Then he turned his attention to Stenfax and a sneer turned up his lip. “What the hell ishedoing here?”
Elise caught her breath as Stenfax took yet another step toward her. His face was stony now, but the slight twitch of his lip told her that he was getting very angry. She would have to manage this carefully or else she might end up with a dog fight in her parlor.
“Your Grace, I believe you know the Earl of Stenfax,” she said, trying desperately to make this a normal meeting in a normal parlor between two normal men. “My lord, my husband’s cousin, the new Duke of Kirkford.”
“We know each other,” Ambrose said, his tone heavy with disgust. “Andyouhaven’t answered my question, Elise. What the hell is he doing here?”
Stenfax’s hands fisted at his sides. “Her Grace has every right to keep company in her own home, I believe.”
“Myhome,” Ambrose corrected. “Which I allow her to reside in because of my good graces.”
Stenfax barked out a humorless laugh. “Your good graces are fully on display, I see.”
Ambrose’s brow wrinkled and it took him a moment to understand the jab. Elise marked the exact moment it became clear, for he scowled. “My cousin hasn’t even been dead a year and you’re here sniffing after his wife. She threw you over, man—how hard is it to get it through your skull?”
Stenfax stiffened and Elise stepped into the space between the men, reaching back to press a hand to Stenfax’s chest in the hopes it might keep him from lunging. She felt his heart rate increase when she touched him and ignored how her own did the same.
“Lord Stenfax is an old friend of my family,” she said softly. “He made a social call and I appreciated it. But he was just leaving.”
As she said the last, she turned slightly toward Lucien, sending him a look she hoped he would understand and accept. Once upon a time, he had been able to read her expressions. It seemed he still could, for his lips pressed even harder together and he shot her a look that could have frozen the Thames even in the depths of summer.
“I suppose we have concluded our business,” he said. “Good day, Your Grace.”
The hardness of his tone was like a knife to her heart. A moment before Ambrose interrupted, Lucien had seemed to soften a fraction. And he had tempted her with that softness to almost reveal the truth to him. To almost confess how she loved him and had never stopped loving him.
What a foolish act that would have been. She supposed she owed Ambrose a thank you.
“Good day, my lord,” she whispered as Stenfax strode from the room without so much as a goodbye for Ambrose.
Once he was gone, Ambrose let out a low chuckle. “He always was a lap dog for you.”
Elise let out her own humorless laugh. “I don’t think many would dare describe the Earl of Stenfax as anyone’s lap dog, Ambrose.”
He walked away from her, going to the sideboard to pour himself tea without taking her leave or even offering her a cup. “I’m going to ask you again, Elise.Why was he here?”
She clenched her hands behind her back. “It’s bad enough you just stride into my home whenever it pleases you. Can I not haveanyprivacy in my meetings?”
“You can once you’re gone,” he said, arching a brow as he made his point. “With yourinheritance, I’m certain you can afford a hovel of some kind. And you’re pretty enough to trade on your body to eat, I’m sure.”
She flinched at his plain talk, a reminder of where she stood in the world at present.
“You should have more gratitude, Elise.” He drew out the wordgratitudeas he set his cup down and moved toward her. “I’m a kind man to allow you to stay here when I could easily place you on your arse in the street.”
She swallowed hard. “Very kind, yes.”
“Are you certain you don’t have a way to repay my kindness?” he asked, reaching out a finger to trace the line of her arm.
Even though the heavy fabric of her mourning gown, Elise felt the pressure of his touch, and she shut her eyes and tried to keep calm. “Only with my words of thanks, Ambrose.”
He rolled his eyes and went back to her sideboard to shove a cake into his mouth. He didn’t finish chewing before he said, “I could think of better things to do with those lips. One day you’ll realize your position, Elise, and you’ll come around to my way of thinking on the subject.”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t think so,” she hissed.
He swallowed his food as his eyes narrowed on her. “On such a high horse, are you, you frigid bitch? Makes me wonder how my cousin caught you when you clearly hated him as much as you hate me.”
Elise pressed her lips together to remain silent on the subject.
He tilted his head. “You think I don’t know he had secrets? And he knew how to use them to get what he wanted. If I knew yours,Your Grace, would you open your legs to me, too?”
