“Is that not what you do?” “No,” he said.
She felt a frown settling onto her face as she studied him. He looked neither abashed nor proud, and somehow the cynicism of his expression embarrassed her. “No, of course not.” She laughed to hide her awkwardness. “I am not a simpleton. Of course it is not your profession to rescue damsels and antiquities. But then, what exactly is it that you do . . . do?”
She waited for him to answer, to offer some reasonable explanation, but he was silent.
“Oh.” She stood again. “You are a villain?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps to some. Up until seven years ago, I worked for the Raven. I hunted treasures for him, and he paid me well for it.”
She was silent for a moment as she absorbed his words. Had he too kidnapped unsuspecting women in their nightclothes? If he’d taken sacred antiquities and sold them to the highest bidder rather than putting them in a museum where they belonged, why not kidnap helpless women?
But he’d said, “up until seven years ago.” She held her breath, hoping he’d add that seven years ago he’d had a change of heart and given up hunting antiques for profit. She hoped he’d say that yet somehow knew he wouldn’t.
“Ever since then I’ve hunted treasure on my own, hiring myself out to clients who are collectors. People who will pay a great deal for me to find their antiquity of choice.”
She forced herself to slow her thinking, give him the benefit of the doubt. She knew better than anyone what it was like to be judged and unfairly deemed guilty.
Perhaps he had needed the money, and it had been the only way. There weren’t very many opportunities for aristocratic gentlemen to acquire funds if their families were lacking. Then again, his estate had seemed the home of a rather lucrative family.
“Esme?”
She ignored him. He certainly didn’t appear to be a villain. Never had he shown her anything but kindness. He had rescued her, although he most certainly hadn’t been there for that purpose. And ever since then he had protected her as well as her small family.
Satisfied with her own justification for his behavior, she turned to him. “I’m certain you have your reasons.”
“I have earned a lot of money,” he said flatly, as if determined to argue with her exoneration.
“Money is not everything.”
“No,” he said forcefully, “but it is the only thing that will keep you in your house and put food on the table. Money, Esme, not mythical boxes or books.”
His words pierced her already worn defenses. He didn’t understand her at all. Foolishly she’d hoped he’d be different from other men, had hoped he would appreciate her. Then it occurred to her. He was telling her all of this on purpose, strategically placing a barrier between them. Her lustful advances had gone too far and become, for him, a burden. “Why are you still here with me?” she asked.
“I have to uncover how to get that bloody thing off your wrist and put it and the other bracelets back in the box before I deliver it to Solomon’s.”
She felt her nostrils flair. “In other words, I am nothing but an inconvenience. And you are nothing more than a bounty hunter?”
“If you wish to perceive me as such.” His tone was cavalier. But something crossed over his eyes. Something dark and haunted, as if this entire matter was far more serious than just stolen antiquities and acquiring a fortune. Something deeper and more painful. He’d said something about needing money for a house and food. Perhaps he hadn’t always been this wealthy.
Her heart shifted, and as much as she wanted to think poorly of him, as much as she wanted to be angry, her anger would not come.
She sighed heavily. “Then tell me who it is I should see when I look at you.”
His jaw was tight.
He obviously didn’t want to tell her, but perhaps if she prodded him. “Being a viscount, I should think your family coffers would have afforded you a nice living, but perhaps your family fell on a difficult time?”
He came to his feet. “Don’t be so naive, Esme. There are aristocrats all over this country who have no fortune to go with their blue blood.” He turned away from her then and stepped over to the door. “I’m going out. I won’t be back for several hours.” And with that he disappeared into the hall.
Her stomach clenched. That had not gone well at all. His life was none of her concern. It wasn’t his fault they were embroiled in this mess together. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked him so many questions.
In wanting to touch that hidden part of him, she might have pushed him too far.
The opened windows overlooked a lush garden. Butterflies fluttered from one brightly colored flower to the next. Birds chirped happily. Such a peaceful contrast to how she was currently feeling.
Fielding obviously didn’t believe she could help with their current predicament; in fact, she suspected he believed she made it worse. He didn’t appreciate her knowledge about the box or her books on the subject. And to make matters worse, her knowledge and her books hadn’t exactly answered any of their questions.
But she could prove to him she had more to offer. Show him her value. That she was a worthy partner.
