“Anyway,” she moved him along. “Let’s sit here and talk. Or think, or whatever would help you decide what to do in this incredibly difficult position. Don’t let the faces staring at us deter you from your due consideration.”
He grinned. “They won’t. I actually enjoy art. While studying to be a solicitor, I took up painting as a hobby. It allowed my mind to digest the mammoth amount of useless information, while my hands were busy mixing colours for the bowl of chrysanthemums on my desk.”
She smiled. “I don’t have paints or chrysanthemums, I’m afraid, so the Trease family ancestors will have to suffice.”
And leading him to a comfortable couch, Holly sat him down, then joined him, and looked at him intently, hoping a few moments of quiet would help him make the right decision.
Chapter Nine
In Which Geography Plays a Major Role, and Holly is Confused
She was an amazing young woman.
That thought flashed through Richard’s mind as he looked at her, sitting next to him quietly. Definitely unlike any other woman he’d known, since they would be badgering him with questions or demanding he tell them everything, reveal all his secrets, and when he refused, throwing a fit of rage or something.
Yes, Holly was unique. Besides her beauty, which was also unique in its way, she had a brain and wasn’t afraid to make use of it. Not for her the simpering, dithering giggles, or whispers behind fans, that served as conversation far too often.
If she had an opinion, she voiced it. If she disagreed, she’d voice that too. Life with her, mused Richard, would never be dull.
“It’s hard for you, isn’t it?” She gently touched his arm.
He tried to recall the topic under discussion, wrenching it away from an appreciation of Miss Holly Trease. That train of thought was definitely moving toward the ‘serious interest’ category.
“What?”
“The idea that you will have to violate something that is extremely important to you. Your word.”
He nodded, crashing back to the matter at hand. “Yes, Holly. It is indeed, and I have to say it’s a comfort knowing you understand that.”
She stared absently at her toes for a moment, thinking. “Could you lose your employment over this?”
“I’m not sure.” That was true, since this was a situation that neither he nor his employers could ever have anticipated.
She pursed her lips, then took a breath. “The papers that were stolen…were they of a nature that might cause injury or death if you revealed their contents?”
“Good Lord, I hope not.” He stared at her. “No. No, I can’t see any situation where a life might be at risk.”
“Excellent. That removes one obstacle, at any rate. If you tell us what’s in those papers, nobody will die as a result.”
“Fair point,” he acknowledged.
“So, deducing from the aforementioned non-life-threatening nature of the papers, you must be more concerned about breaking your word than the results of any revelation?”
“Yes. I suppose so.” She was right. It was his honour that was the sticking point here. If a man did not keep his word, what sort of man was he?
They sat quietly for a few minutes, Holly gazing at the portraits, Richard wrestling with the problem at hand.
At last, he looked at her, and took her hand in his, interlocking their fingers.Her skin was silk, her palm warm, and she made no objection to his touch, simply moving her head and gazing at him.
“You’ve come to a decision, haven’t you?”
He nodded. “I have.” He rose and tugged her to her feet. “Let’s find your father. I need to talk to him and Sir Duncan together. That’s the only way.”
“And me,” she squeezed his hand. “You are not having that conversation without me present.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I’ll wager my mother will feel just the same.”
Richard had to chuckle. “The Trease women are a force to be reckoned with, are they not?”
“Indeed we are,” she grinned back. “Come then. Let’s find Papa and see if Sir Duncan can meet with us.”
