Page 64 of Lady Controversial
He would get his wish.
It was fully light by the time she reached her destination. The cottage looked even more dilapidated without smoke coming from the chimney and with no sign of habitation. Undeterred, Isolda produced a key from her reticule and prepared to let herself in through the scullery door. She found the key unnecessary, since the door was already unlocked.
‘Ah, there you are, my dear,’ Brooke said, rising from the chair he occupied and executing an ironic bow. ‘What kept you?’
Ellery allowed his mother to think she had won their skirmish, and removed himself from her company the moment he had seen Isolda and her sister safely on their way back to the gatehouse. He retreated to his library, still scarce able to believe that Isolda had rejected his proposal.
Able to believe it all too easily.
She was probably one of the few available women of a certain age in the area who would have turned him down, he suspected, which is perhaps why he had suggested that particular solution to their joint problem. She seemed to think that his offer represented the ultimate sacrifice on his part. Ha! Little did she know. The connection between them that he had referred to burned like a wildfire through his system whenever he was in her presence. He had never known such a fierce, all-encompassing passion and taking such an individual, clever, principled and infuriatingly stubborn female for his wife would be anything but the actions of a martyr.
No matter. He would allow her time to ruminate and was convinced that come the morning she would see things his way. He would renew his proposal, she would accept him and their problems would be resolved.
With that thought in mind, he took himself off to his bed, ready to see what the following day threw at him. Determined to have his way. Determined in a manner that he hadn’t realised was possible. When something was worth having, it was most definitely worth fighting for, he now knew.
He awoke at first light and glanced out the window. The previous night’s rain had given way to a cold, crisp morning. Ellery wondered if Isolda was awake yet and how early he could reasonably call upon her. His dilemma was resolved in an unexpected manner when an hour later Lawson joined him in his library and told him that Isolda had been seen making her way on foot in the direction of Rose Cottage.
‘How long ago?’ Ellery demanded, jumping to his feet. ‘And why am I only hearing of it now?’
‘Before the dawn,’ Lawson replied, ‘and because I only just heard myself.’
‘Have Legacy saddled!’ he barked, making for the door at a run, wondering what the headstrong hussy thought she was playing at.
Having a fair idea.
‘She’s not going to get away with it,’ he told Legacy, as he swung into the saddle and cantered from his stable yard.
A moment’s reflection was all it took for Isolda’s heart to stop palpitating and for her to appreciate that Brooke being here ahead of her was a good thing. He was the one who had been kept waiting, wondering where she could possibly be. She knew this gave her an advantage, if only a fleeting one, but at least this way they could settle their business quickly, before Ellery discovered that she was missing from the gatehouse. He would know where to find her and his appearance would complicate everything, since his gentlemanly instincts would balk at her taking the necessary action to resolve both of their problems.
‘I am glad you are here,’ she said briskly, her tone designed to cover her fear of the man who now regarded her with an expression that combined amusement and raw desire. ‘We have business to discuss.’
‘I am glad you are willing to see reason, m’dear.’
‘Let me make one thing perfectly clear,’ Isolda replied, thinking it prudent to stand her ground from the word go. ‘I am not your dear and never will be. I am however willing to observe the formalities and at least pretend that we are both civilized members of society.’
He chuckled. ‘Still so spirited. What will it take to bring you down to size, I wonder?’
‘That is something you will never discover.’ Isolda took a chair as far away from his as possible, and pulled off her gloves. ‘You have got your way,’ she said scathingly, ‘and so I have a proposition for you.’
A repugnant smile crept over his face. ‘I am all ears.’
‘It is notthatsort of proposal. You repulse me and I want nothing to do with you as a man, let us be quite clear on that point also. However, I do want what’s best for Jane, which is my aunt’s patronage and no further scandal attaching to her name. I depend upon your friendship with my aunt, and whatever you hold over her, to ensure that she does not renege on her promise in that regard.’
‘What makes you suppose I have any hold over your aunt?’ he asked, leaning back in his chair and affecting a relaxed pose that was in direct variance to the tic that worked beneath his left eye. The man was not nearly as comfortable with this situation as he would have Isolda believe, and that knowledge gave her the necessary courage to press ahead when all she really wanted to do was hide from the world and think only of herself.
Not for the first time, she silently cursed the man she had always looked upon as her father for putting her in this position. For forcing her to look out for Jane for reasons that were still unclear to her. But a promise was a promise and Isolda would not renege on one freely given.
‘It is the way you operate, Lord Brooke.’ She folded her hands on the table in front of her, lacing her fingers together to disguise any signs of a tremor. ‘However, you now know my secret, so there seems little point in my denying it.’
‘You were magnificent!’ His eyes sparkled with lust. ‘How anyone could prefer your sister over your spirited and unorthodox behaviour is a mystery to me.’
‘Lord Brooke, please!’ Isolda tapped her fingers impatiently. ‘I realise that you require my services to make a success of your new venture.’
Her calm words shocked him into frowning and giving her his undivided attention, just as she had known that they would. He sat forward, his feet hitting the floor with a loud thump. ‘What do you know about that?’ he demanded.
‘More than you think. I couldn’t decide why you were so desperate to get your hands on this cottage, you see. I knew you better than to think you were motivated by a concern for our welfare and I also know you enquired of Papa’s lawyer as to the ownership of Rose Cottage. Then I learned of the grudge you bear Lord Finchdean and put the pieces together.’ She leaned forward over her steepled fingers. ‘So here is the deal I am prepared to strike with you. I will continue in my role as the masked swordsman in your employ, butI will not permit you or any other man to lay so much as a finger on me. And rest assured that I know how to defend myself against unwanted advances–even without a sword in my hand.’
‘We have a deal, my dear,’ he said, grinning, clearly still unable to accept that she was more than a match for him.
