He rose and offered his hand. "There's a drawing room just through here. Much more comfortable for serious conversation."
Harriet glanced at Sebastian, who had gone very still.
"Lord Vane can join us, if you prefer," Davies added, his voice perfectly pleasant. "Though I suspect he might find the business talk rather tedious."
"I wouldn't dream of boring Lord Vane with our financial difficulties." Harriet took Davies's hand and rose. "I'm sure he can find some way to entertain himself."
Sebastian's expression flickered, hurt, maybe, or anger, quickly suppressed. "Of course. I'll be in the library, should you need me."
"I'm sure that won't be necessary." Davies smiled, all charm and confidence. "Lady Harriet is in excellent hands."
He led her from the dining room, leaving Sebastian alone with the remnants of dinner and whatever thoughts were churning behind his careful mask.
CHAPTER SIX
"Now then," he said. "Shall we discuss the matter that brought you here?"
The drawing room was smaller than Harriet had expected, intimate, with a fire crackling in the grate and comfortable chairs arranged before it. Davies poured two glasses of sherry and handed her one before settling into the chair across from her.
"Please."
"Your family owes me nearly eight thousand pounds. A considerable sum, as I'm sure you're aware."
"I am aware, my lord. That's why I'm here."
"And what exactly are you proposing?" Davies swirled his sherry, watching her over the rim. "I presume you haven't come all this way simply to acknowledge the debt."
"I've come to negotiate. To see if we might reach some arrangement that satisfies us both."
"What sort of arrangement?"
Harriet took a breath, organising her thoughts.
"Extended payment terms, perhaps. Or a partial settlement now, with a guarantee of full payment once the estate's finances stabilise. We've recently discovered some potential assets that may significantly improve our situation."
"Potential assets?"
"Mining rights. Coal, possibly. It's being investigated."
"Possibly." Davies's smile was knowing. "That's rather a lot of uncertainty for a man owed eight thousand pounds."
"It's also rather a lot of potential profit, should the surveys prove promising."
"True." Davies set down his glass and leaned forward. "But I'm a practical man, Lady Harriet. I deal in certainties, notpossibilities. And the certain fact is that your family owes me money it cannot pay."
"Which is why I'm here. To find another way."
"Yes. Another way." Davies's eyes held hers, something calculating in their blue depths. "I've been thinking about that. About what you might offer that would be worth more to me than eight thousand pounds."
Harriet's stomach tightened. "And what have you concluded?"
"That there is, in fact, something you could offer. Something I want rather badly."
"Which is?"
Davies rose and moved to stand before the fireplace, his back to her. When he turned, his expression was serious, the first time she had seen him without his mask of charming affability.
"I am three and thirty years old," he said. "I have wealth, properties and great influence. What I do not have is a wife."
