Page 38 of The Bastard's Iberian Bride
Chapter 8
Lord Agruen.
Mr. Gibson said something to Agruen, inciting the sardonic smile that signaled Agruen was up to no good.
The abominable trickster. The malignant teller of tales. The thief.
So she would not have to go to London to findhim.She could take up her unfinished business right here.
Lord Hackwell led her over to him, into the cloud of his nauseating odor, part perfume, part something noxious.
“Miss Heardwyn, so happy to see you again,” Agruen said. “The lady and I have met at Cransdall, as a matter of fact. And I understand the old man finally keeled over. My condolences on the loss of your guardian, Miss Heardwyn.”
“Ah, there is Grey,” Lord Hackwell said.
A man tottered in on a cane he was far too young to need. Where one of his arms should have been, his sleeve had been folded and pinned.
“Gibson,” Lord Hackwell said.
Mr. Gibson set his feet moving. He swung by the boy, Thomas, and urged him over to assist the maimed man.
Agruen’s low chuckle unnerved her. “Hackwell. Dinner with your steward, a child, and the child’s crippled tutor? One would think we were in America.”
Lord Hackwell smiled. “Grey, aheroof Waterloo, is missing an arm and part of a foot, but his brain is a lively one, and his hearing is perfect. And I must say, Agruen, all of our male guests are the direct progeny of exalted earls, well, except for Grey. And, of course, yourself. We shall give you credit though for being the grandson of a marquess. Will you excuse me?” He bowed to Paulette and walked off.
Agruen chuckled. “Well, I’ve been put in my place.” His gaze swept over her. “But the progeny of earls? I smell juicy gossip, Miss Heardwyn. You must fill me in.”
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Was your father a younger son, then?” He was of course, and she knew it. He’d mentioned it during one of their walks in the garden at Cransdall. Both his uncle and his cousin had fortuitously died, bequeathing him the marquisate. His wife had died also, soon after receiving her coronet and bestowing her dowry.
His look became shrewd. “I suppose Shaldon has settled some money upon you?”
A chill went up her spine. Agruen’s wife was gone and he might be seeking a replacement, and surely a big purse would be required. “I am still as poor as a church mouse. Come, everyone is going into dinner.”
Bink lookeddown at the berries ladled with sauce on his plate. He really had no appetite. Listening to Agruen converse with his hostess and Lord Tepping had reminded him how tedious polite conversation was, all gloves-on one-upmanship. Worse had been the tense, silent interplay between Agruen and Paulette. Agruen was looking for an opening to attack, and just as assuredly, Paulette was parrying him without saying a word.
That business Bakeley had talked about was still between them.
“You look glum,” Thomas whispered. “Do you not like her then?”
Bink cast the boy a quelling look. “How is your Latin coming along?”
Thomas’s lips went through a series of movements that in other circumstances would have made Bink laugh. They finally settled into a disgusted line.
Across the table from Bink, Grey watched his charge with a neutral expression, finally catching the boy’s eye.
“I am doing well, sir,” Thomas said.
Miss Heardwyn, seated across from Thomas, leaned forward. “Do you enjoy it?”
To her left, Agruen sniggered. “Who could possibly enjoy Latin, right, boy? Miss Heardwyn, if you had been educated, you would know that.”
The ass. Seating Paulette next to Agruen was not a good thing. The man had all but insulted her when she’d entered the room earlier. He’d been very close to getting a taste of Bink’s knuckles.
Now Miss Heardwyn colored deeply. Her eyes flashed a warning of Iberian retribution and she dropped her gaze, drawing a shade on the war going on inside her.
Lady Hackwell’s chat with Lord Tepping went quiet.
Was Paulette educated?Like most genteel ladies, probably not. He’d been running so hard from the idea of marrying her, he’d also avoided all routine polite conversation. He knew a lot about her circumstances, but very little about her. Certainly she acted the lady. Someone had trained her that much.
