He snorted. “Rubbish.”
She gave him that sexy smile that Monty had approved of. “My stomach then?”
Any other man might have laughed, or at the very least, have had his lust provoked, but not this one. If looks could kill—was she getting to him? Or had she just gone too far? But then he mumbled, “Brazen,” and looked away.
She had to choke back a laugh.Hewas suddenly behaving like a debutante. It made her wonder if he’d ever come to London during a high Season when he was young, or had he been too heartsick over his first lost love to do anything so festive? But he had risked his heart a second time, only to be thwarted by his father again. She would love to have the rumors confirmed by him, not that she actually doubted them, since it certainly explained his refusal to marry—and why he now hated his father.
But she held her tongue, remembering Monty’s warning that that particular subject could incite Daniel’s rage and that would ruin any progress she was making. If she was making any. Bloody hell, he certainly wasn’t giving any clues one way or the other.
But to his accusation of being brazen, she grinned and pointed out, “We’re two peas in a pod, aren’t we?”
“We’re nothing alike. You are daft to see any similarities between us.”
“Well, it’s true I am not rude, at least not intentionally—not that I really mind your being that way, if you haven’t noticed. As for being bold, on the other hand, you might agree, I’ve got you matched there.” And then she sighed. “You know, you really should take advantage of my eagerness to marry you while you can. Should your father disown you before the wedding, I’m afraid my mother will withdraw her approval of you.”
“Your eagerness makes you rather pathetic,” he said, cutting her to the quick, then confidently added, “There won’t be any disowning.”
She feigned incredulity. “D’you really not know how close you are to that very thing happening? You may think you can continue to defy your family indefinitely, but I was told confidentially that this is your last year to do your duty to the family—that is, according to your mother,” she thought to add.
He deserved that, and it did turn his blasé tone acrimonious. “He’s threatened again and again to disown me, but he never will. I’m his only son.”
He seemed very confident of that, which might be why she wasn’t making any progress with him. So she gambled with the information Monty had given her, saying candidly, “Actually—you aren’t.”
He snorted. “He wouldn’t recognize my bastards, why would he recognize his own?” And then with more certainty, “He wouldn’t!”
She shrugged. “Maybe not. But you do have a couple of male cousins, don’t you? You are merely the preferred choice, not his last resort, Daniel.”
She felt a deep satisfaction when a smidgen of uncertainty showed up in his expression. Which was a good time to use another of Monty’s lessons. She turned away from him, told her mother she was returning to her seat, and left the lobby.
Chapter Forty-three
THE NEXT MORNING AFTERbreakfast Vanessa set out in the coach to visit the stable that was for sale. The Scots led the way, riding ahead of the vehicle. When they were a block away from her mother’s house, she heard a thump, the door opened, and Monty slipped inside.
“Where are we going?” he asked as he sat down on the cushioned bench across from her.
Vanessa was too surprised to answer. He had actually made a running jump to get in the coach as it moved down the street! The Scots probably hadn’t seen him do it. One or both of the two footmen on the perch might have, since the coach did rock a little from Monty’s antics, but they must have recognized him.
And just as she’d feared would happen when she saw him again, she was assailed by nervousness, which made her tongue sharp. “I wonder about your sanity. You could have gotten hurt doing that.”
“I recently vaulted over a high garden wall, a little coach step was nothing.”
“What if my mother were with me?”
“I know exactly where the rest of your family is. The countess is guarding her chicks. She’s not about to leave them alone in the parlor with so many young men visiting. And she also has to oversee preparations for her dinner party tonight, which, alas, I won’t be attending, but Charley will happily take part. Does she even know you’re running away?”
“Did you notice any trunks atop this vehicle?” she rejoined.
“I think if you ran, you wouldn’t take them.” And then with a very warm smile, he asked, “How are you, sweetheart? Miss me?”
“I might have noticed your absence yesterday,” she said, trying to sound aloof. “I assumed you didn’t have enough strength to get out of bed.”
He laughed and pulled her across the way right onto his lap. “Why are you wounding me?”
Why indeed? And her main concern, that he would ignore her after bedding her, had been answered. Obviously no. But intimacy in a coach in the bright light of day was much too risky when one of the MacCabes might fall back to tell her something through the window.
She tried to get off his lap, but he held fast, so she distracted him by mentioning, “Donnan is taking me to a stable that’s for sale not far from London.”
“You mean to buy it for that breeding farm you told me you want to start?”
