Page 13 of Lady Controversial
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Miss Crawley said, looking flustered for the first time since Ellery had made her acquaintance. She had stood up to Ellery, giving as good as she got up until that point. Her sister was obviously a trial to her, possibly even an embarrassment. Ellery already had Jane pegged as a habitual flirt and despite her beauty he had not much cared for the view.
The elder Miss Crawley on the other hand, he found intriguing.
‘No apology is necessary,’ Ellery replied, resuming his seat. ‘But I am somewhat surprised, if you do not mind my mentioning the fact, that your sister did not seem concerned about your injuries. Indeed, she didn’t even remark upon that large lump on the side of your head, and she could hardly not have noticed it.’
‘Thank you for reminding me that I look a sight,’ she replied, absently picking up a strand of her tangled hair and running it through her fingers.
Ellery was filled with a need to take that strand from her and run it through his own fingers, then perhaps run those fingers down the side of her face. His body began to respond once more. This was ridiculous! What had come over him he was at a loss to fathom. ‘I am at least attempting to show a little sympathy,’ he said softly.
Miss Crawley looked flustered by the compliment. ‘Thank you, but Jane is used to seeing me look a fright. I don’t suppose she even noticed, given that you commanded all her attention.’
‘It’s quite untrue, you know—insofar as your looking a fright at this moment is concerned.’
She dipped her head to acknowledge the compliment. ‘There is no need for gallantry. We are not in a ballroom now. Anyway, Jane is gone and we shall not be interrupted again. It will take her an hour to perfect her appearance and I am perfectly sure that your business will not keep you here for that length of time.’
‘I am detaining you from something important?’
She canted her head for the second time within the space of a few minutes. ‘It is more a case of my keeping you from your own myriad duties. I am perfectly sure that you have a great many responsibilities clamouring for your attention.’
‘None that cannot wait.’ He lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. ‘There have to be some advantages to being an earl.’
‘I am sure there are a very great many.’ She leaned forward and fixed him with her full attention. ‘Now, you mentioned something about Lord Brooke before Jane interrupted us. Presumably you are acquainted, and I have no objection to your knowing that he was a close friend of Papa’s. I know him fairly well myself.’ She hesitated and her cheeks flooded with colour. ‘I dare say you are also aware that it was Lord Brooke to whom Papa lost his estate in a card game, which is why you find us living in comparative poverty.’
Ellery frowned. ‘And yet the friend you are so closely acquainted with didn’t see fit to secure your future and that of your sister?’
She bridled at the suggestion. ‘We are not Lord Brooke’s responsibility.’ Ellery wondered if he had imagined the suggestion of a shudder. Possibly, since he most definitely didn’t want this most unorthodox and fascinating of creatures to be taken in by such an unconscionable rogue. ‘However, in accordance with Papa’s wishes he kindly agreed to make provision for us.’
Ellery permitted his gaze to roam around the shabby kitchen—little more than a scullery—and made no comment.
‘Of course I will not accept his charity.’ The steel underlying Miss Crawley’s tone assured her of his complete attention. Not that there had been much chance of her having lost it. ‘I can quite see how that might look to the uninformed.’
‘Excuse me, but your aunt does not see fit to take you in?’
‘Why all the questions?’ She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Clearly you came here with the intention of asking me about Lord Brooke. May I know why?’
This interview was not going the way that Ellery had anticipated, and from the outset he hadn’t felt as though he was in charge of it. The females in his family, his mother in particular, created difficulties and argued with him constantly but never went so far as to question his authority. The few conversations that he couldn’t avoid with unmarried females who were not his relatives were boringly predictable in that the ladies concerned showed a uniformed eagerness to agree with every word he spoke, and to answer his every question with a fluttering of lashes and artful deployment of fans.
Not so the engaging Miss Crawley.
‘You say that you are well acquainted with Brooke?’
She huffed. ‘Do you always answer a question with another question?’
Ellery chuckled. ‘Are you always so forthright?’
‘I don’t suppose you are accustomed to being gainsaid.’ She offered up a reluctant smile that lit up her compelling eyes, indicative of a lively sense of humour and mischievous disposition. ‘Well, of course you are not, but I am in an invidious position. You must see that.’ She widened her eyes and fiddled with the spoon that rested in her saucer. ‘I have the welfare of my sister to consider.’
‘To say nothing of your own.’
She waved that suggestion aside. ‘I can take care of myself. I have this cottage, which won’t seem like much to you but to me it is a haven that I will eventually make habitable.’ She lifted her chin and sent him a look of firm determination. ‘Just you see if I do not. Once Jane is safely married, I can take a position as…well, something. I am well educated and have certainly had plenty of opportunity to prepare a young lady for presentation.’ She glanced at the door through which her sister had just disappeared but Ellery was unable to interpret her expression. That was another new experience for him. Ordinarily, he had no difficulty in guessing the nature of a young lady’s thoughts. ‘I shall do very well alone.’
‘If your sister marries, then surely you will reside with her.’
Miss Crawley shook her head decisively. ‘When my sister marries my responsibility for her will end and I will be free to do as I choose.’ She paused. ‘And I most emphatically shall not choose to live with her. I prefer my independence.’ She flapped a hand, almost as though dismissing a protest he had not voiced, despite the fact that he’d wanted to. ‘Oh, I realise that is not fashionable and I will be looked upon as an object of pity, but I shall not mind what others think of me.’
The more time Ellery spent in Miss Crawley’s company, the more facets of her engaging personality became apparent to him, as did her natural elegance, her lively wit and a sense of style that belied her humble surroundings. How a female dressed in such an unorthodox manner could be said to have style was a mystery to Ellery, but the fact remained that she fascinated him in a way that left him anxious to learn everything there was to know about her—and to protect her from the danger that she was unaware she faced.
He ought to tell her. He should put her on her guard against her father’s unscrupulous friend. But would she believe him? She clearly wasn’t the type to take anyone’s word at face value; not even that of an earl whom she did not know and had no reason to trust.
