Page 4 of The Lady's Last Mistake
“I was inspecting the lady for a worrisome mole, that is all,” he replied. “Who are you hiding from?”
“None of your business.”
“Are you in any trouble?” He considered that she might have been trying to escape an overly amorous man. He took a few steps toward the door. But stopped. What was he going to do, charge out there and confront someone who could then place him in a room, alone, with the unmarried young woman? His blood went to ice at the thought. He’d worked too hard to avoid any situation like that.
“I’ll only be in trouble if I’m found in here with you,” she replied, echoing his own thoughts a little too well.
He gestured toward the locked door. “Then you should leave. Immediately.”
Cassie only lifted her chin and stalked toward the fireplace. A few logs had been burning when he and Lady Brookfield had come in, the room selected by some secret knowledge the lady had possessed. The thought occurred tohim that she’d arranged for this room in advance. The lusty minx.
“I rather thinkyoushould leave, sir.” Cassie speared him with a glare over her shoulder. “Unless you are waiting to inspect another woman’s worrisome mole.”
“Why, do you have one you’d like me to take a look at?”
Suggestive and sarcastic remarks came naturally to him, and something about Cassandra Sinclair made delivering them so much more satisfying. Especially when she blushed and scowled at the same time.
“You are a disgrace. Lady Brookfield is awidow,” she hissed. “Have you no shame?”
“I am ashamed of many things.” He made his way toward the fireplace, enjoying the little steps she took to the side, to avoid him. As if proximity would make any difference. Should anyone come breaking through that locked door, it wouldn’t matter if he was on one side of the room, and she the other. She would still be compromised.
“Like how earlier, I had something in my teeth while I was speaking to Lady Dutton,” he said, tapping his front incisor. “Right here. Fleck of pepper, I think it was. Utterly embarrassing.”
Cassie stared flatly at him, unamused. Which only made him smile wider.
“Oh, come now, Lady Cassandra. I didn’t lure Lady Brookfield into this room to have my wicked way with her.Sheluredme.”
Cassie let out a high bark of laughter. “Oh, that is rich. You, sir, are a superficial rake.”
“Believe me or don’t, but I am telling the truth. Anothertruth is that you are hiding in here to escape some man’s attention.”
She hardened again, her arms crossing at her waist. A protective motion.
“A suitor?” he guessed.
She closed her eyes. “My brother would be ecstatic if I allowed it.”
Ah.The duke. “Fournier’s looking to fob you off then?“
Cassie opened her eyes. The sooty gray color of them suited her black look. “No one needs tofob me off. I am more than capable of seeing to my own independence, thank you.”
It was established knowledge that the duke’s sister had avowed herself to be forever unmarried, and for a little while, it had lit up the ton like a firecracker. No one could quite understand why she was so averse to marriage, and no one had really believed she would stick to her commitment. However, over the last few Seasons it had become increasingly evident that she was not moving from her position. The talk had faded, but the disappointment had not abated. To be young, gorgeous, wealthy, and devoted to a future of spinsterhood seemed unnatural to many.
While Grant knew why he would never take vows again, Cassie’s reasons mystified him. So much about her did. She was a harridan, to be sure, but not in any cold way. On the contrary, she was a flame. Erratic and opinionated, she had made it more than clear what her opinion was of him.
“Your own independence?” he repeated as he went to a table of cut crystal decanters. He poured himself a liberal amount of whisky. “You make it sound as if you don’t rely on the duke’s fortune.”
Every additional comment from his lips seemed to ignitemore of her wrath. It was for the best. The sooner she left this room in a blaze of annoyance, the better. Locked doors only kept out those without keys.
“It ismyfortune?—”
“The income of which is allotted to you by the duke. I know how it works, Cassandra. I’ve an income of my own, meted out by the marquess.”
Who had just threatened to sever it should Grant not find a woman by the first of the year to marry. His stomach clenched in instinctive revulsion and not a small amount of fury.
“Your situation and my own are not alike in the least, Lord Thornton.” The mossy green silk of her gown shimmered in the firelight, the flames casting a warm golden glow over her skin. The bodice was free of any lace to obscure her decolletage, and Grant forced his attention to lift from the pillowy mounds, now heaving with irritation.
“You’re correct, we are very different,” he said. “I actually do have an independent income of my own, considering I’m a physician.”
