Lady Allerton's Wager by Nicola Cornick

an urgent need to speak with Lady Allerton and I was afraid that I would have taken root to the spot by the time your butler saw fit to return!’ He turned to Beth and she recoiled slightly from the expression on his face. There was a furious light in his eyes and a very grim set to his jaw. The change from the attentive suitor of two nights before to this hard and angry man was almost impossible to believe.
    As she stared at him in bemusement, Marcus said silkily, ‘I am glad to find you at home, Lady Allerton, and not halfway to Devon to claim your ill-gotten gains! Will you grant me a private interview or must I rehearse my quarrel with you in front of your cousin and a host of servants? I have no difficulty in doing so, you understand, but Mrs Cavendish might find it somewhat distasteful…’
    Beth drew herself up. The reference to her ill-gotten gains puzzled her, for had Marcus not sent her the deeds of Fairhaven only that morning, and with a perfectly amicable note into the bargain? She wondered briefly if Carrick had been correct and Marcus was drunk, but it took only one glance to see that hewas stone cold sober. Sober but very angry. It was frightening.
    ‘I have no notion to what you refer, my lord,’ she said a little shakily, ‘nor have I any wish to hear your impertinent accusations! I think you must be either drunk or mad to speak like this, and I suggest that you return when your temper has cooled!’
    Justin caught Marcus’s arm. ‘Lady Allerton is in the right of it, old chap! Cool reason is better than hot heads! Let us retire for now—’
    Marcus ignored him. He crossed the room to Beth and stopped an unnerving foot away from her. She could see the anger and dislike clear in his face.
    ‘Well, ma’am?’ he challenged softly. ‘What is it to be? A private discussion or a public quarrel? The choice is entirely yours!’
    Beth heard Charlotte draw a protesting breath and saw Justin Trevithick move protectively to her cousin’s side.
    ‘Beg pardon, ma’am,’ she heard him say in an undertone. ‘Dreadful intrusion, I know, but there is no reasoning with him when he is like this. The Trevithick temper, you know. The old Earl was renowned for it…’
    Beth’s gaze flickered to Charlotte and back to the compelling anger in Marcus Trevithick’s face. She drew breath to give Marcus a blistering set-down, but Charlotte spoke first.
    ‘Beth dear, it does seem that the Earl has some pressing matter to discuss with you. Perhaps you could take him into the study, whilst Mr Trevithick stays here with me? Carrick, would you bring tea?’
    The prosaic suggestion seemed to restore some sense of normality. The tight rage lessened slightly inMarcus’s face and he walked over to the door and held it open for Beth with studious courtesy. Carrick moved away with his customary composed tread to fetch refreshments. Beth saw Justin take Charlotte’s hand and start to introduce himself formally, then the door closed behind them with a snap and she was alone in the hall with Marcus.
    ‘If you would step this way, my lord,’ she said, a little faintly, gesturing towards her book room, ‘I am sure that we can resolve this problem, whatever it may be…’
    The study faced south and had a warm fire burning. Earlier that morning Beth had taken the deeds to Fairhaven and placed them on the desk, intending to read them thoroughly in the evening. She had wanted to see Marcus first and talk to him about his gift. And now it seemed that she had the opportunity, but not exactly as she would have wished it…
    She saw Marcus’s gaze go to the pile of papers and saw a frown crease his forehead as though he wanted to snatch the deeds up and simply walk off with them. For a moment her mind was filled with the ludicrous picture of them tugging on opposite ends of the papers until they tore across and fluttered to the ground. And for what? She was still utterly confused about the nature of his quarrel with her.
    Marcus