Page 11 of The Baron Takes a Bet
“To inspect your house.”
“I already told you, it’s fine.”
“And yet, I don’t believe you.”
“Well, perhaps you should trust people more.”
“You are not people,Lady Bairnsdale.” The use of that title made her uncomfortable. She swallowed again. “You are someone who I don’t trust in the least.”
His honesty unnerved her, but she couldn’t deny his reasoning. She didn’t trust him either, even if John had believed him a suitable husband for her. Oh,whathad John been thinking?
“That may be, but I will have you know something. I won’t be bullied into doing as you say simply because a piece of paper states that you should have some sort of power over me. Do you understand?”
He clicked his tongue, and Holly inhaled a waft of lemony mint again.
“Of course,” he said, and she exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The tense pain in her shoulders throbbed as she nodded at him, turning to leave the room when he softly added, “…my lady.”
The inflection in his voice caused her to pause momentarily, but she recovered quickly and continued out the door into the hallway.
Heaven help her.
Chapter Four
The baroness andher siblings returned to Felton Manor that evening, leaving Gavin alone to inspect and explore Kingston House in uninterrupted silence. It was just as well, as he was adjusting to the idea of being married.
Married. What a preposterous thing his uncle had done.
While he hadn’t been exceptionally pleased with the idea of marriage at first, against his will as it so happened, there was something intriguing about it. Gavin had rarely even considered the idea of marriage before, but now he approached it as if it were some rare specimen.
Once during a voyage down the eastern coast of the Southern Americas, Gavin had encountered a naturalist, Dr. Herman Pike, who was in search of new flora and fauna to study. He had been a calm, if rather dull older gentleman, until he began to speak about his passion on plants. Gavin had assisted him during an exhibition and found similarities between himself and the doctor, particularly how they met with surprises. He was approaching this marriage much the way Dr. Pike approached a new plant. It wasn’t exactly frightening, and it certainly didn’t make him upset, but more curious than anything else.
Uncle John apparently had very little faith in him to fulfill his promises to Holly and her family. Well, they’d see about that, he thought as he climbed the wooden staircase within Kingston House.
Contemplative, he toured the second-floor gallery. The portraits of family members long since dead stared down at him as he pondered about the wife he had been bequeathed. Gavin knew it wasn’t right to think of her in such a way, but he could hardly deny it. He had inherited her just as much as he had inherited Kingston House and while a small, inconsequential part of him seemed quite taken with the idea, he needed to remember that it was an outrageous scenario.
Holly Smyth didn’t belong to him, and he didn’t belong to anyone. Gavin had always been deliberately untethered. Certain of his own uncertainty and aware that the only thing that seemed to be guaranteed in life was being alone, which he hadn’t ever considered a bad thing. It simply was what it was.
Still, it gave him a perverse, if surprising amount of pleasure to pretend that Holly could belong to him, even if only for a little while.
Pushing the obstinate thoughts from his mind, he returned his attention to Kingston House. It was a stylish home, well-kept and remarkably tasteful for a man known throughout London society as an eccentric. Uncle John had been a dandy in his younger days, but it seemed that his love for overtly furnished rooms and large, colorful pieces hadn’t spilled over into his country estate. Gavin knew that the London home was ostentatiously covered in gold-pressed wallpaper, tulipwood furnishings, and crimson velvet fabrics. From the window drapes to the ornate carpets, the furnishings at Bairnsdale Terrace were dripping with intricate designs, clashing colors, and tastelessly expensive styles. Gavin had only been there once, but when he visited, it had felt like he had fallen into a pirate’s chest.
Kingston House wasn’t nearly as gauche. The walls were surprisingly simple, painted with various pastel shades and decorated with tasteful paintings, mostly depicting men andwomen in country settings. It was strange that a man could have such contradictory tastes. But then that might explain Holly.
Patience would eventually reveal Holly’s true nature. She didn’t initially appear to be some sort of conniving social climber, eager to take all she could from a dying man, yet she wasn’t a meek country miss, haplessly going about life either. She seemed to fall somewhere in between, logical enough to understand her dire situation but genuine enough not to want to take advantage of a friend.
She was a bit of a conundrum, and he was baffled that someone so seemingly reasonable and attractive should still be unwed. Well, not any longer—but it made him wonder why no other nearby man had proposed to her. Perhaps the burden of her family had scared off other suitors. Though with her rational mind, striking blue eyes, and oddly soothing velvet voice, Gavin was confused as to why anyone wouldn’t be willing to pay a king’s ransom to be with her. But maybe the situation at Felton Manor was more calamitous than she let on. Either way, he wished to inspect the house she currently resided in and headed out to do so the very next day.
Gavin knew she had been lying about the state of Felton Manor, but he was still surprised at what he found as his horse came over the crest of the hill, some five miles north from Kingston House. To his horror, a massive oak tree was leaning against the large, square, grey stone house. Though it was spring, the leaves on the fallen tree were brown and still clinging to the branches, giving Gavin the impression that it had been at least six months since the tree had come down and yet it hadn’t been removed.
What in the hell was going on?
Why hadn’t Holly had it taken down? Had his uncle known about this? She hadn’t spent the winter here, living in such conditions, had she? The image of her huddled next to afire suddenly flashed in his mind and unnerved him. Not just because Holly was now under his protection, but as a decent human being. Why hadn’t she sought out any help?
Climbing off his horse, Gavin stalked across the gravel drive towards the front door and knocked rapidly. When no one opened the door, he tried again. He was contemplating shouldering the door open by force when it finally opened, revealing a wide-eyed Miss Katrina.
“Lord Bairnsdale,” she said, curtsying slightly behind the partially open wooden door. “Um, uh… Can I help you?”
“May I come in?”
