declare it is too bad of you.”
“My apologies, Julia, but I was called out of town rather suddenly,” he said evenly. “You’re not acquainted with Lady Emma Beaumont, I believe.”
“Only by repute,” Lady Melrose said with a pointed stare in Emma’s direction. Her gray eyes were less than friendly as she bowed, and she gave another of her trilling laughs, managing to make it sound like an insult. “So tedious an arrangement for you both … in the circumstances,” she added, dropping her voice conspiratorially. “Not to mention how irksome for you, Lady Emma, to be burdenedwith a trustee. It must make you feel like a naive chit.”
“Watch your horses, Julia!” Alasdair said sharply. Lady Melrose had inadvertently dropped her hands, and her horses plunged forward.
She dragged them back with a heavy hand. “Such ill-schooled nags!”
“A poor workman always blames his tools,” Emma murmured, smiling sweetly.
Lady Melrose flushed and her mouth tightened. She turned deliberately to Alasdair and said in a honeyed, cajoling voice, “Alasdair, you will come to call soon, won’t you? I do so miss you when I don’t see you for a few days.” She pouted soulfully. “Tonight … I shall expect you tonight. Don’t fail me.”
Alasdair merely bowed again, but there was something in his eyes that shook Lady Melrose a little. She caught a glimpse of steel, something she had not seen before. She had been very sure of Alasdair Chase, sure enough to enjoy teasing him about the awkwardness of his present situation, sure enough to enjoy needling the woman who had jilted him, the woman whom she had no doubt he now detested. He had been her own lover for the last six months, and Lady Melrose was firmly of the opinion that she could twist him around her little finger. But that glimpse of steel was unnerving.
She returned the bow, said with the assumption of great good humor, “Good day, Lady Emma. I daresay we shall meet again about town. Now, don’t forget, Alasdair. I’m counting on you.” She shook the reins, flicked her whip, and set her horses in motion.
“Those horses must have the hardest mouths,” Emma declared, her horsewoman’s outrage for the moment overcoming her other reactions to Alasdair’slatest conquest. “The way she jabbed at them! Poor brutes.”
“She is cowhanded,” Alasdair agreed calmly, giving his own horses the office to start. “And she has the worst hands and seat imaginable on a horse. You’ll take the shine out of her the minute you show yourself in the park, driving or riding.”
“Take the shine out of her? I can’t imagine why I should wish to do anything so vulgar,” Emma said in frigid accents. “What could it possibly matter to me how Lady Melrose rides or drives … or indeed does anything else,” she added, and immediately regretted the furious addendum.
Alasdair looked at her, his expression once more sardonic. “Anything else? Whatever could you mean, my sweet? You aren’t by any chance suggesting …” He raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, if you think to put me out of countenance, Alasdair Chase, you will need to do better than that!” Emma said with asperity. “If you think I could possibly be snubbed by a philandering rake, you are very much mistaken, my friend.”
“Eh, steady on, now. A bit near the knuckle, we’re gettin’,” Jemmy was heard to mutter sotto voce from his perch. He had sat behind these two on countless occasions in what he considered the good old days, and he was accustomed to their volatile banter. But the bitter tone of this exchange was something new.
The observation went unanswered. Alasdair sighed deeply and said in a tone of mingled patience and exasperation, “I don’t know what you expected, Emma. Did you think I’d reached the age of twenty-four living like a monk?”
Emma struggled with the surge of angry disbelief. He still didn’t understand! “I had not expected you tobe emulating the duke of Clarence and Mrs.
“My apologies, Julia, but I was called out of town rather suddenly,” he said evenly. “You’re not acquainted with Lady Emma Beaumont, I believe.”
“Only by repute,” Lady Melrose said with a pointed stare in Emma’s direction. Her gray eyes were less than friendly as she bowed, and she gave another of her trilling laughs, managing to make it sound like an insult. “So tedious an arrangement for you both … in the circumstances,” she added, dropping her voice conspiratorially. “Not to mention how irksome for you, Lady Emma, to be burdenedwith a trustee. It must make you feel like a naive chit.”
“Watch your horses, Julia!” Alasdair said sharply. Lady Melrose had inadvertently dropped her hands, and her horses plunged forward.
She dragged them back with a heavy hand. “Such ill-schooled nags!”
“A poor workman always blames his tools,” Emma murmured, smiling sweetly.
Lady Melrose flushed and her mouth tightened. She turned deliberately to Alasdair and said in a honeyed, cajoling voice, “Alasdair, you will come to call soon, won’t you? I do so miss you when I don’t see you for a few days.” She pouted soulfully. “Tonight … I shall expect you tonight. Don’t fail me.”
Alasdair merely bowed again, but there was something in his eyes that shook Lady Melrose a little. She caught a glimpse of steel, something she had not seen before. She had been very sure of Alasdair Chase, sure enough to enjoy teasing him about the awkwardness of his present situation, sure enough to enjoy needling the woman who had jilted him, the woman whom she had no doubt he now detested. He had been her own lover for the last six months, and Lady Melrose was firmly of the opinion that she could twist him around her little finger. But that glimpse of steel was unnerving.
She returned the bow, said with the assumption of great good humor, “Good day, Lady Emma. I daresay we shall meet again about town. Now, don’t forget, Alasdair. I’m counting on you.” She shook the reins, flicked her whip, and set her horses in motion.
“Those horses must have the hardest mouths,” Emma declared, her horsewoman’s outrage for the moment overcoming her other reactions to Alasdair’slatest conquest. “The way she jabbed at them! Poor brutes.”
“She is cowhanded,” Alasdair agreed calmly, giving his own horses the office to start. “And she has the worst hands and seat imaginable on a horse. You’ll take the shine out of her the minute you show yourself in the park, driving or riding.”
“Take the shine out of her? I can’t imagine why I should wish to do anything so vulgar,” Emma said in frigid accents. “What could it possibly matter to me how Lady Melrose rides or drives … or indeed does anything else,” she added, and immediately regretted the furious addendum.
Alasdair looked at her, his expression once more sardonic. “Anything else? Whatever could you mean, my sweet? You aren’t by any chance suggesting …” He raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, if you think to put me out of countenance, Alasdair Chase, you will need to do better than that!” Emma said with asperity. “If you think I could possibly be snubbed by a philandering rake, you are very much mistaken, my friend.”
“Eh, steady on, now. A bit near the knuckle, we’re gettin’,” Jemmy was heard to mutter sotto voce from his perch. He had sat behind these two on countless occasions in what he considered the good old days, and he was accustomed to their volatile banter. But the bitter tone of this exchange was something new.
The observation went unanswered. Alasdair sighed deeply and said in a tone of mingled patience and exasperation, “I don’t know what you expected, Emma. Did you think I’d reached the age of twenty-four living like a monk?”
Emma struggled with the surge of angry disbelief. He still didn’t understand! “I had not expected you tobe emulating the duke of Clarence and Mrs.
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