“Where were you last night?” Amelia asked in that same accusing tone.
Silas turned to her with narrowed eyes. “If you must know, I was at Lord Richmont’s home. He invited me for dinner.”
“Just you?” Amelia asked skeptically.
“Yes,” Silas snapped. “We had business to discuss.”
“Oh…” Amelia straightened up, looking interested. “What business?”
“That is none of your concern, little sister,” Silas said flatly.
“Humph!” Amelia pouted, as she looked down at her plate.
Silas shook his head at her and as he turned back to his plate, he caught Helena’s gaze. She also seemed to have been looking at Amelia.
And then she looked at him.
Unconsciously, he nodded at her and she, to his surprise, smiled in return.
He stopped breathing for a moment, acknowledging to himself, once again, that she was a very lovely girl. He could not hide from his attraction to her, or else it would get him in trouble.
He stood up abruptly. “Excuse me ladies… I have something I must attend to.”
With a sharp bow, Silas turned, his movements brisk and precise as he made his way to his study, his pulse quickening in a way he refused to acknowledge.
Chapter Eleven
“Your brother is a strange man,” Helena said as she watched Silas run from the room as though the devil was chasing him.
Amelia giggled. “Surely, you had realized that already?”
“Hmm, perhaps I did. But I chalked it up to us being strangers rather than him being strange.”
Amelia laughed. “Well, now you know.”
Helena smiled at her, glad that Amelia was no longer pouting. “Why were you so annoyed at him?” she asked.
“He was being rude.”
Helena laughed. “You mean about my freckles?”
“Yes! How presumptuous of him.”
Helena grinned, a warmth in her chest at how annoyed Amelia was on her behalf. “Would you like to ride with me later? After you finish with your lessons?”
“I don’t have much to do today. We could go after breakfast.”
“All right, but first I have to speak to your brother.”
“That’s fine.” Amelia said with the widest grin Helena had seen on her face.
She shook her head at the adolescent.
You, my dear, are just as strange as your brother.
Helena got to her feet, nodding to the maids in thanks for breakfast, before making her way to Silas’s study. She knocked tentatively on the door, hoping she was not interrupting whatever urgent thing that he had to attend to.
“Who is it?” his voice snapped.
