It took more effort than it should have to turn his attention to her dining companion. Now that the captain wasn’t eyeing him in return, Aden took a good look at the short brown hair and long, hooked nose—in profile the man even more resembled a damned vulture. No wonder Vale had reckoned he needed to resort to threats and blackmail to get a lass like Miranda.
“Did you not hear me? Move along. You’ll get no handouts here.”
Aden blinked, returning his gaze to the black-, yellow-, and red-liveried doorman. “Do I look like a man who’s missed a meal, Sassenach?” he asked, taking a step closer. Loki at his shoulder snorted.
The doorman’s jaw jumped, but he kept his chin up. “What you look like is someone not attired to dine at the Kings Hotel, or to take rooms here.”
An argument might have been amusing, but he didn’t want to be attracting the attention of the diners inside for no good reason. Aden put a smile on his face. “I cannae argue with that, wee man. Good day to ye.” With a nod he tugged on Loki’s reins and continued up the street.
Once he was clear of the windows he swung back into the saddle. He couldn’t do much here without throwing the little bit of strategy he’d conjured into chaos, but ifCaptain Vale was as proficient a gambler as he seemed, men at the tables hereabouts would either have played against him or at least know of him.
The problem with that was that Vale had a lord for a cousin, one who was more than likely a member of all the best gentlemen’s clubs. Aden had a lord for a brother, but Coll wasn’t a member of any London club. Nor was he likely to become a member even if they would have him.
Matthew Harris had several memberships, but he seemed a poor choice for a sponsor, especially under the circumstances. Aden blew out his breath. There were other places he’d found, other, less savory men with whom he could talk. They would do for a start.
Sooner rather than later he would have to have a conversation with Matthew, though. The lad was worse than a fool to put his own sister in harm’s way. If there wasanychance of his poor behavior continuing, he and Eloise needed to be parted. At this moment Matthew was an enemy in the middle of MacTaggert territory, but Aden had the feeling that the lad would also be necessary to solving this disaster.
All that was aside from the fact that stopping Eloise and Matthew’s wedding remained the simplest way to get him and Coll back to the Highlands without Sassenach brides. That was a topic for later. First, he needed to figure out a way to rescue this lass, and to convince her that he wasn’t a villain simply because he enjoyed playing cards.
He did have a reason not to speak up—Miranda would never trust him with anything again, and for good reason. But he worried about Eloise. His sister, the youngest MacTaggert, had been less than a year old when she and their mother had left the Highlands. Seventeen years later they had her back in their lives, and the idea of risking their newfound relationship didn’t sit well with him at all. Neither, though, did he intend to allow her to marry a man who was proving to be both reckless and a poor judge of character—not to mention a poor gambler.
Eloise would not be put in the same perilous position as Miranda. That was a fact, as unalterable as the Highlands. As was the fact that he wasn’t going to allow any harm—any further harm—to come to Miranda Harris. Every conversation he had with her impressed him more, left him more convinced that he’d found his English lass. It didn’t matter that she had another man trying to force her into marriage; there were several ways around that, only a few of them bloody.
The one thing that could alter his plan was both simple and supremely complicated—did she like him in return? Once he had that bit answered he could decipher whether it was him or his offer of assistance that had lured her in, and whether that made him a hero or a fool.
Chapter Six
Aden’s suggestion that she pretend reluctant curiosity seemed to be working like a charm, though Miranda remained uncertain whether she could believe anything Captain Vale told her. A man didn’t suddenly decide to become ruthless and heartless, and it seemed that a milder sin like lying would come first and that he therefore would be proficient at it.
Something had sent him down this path, but she refused to feel any sympathy. If he were simply an injured party, then yes, she could empathize. But he had already made it clear that he meant to injure her, and that made him an enemy.
“What is the next soiree you attend?” Vale asked, finishing off his tea and sugared biscuit. At least he hadn’t mastered the art of reading minds, however much he might prefer to give that impression.
He had selected a very respectable establishment for luncheon, she had to admit, but then he was looking to acquire a respectable reputation—by stealing hers. “I would have to consult my appointment book,” she returned.
“Then I will accompany you back inside Harris House and you will tell me there.”
She cocked her head at him, half hoping he could see just how perturbed he made her. “If you were more pleasant and less threatening, you might find your pathway less full of ruts.”
“There are no ruts, my dear. There is only you digging in your heels. You know you have no recourse, so flail about if you choose to do so. You’ll lose.”
If this was the end of their more pleasant, informative conversation, she had no further reason to prolong the encounter. “The Darlington ball, then, day after tomorrow,” she stated. “Bully.”
“Speaking of bullies,” he said smoothly, “tell me more about Aden MacTaggert.”
A chill went down her fingers. “He likes to read, and he called on me this morning because I mentioned a book he hadn’t yet read.”
“Where did you mention this book to him?”
“At the Gaines soiree. I was being sarcastic when he asked if I knew of any books about English life, but I don’t think he realized it at the time.” There. She wondered if Aden had realized all those little seeds of information he’d planted in their earlier conversation would be so useful to her. She hoped so, because that made him exceedingly clever in addition to handsome and… aggravating. Miranda pulled the ties of her reticule back over her wrist. “You’re becoming intolerable, so please see me home.”
“Smile when you speak to me. We’re falling in love, after all.”
She would sooner fall in love with a toad, but she smiled anyway. For every smile he ordered her to show, she would find a way to stab him in his nonexistent heart.Perhaps she was mad to put any faith at all in Aden MacTaggert and his so-called assistance, but at this moment she clung to the idea of having a partner in this, of not being so very alone and on her own.
Since Aden had said he needed information, she’d gotten as much as she could for him. Now, though, if this encounter continued much longer she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t begin either vomiting or, worse, punching this vulture in his beak of a nose. Miranda deepened her smile at that pleasant thought. “Take me home, please.”
Captain Vale smiled back at her, the expression going nowhere near his amber-brown eyes. “As you wish.” Standing, he walked around behind her to hold her chair. “I do hope you’ll permit me to call on you again,” he said, loudly enough for the diners at the neighboring tables to hear.
