Page 11 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
“Even if I had my eye on it,” he replied simply.
“If you did, you should have said something.”
“I am saying something now.”
She had to work to keep her upper lip from curling, and she could feel everyone watching her. “I…” She clenched her jaw and sat back down. “My apologies, I should have asked first.”
“No need to apologize,” he said with such casualness that only Alison could see through the sarcasm. “In truth, if I had wanted it, I should have acted sooner. How are you to know without being able to read my mind?”
She found herself glaring at him. “It is not about reading minds. Etiquette specifies that you, the guest, have first claim to whatever you wish. Just because I barged in like a baboon does not give me the right to take as I pleased.”
“Etiquette has nothing to do with it,” he continued. “I have always believed in first come, first served. What is that old expression? Possession is nine-tenths of ownership.”
“And that final tenth? Perhaps before you try and possess something that does not belong to you, it would be wise to find out the true owner.”
“But there is no true owner,” he shot back. “So long as a thing is unattended, it belongs to nobody. Hence, first come, first served. So please…” He indicated to the plate of lamb. “I insist that you take your fill.”
“I do not want it.”
“You did a moment ago.”
“That was until I realized my mistake.” She was speaking through gritted teeth, glaring at the Earl who spoke calmly and rationally in a way that drove her insane. “I admit to my mistake, even if I did not mean to make one.”
“And here I was, thinking you might simply wait until I wasn’t looking, only to steal the plate of meat from me and run for the hills.”
“I did not run –” Alison caught her tongue, suddenly aware that the table was silent and every pair of eyes were upon her and the Earl.
She forced a smile, and then feeble laughter. It did little to break the tension, and she dared to look at her mother whose mouth was hanging open. And then Lord Pemberton, who looked furious.
“I am sorry…” She looked down and spoke into her chest. “I should not have…” She grimaced, hating that she had to apologize. “I should not have taken what wasn’t mine.”
“So long as you know it,” the Earl said.
Alison spent the rest of the dinner in silence.
She glowered. She snarled. She gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw. But she said nothing, wishing that for once her family would do as they always did and act as if she did not exist.
While the Earl did not speak to her again, she could sense him every now and then looking at her. And when he did, she had no doubt it was done with apt pleasure. An apology, forced from her lips, and she had no choice but to give it.
I might have been sorry once, but now I could not be further from such feelings of remorse! He is… insufferable. And wrong! And he needs to know it.
So it was that Alison came up with a plan.
She was far too stubborn for her own good, and for that reason she refused to let this little spat lie.It might smart of me to do so,she knew, but I would not be able to live with myself if I do not get in the final word.
The Earl would admit what he did. He would apologize to her. And only then would Alison be able to remove him from her thoughts, so she never had to think about him again.
Or so she told herself… it was just easier that way.
“Excuse me!” Alison shouted after the Earl. “Lord Grayhill!”
It was later in the evening, and Alison was doing something stupid. Something that deep down she knew she should not have been doing. Something that had she given herself time to stop and consider, she certainly would have realized this and made smarter decisions.
But she didn’t wish to make smart decisions. She was angry at what happened over supper. She was furious that Lord Grayhill had gotten the better of the situation. And despite just how foolish this all was, she was determined to make him admit what he did.
So it was that once she was dismissed from supper she hurried to her room and changed into a heavy winter’s cloak and more comfortable shoes. Then she sneaked downstairs and waited by the back door. There she listened until she heard her mother andLord Pemberton bidding the Earl farewell. And once she was certain he stepped outside, she acted.
Through the back garden she hurried, cloak pulled in tight to keep herself from shaking because it was so cold that she could feel her bones freezing. She made her way around the side of the manor, down the path which cut between the two estates, and soon found herself bursting from the hedges just in time to see the Earl strolling casually toward his own property.
