Ewan clasped his hands together behind his back. “There’s nothing to discuss. I thought I made myself clear in my last letter. I regret that you wasted your time traveling here.”
She lifted her chin even higher. “I came here to discuss the terms.”
He clenched his jaw. By God, this woman was stubborn. “There will be no terms. The Arabian is not for sale. Now if you’ll just—” He turned to escort her toward the door.
“He’smyhorse.” Her harsh voice seemed to crack against the wall of the room.
Ewan turned back toward her and gave her a patient smile. “On the contrary, he’s mine.”
She pulled so tightly on the strings to her reticule that Ewan was certain they would snap. “Why do you refuse to bargain?” she asked, doing her best to attempt a smile again. “You haven’t even heard my offer yet.”
Ewan crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side. He regarded her down the side of his nose. There was something commanding about this young woman’s presence. Something that made him want to hear what she said next. Even if the answer would always beno.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” he began, “but why is it thatyou’rehere to discuss the matter of the horse’s sale, instead of say, your brother or your father?”
“I do mind you asking,” she replied, blinking her long dark eyelashes at him. That false smile was still pinned to her face. “But the answer is, if I want something done correctly, I do it myself.”
“Is that so?” Ewan asked. No wonder the chit was still on the shelf. What sane man would want to deal with her demands and waspish temper?
“Indeed,” she replied, inclining her head to the side. “If I’d been allowed in that auction house to begin with the horse would already be mine.”
Ewan continued to watch her. He’d never known a young lady to be so certain of herself or so aggressive. Most of the young ladies of his acquaintance simpered and giggled into their handkerchiefs and feigned fainting. He was positive Lady Theodora hadn’t fainted once in her life. He had to know. “Lady Theodora, may I ask you a question?”
“Certainly,” she replied, her shoulders relaxing a hint. He could tell she was still trying to seem friendly in the hopes that he might still sell her the horse. She was sorely mistaken, but he’d take the false niceties as long as he could get them.
“Have you ever … fainted?” He narrowed his eyes on her.
She drew up her shoulders tight again. “Certainly not. Fainting is for simpering nitwits.”
He nodded, doing his best to hide his smile. “Somehow I knew you would say that.”
“Allow me to keep you from wasting anymore of your precious time, my lord, or mine,” she said next. She took a deep breath and her nostrils flared. “I know how much you paid for the horse. Surely you have regrets.”
His brows shot up. Well,thatcomment had certainly been direct. “Not one, actually,” he replied, grinning at her. He didn’t know what her game was, but she certainly wasn’t about to win her argument by telling him he’d been a fool for paying so much for the Arabian.
She narrowed her eyes on him. “No one’s haseverpaid that much for a horse.”
“They have now,” he replied simply.
“Even Pegasus, the son descended directly from of one of the original Arabians didn’t sell for that much at Tattersall’s two years ago,” she pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.
He eyed her carefully. “You seem to know quite a lot about horses and their prices.”
“Believe me, I do,” she replied. “I’ve studied the subject extensively. I’ve had my eye on the papers and auction prices for years. Ever since Alabaster was stolen from me.”
“Stolen?” Ewan’s brows shot up once again. “I hadn’t heard the horse had ever been stolen.”
She cleared her throat. “Well, perhaps he wasn’t officiallystolen, but my father took him from me and sold him to the Duke of Harlowe without my consent four years ago.”
Ewan refrained from pointing out that any horse of hers was hers at her father’s discretion. They both knew it. There was little need to say it. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said instead. “He’s a fine horse. But allow me not to waste anymore ofyourprecious time, my lady. I have no intention of selling the Arabian. There is no amount of money that would sway my decision.”
Her jaw momentarily dropped open. “What? Why, that’s unreasonable.”
Another patient smile. “I prefer to call it decisive.”
Panic sparked in her eyes. She glanced wildly around the room before saying, “What if I offered you double?”
Ewan arched a brow. “Double? Double what I paid at auction? Are you quite certain you’re aware of the amount?”
