched thing. ‘Thank you for saying so,’ she replied, looking away from him, ‘but I would prefer to be at home, free to do as I please, where there is less danger of me offending anyone.’
‘You promised me that you would stay,’ he said in a softly persuasive tone. ‘The gentlemen are going to ensure that their ladies are better-mannered.’
‘You discussed the situation with them? I wish you had not. It will make it appear as though I need you to fight my battles for me, which will only make matters worse. Their verbal assaults might cease but there are plenty more ways in which they can make their displeasure felt.’
‘Then stay away from my mother’s daytime entertainments and take up residence in this room. You can indulge your love of reading, but you must promise me not to wander outside alone. We don’t yet know that Pickard has given up trying to kill you.’ He waved a hand towards the array of books. ‘There are plenty more books available in my library if you don’t find anything to suit your taste in here. You will have the room to yourself.’ He sent her a supplicating look of such deep intensity that it caused her heart to lurch. ‘Please say that you will stay, for my sake.’
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, compelled by the intensity of his appeal as she struggled to untangle her conflicting emotions. The last thing she wanted was never to see him again, but the practical side of her brain told her there would be no profit in remaining here. Nothing good could come of it. The air between them seemed charged with expectancy; a product no doubt of her imagination. She was acutely aware of his close physical presence, wondering what had happened to the daylight that had separated them just a few seconds ago. Which of them had moved to reduce it? She couldn’t be sure that it hadn’t been her.
‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Why is it so important to you? I am only making trouble for you.’
‘Some things are impossible to articulate,’ he said evasively, which was no answer at all.
She looked up into his intense, dark eyes and found the courage to challenge him. ‘Then show me.’
He chuckled, a deep throaty sound that vibrated through his chest like a wicked promise. ‘Never dare a duke, my love. You might come to regret it.’
She sent him a defiant look. ‘I am not afraid of you.’
‘Then you are very foolish. I’m a dangerous fellow.’
She wanted to turn away, astounded by her own daring in instigating this game, but she had come this far and wasn’t about to back down. The swirling sensations stirring deep within her core made it impossible for her to break her gaze, and the silence that spread between them held an air of expectancy.
‘Damnation!’ he muttered, swooping and pulling her into his arms. Her body collided with his and the air left her lungs in an extravagant whoosh.
‘What am I to do about you?’
She sensed the question was rhetorical and didn’t bother to formulate a response. Besides, the suggestions that sprang to mind would likely verify the duchess’s low opinion of her moral character. She revelled in the feel of her body pressed against the solidity of his chest and willed time to stand still. She looked up into heavy-lidded, seductive eyes, dark and predatory. Her breath hitched in her throat as he slowly lowered his head and covered her lips with his own.
They had barely made sizzling contact before a commotion on the other side of the door had them springing guiltily apart.
‘My mother,’ he said, an edge to his voice. ‘It will make matters worse for you if we are found here together.’
He indicated the daybed and she dutifully resumed possession of it. He winked at her, mouthed the word ‘later’ and slipped through another door that she hadn’t previously noticed, seconds before the one she had used to access the room opened.
‘Ah, Miss Dorset.’ The duchess glowered suspiciously down at Farrah as she sat with the book she had previously discarded open on her lap. ‘Have you seen the duke?’
‘Have you lost him, ma’am?’ she asked innocently, touching the lips that Brin had so briefly kissed with the fingers of one hand.
‘He ought to have been listening to Lady Melody’s remarkable poetry.’
‘It was certainly remarkable,’ Farrah agreed with a commendably straight face.
‘Oh, where is the wretched boy?’ She huffed indignantly. ‘Why must he resist all my efforts on his behalf?’
‘Have you tried his library?’ Farrah asked helpfully.
The duchess scanned the greenery with a piercing look, causing Farrah to wonder if she intended to search behind the urns for signs of her son. Dignity won the day, barely, and she turned back to the door through which she had just entered. Without another word, she let herself out again, having made no attempt to persuade Farrah to rejoin the party.
‘So rude,’ she muttered, turning her attention to the book in her lap, only then discovering that she had opened it upside down.
Chapter Twelve
The following day brought both rain and a serious dispute between Brin and his mother. A dispute that had been in the offing for weeks. Brin was in no mood to be conciliatory, especially since he was aware that it could no longer be deferred.
‘It’s inconvenient enough to have all this rain to contend with,’ the duchess complained, bustling into Brin’s library without knocking and glowering through the window at the downpour as though daring it to continue when it was in danger of spoiling her plans for the day. ‘But that you should expect me to entertain that…that conniving murderess along with my respectable lady guests is the outside of enough. She lowers the tone, Brinley, contaminates the rest of us with her mere presence and must be asked to leave. I really must insist upon it.’
‘You are not in a position to insist upon anything.’ Brin sucked air through his teeth and adjured himself to keep his temper in check. ‘I thought I had made my position clear,’ he said in a frosty tone, remaining seated behind his desk while she stood in front of it; a discourtesy that he knew she would resent. ‘Miss Dorset is a victim, not the aggressor and I will not reward her quick thinking by asking her to leave, even though I know that she is anxious to do so. And who can blame her, given that you have made her feel so unwelcome?’
His mother puffed out her ample chest, clearly incensed. ‘How can you defend her when we all saw her rolling about in the mud with our own eyes, physically attacking poor Lady Melody?’
‘You were delighted to draw assumptions from what you saw without interpreting it any other way.’
His mother bridled. ‘What other interpretation could there possibly be?’
‘Ask yourself this, Mother. What reason could Miss Dorset have to attack Lady Melody?’
‘I should have thought that was obvious.’
‘If it was, I would not have asked for an explanation.’
‘Well, she assumed that you preferred Lady Melody and was so torn apart by jealousy that she lost her fragile hold on her senses.’
Brin shook his head. ‘Can you hear yourself, Mother? Do you realise just how ludicrous your explanation sounds?’ He gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Even if it were true, why would Miss Dorset attack her supposed rival in a place where she knew she would be seen by the rest of us, and risk the conclusions you have already
reached being drawn? I can assure you that Miss Dorset has a brain in her head and would never be so foolish.’
‘We all lose our tempers and do foolish things in the heat of the moment,’ his mother replied, refusing to be mollified. ‘You heard her verbally insult Lady Melody.’
‘It was not without provocation. You did not hear Lady Melody strike the first verbal blow, but I did.’
The duchess glared at him, as though tempted to refute the suggestion. Fortunately for her, common sense prevailed. ‘Then that must be what provoked Miss Dorset.’
Brin briefly closed his eyes and prayed for God to deliver him with patience. ‘There was an intruder in the grounds, Mother. That is the undisputed fact. Miss Dorset saw him and tried to push Lady Melody from his path. She actually saved her from a far worse injury than the one she actually incurred. And she would not have suffered even that small cut if she hadn’t tried to fight Miss Dorset off. Miss Dorset possibly saved Lady Melody’s life, and yet you all vilify her by way of reward. Frankly, I am ashamed of you and my sisters.’ Brin treated his mother to a scathing look of disapproval. ‘You should lead by example, yet you are Miss Dorset’s worst detractor. You can be sure that I shall not forget your disloyalty to me, the head of this family, so do not expect generosity when it comes time for my sisters to be presented.’
The duchess inhaled sharply. ‘You dare to speak to me, your own mother, in such a fashion? You talk of duty and loyalty, but what of the duty you owe to me? Well, what of it? Am I to be threatened by my own son?’
‘A neat way of avoiding addressing the issue of Miss Dorset,’ Brin replied through tightly gritted teeth.
‘I don’t believe for a moment that we had an intruder.’ The duchess shook her head, as though dislodging the possibility before it could take hold. ‘A poacher perhaps, but he would have more sense than to attack a member of our party.’ She straightened her spine and fixed Brin with a steely look of determination. ‘Where is your proof and why did you not mention this intruder before now? No one else other than Miss Dorset observed this man, yet you accept her word without question. Clearly, the hussy has bewitched you and you are too blind to realise it. Well, I won’t have it, do you hear me?’ She shook a finger beneath Brin’s nose. It took every ounce of self-restraint he possessed not to snap it in half. If she had been a man, that is precisely what he would have done. ‘I will not have that nobody sullying this grand house and our family’s noble name. You will not marry her, Brinley, unless it is over my dead body. I refuse to give you my permission.’
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