“Noted.”
Xander took the opportunity to drag me down the hall and into a study. The decor was aged and there were the remnantsof water damage underneath the window. But he’d clearly made progress with the space. The floor had been repaired and the wall was patched in a few places.
He all but shoved me into a seat beside the fire, then took the matching dark leather chair. “You’re unharmed?”
“Yes.”Physically.“I’m entirely unharmed.”
“Because Mr. Summers looks quite worse for wear.”
“I’m fine, Xander. Truly. So is he.”
“Good. Then I have to ask again, what the bleeding hell were you thinking? Do you know how worried I’ve been? How worried Celine has been? The letter came by express two days ago. I’ve been positively sick!” Xander’s hands twisted into frustrated knots in front of him.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I just—I thought I could help. Ki—Mr. Summers solves all of our problems. You have a problem, and he was sure to have a solution.”
“So you kidnapped him?” His tone had shifted to incredulous.
“It’s abduction, actually, when it’s an adult.”
“Dav…”
“Well, I didn’t want to tell him about you and Mr. Grayson until I was sure he wouldn’t be wretched about it. And if I had told him I wanted to take him to Scotland without explanation or a chaperone, he wouldn’t have agreed. Andabductionis a strong term. He came more or less willingly.”
“It’s a felony.”
“I let him pack before we left, Xand. It was hardly a crack job.”
“Christ… And since you so helpfully pointed out that you were unchaperoned with the man for days, perhaps you’d like to explain to me why I shouldn’t have him waiting for you at the end of an aisle.”
“Nothing happened,” I lied.
“I find that very difficult to believe.” His overgrown brow was furrowed in an attempt at solemnity. It wasn’t particularly ineffectual.
“It didn’t! K—Mr. Summers was the perfect gentleman.”
“Oh, I very much believe that. It’s you I don’t believe.”
“There was one incident with a game of hazard in an inn. But I wasn’t compromised.”Then.
“Davina…”
“You know I have no interest in marriage.”
“If you could be with child that’s not really relevant?—”
“I’m not,” I rushed to assure him, briefly grateful for Kit’s restraint.
“Fine, I will not drag you down the aisle. But if I discover that you are with child, I will force the issue.”
“And you won’t see Mr. Summers hanged?”
“No, I imagine several days in a carriage with you was more than enough punishment for the crime of not allowing you to get yourself killed. What did you do to him anyway? Why does he have stitches?”
A carriage accident was absolutely not the right answer. If Xander hadn’t noticed the Leighton crest on the carriage, I wasn’t about to point it out. “Well, there was also an incident with the weather…”
“The weather…” he repeated, wariness settling deep into his voice and frame.
“And the carriage…”
