When they were out of earshot, Helena could not keep silent. “They will argue for hours,” she confided quietly to the viscount. “It might be prudent to make your excuses. I, alas, am doomed to remain until the final foray.”
His eyes were a vibrant hue of green when his gaze fixed upon her. “But it would be unchivalrous to abandon you, Miss Emerson.”
Oh, that voice!
Helena wanted to hear more.
No, she wanted him to whisper scandalous suggestions into her ear, at midnight on the heath, immediately before fighting that duel. She smiled at the unlikelihood of that, given his advanced age. Undoubtedly such an elderly man would be in bed alone with his hot brick by nine each night.
“Alas, I am accustomed to it,” she said when the silence grew long. “The ride from London seemed twice as long as it was in truth, for all the discussion of roses and soil. This rose and that rose, this hue and that, shade and sun andterroir.” She shrugged and sipped her tea.
The viscount nodded, his gaze unswerving. Did the man even blink?
The silence set Helena’s teeth on edge.
“You have no fondness for gardening?” he asked finally.
Perhaps it was because of the splendor of the duke’s abode – or the feminine décor—that he was so quiet. Helena felt obliged to prove herself a good guest and make conversation.
After all, Lady Haynesdale might tell the duke of it.
She shook her head with a smile. “Perhaps in my dotage, I will find it more interesting. I do like flowers. My aunt says that I have a gift for arranging them, and I enjoy that task. Not that we have so many flowers as yet at Bramble Cottage.” He gave the slightest nod of acknowledgement. “Are you interested in gardening, Lord Addersley?”
He lifted one brow, which made him look diabolical for the barest moment—then he was impassive again. “I am not yet in my dotage, Miss Emerson.”
“Oh, but you are so old! You must be nearly thirty, if not more.”
Were his eyes twinkling? She could not be certain for he looked across the room. “Iamthirty,” he acknowledged in a low rumble that made her shiver, then set aside his tea.
She had no notion why it should amuse him to be so very old, much less why she should be so affected by a few words from a man who should be utterly lacking in appeal. It must be his voice, so rich and dangerous, it seemed at odds with his composed manner. Her imagination made too much of little. Again. “And are you plagued by many ailments?”
The viscount shook his head, once more, he was solemn and watchful.
She dared to lean closer, dropping her voice in confidence. “You need not be proud with me, sir. I am only curious. One day, I may reach your advanced age and it would be better to be prepared for the challenges that beset me in my infirmity.”
“Or you might not reach such an advanced age at all,” he countered. “Which I can hardly believe is a preferable alternative.”
It took Helena a moment to understand his meaning, then she gasped, feeling her cheeks flush. “But I am in the most robust health, sir!”
“You do appear to be. But future prospects, Miss Emerson, have a way of being unpredictable.”
What a grim prognosis. He turned then to watch the two older ladies and Helena missed his attention just a little.
She cleared her throat slightly. “Is Addersley in the vicinity of Haynesdale, sir? I confess that I know little of the neighborhood.”
“I understand you have recently come from London.”
“Well, yes.” His silence invited her to continue. “It is the wrong time of year to leave, you know. We should begoingto London for the season instead of lingering here. But Aunt is most content at Bramble Cottage.” He neither concurred with this nor showed any empathy for her situation. “Do you know it?”
He nodded. “It has been vacant for some time.”
“Well, not any longer, thanks to my brother. Perhaps you know him? Captain Emerson, who now resides at Southpoint.”
The viscount nodded again. “With his new bride, the duke’s sister.”
“Precisely. Nicholas has let the cottage to Aunt Fanny. She is my guardian, so we are there together.” She pursed her lips,aware that she was chattering but unable to stop. “Do you like small dogs?”
“Not particularly.” He lifted a brow. “Do you?”
