‘One of them knocked it over, yes.’
‘Then I shall replace it with a new one.’
‘No!’ she exclaimed. Then she spoke more quietly. ‘No, my lord. I want no reminder whatsoever of tonight’s happenings.’
Or of you,she might as well have added. She was looking at his green velvet coat, and only then did he rememberthat earlier, some flighty female had threaded her scarlet hair ribbons through its buttonholes in return for a kiss. Miss Summerby probably guessed they resulted from some frivolous game and her disapproval should mean nothing to him, yet once again he was struck by the defiance in those amazing green eyes of hers. He realised too that her tight-bodiced pink dress was cut low and the moonlight was gleaming on the swell of her small but shapely breasts, though he guessed she would hate him for noticing that.
He said levelly, ‘I have made my apologies. I will make sure such an intrusion does not happen again.’
‘Spare me your apologies.’ She spoke wearily now. ‘Anyway, they are pointless, since not only your friends but the whole town appears to have turned against me. You’ll tell me, of course, that it’s my own fault for having the presumption to express my hostility to you. You’ll also remind me I was even more foolish to take part in the protest in town, when you were forced to come to my rescue.’
‘Nobody forced me to do anything! I helped you because you were in obvious difficulties. But you have made several unwise assumptions since arriving in the district, chiefly about me.’
‘Yes! Yes, so foolish of me!’ Her small hands were clenched. ‘After all, who am I, to doubt the honour of an earl?’
That was the moment when yet another firework exploded, and it was the loudest of the lot. Dan saw her take a step back before she stumbled and bit back a low cry. Instinctively he moved to support her. ‘You are hurt. What happened?’
He held her firmly round her waist, because otherwise he guessed she would have fallen. He felt the warmth of her as well as the fragility; he inhaled the faint scent of lavender on her skin, and he was reminded also of her damn obstinacy, because although her face was white with pain, she was already trying to break free of his grasp.
Reluctantly he let her go, but when she put her weight on her right foot, she closed her eyes in fresh pain, and this time she didn’t refuse when he helped her hobble over to the bench. She lowered herself to sit, wincing as she did so, then she said defiantly, ‘I sprained my ankle earlier. That’s all.’
That’s all?‘Was it the fault of my guests?’
‘Not directly. I moved carelessly and did the damage myself. I don’t know, my lord, why you are here or what you can possibly have to say, so please—just leave!’
He thought,she hates me.She hated most men, he guessed, and that was why her Season had failed, but even with that warning in mind, holding her even for a brief stretch of time had alerted all his basest male instincts and sent a rush of desire through his veins. She was a totally disturbing mixture of vulnerability and downright courage, and he had never met anyone who unsettled him so.
‘I shall only leave,’ he said, ‘if you’ll first allow me to get you safely into your house.’
‘I’m quite capable of doing so without your help.’ She gazed up at him defiantly. ‘But before you go, my lord, it might interest you to know that I am thinking of selling Clematis Villa and moving elsewhere.’
‘That’s impossible!’ His strong reaction was genuine. He sat beside her on the bench, not too close because he was still disturbed by that moment of physical intimacy, and said, ‘Listen, although I knew your aunt only briefly, it was clear that she held you most fondly in her thoughts, and I believe it was her dearest wish for you to take care of her home after she died.’
She was shaking her head in distress. ‘No. No, I cannot live here in isolation!’
‘You have problems indeed, but some have been of your own creation. Whether you like it or not, the general public are not going to take the side of an unknown newcomer against an Earl.’
‘Of course,’ she said bitterly. ‘Stupid of me.’
Instead of meeting his gaze she was staring into the distance, and he wondered, wherever would she go if she did leave? Back to London? But she’d hated it there! He said, ‘If you sell up, what will you do next?’
‘I haven’t decided yet. Even if I had, it’s hardly your business, my lord. Is it?’
He felt ridiculously angry. He told himself,she has brought all this on herself.But she looked so damned lonely!
He heaved in a breath. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I have acknowledged that my guests behaved badly and I have apologised. Did you not hear me? I’m asking you to think again—’
He broke off because she’d risen from the bench a little unsteadily. ‘Did you not hearme, when I said that what I did was none of your business? Are you going now, my lord? Your guests will be missing you. Especially,’ she added, ‘your female friends.’
He stood up too and towered over her, feeling angry, frustrated and lost for words. Then he uttered something so unexpected that he could hardly believe it himself. ‘I would like,’ he said, ‘to offer you my help, Miss Summerby.’
Afterwards, for the life of him, he couldn’t think why he’d said that. He told himself it must have been something about her defiance that prompted it, or that pink dress, or the moonlight on her hair. He pressed on quickly. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘is my offer, and I make it for your aunt’s sake as well as yours, because I believe you would be letting her down if you left. I think we should at least appear to have sorted out our differences and this is my idea. If you and I are seen in public together—’
‘What?’
‘If we are seen in public together, if we are seen to have replaced our hostility with polite cordiality, then you might find that your situation rapidly improves.’
‘Polite cordiality?’ Her eyes widened. ‘Is this a jest?’
