Page 45 of To Treasure an Heiress
She stiffened under his heavy hands. “His employer is staying next door. My parents work for them, so they offered him a room.”
He sucked in a breath. “Your mum and dad work for the Tremaynes? Blimey, how did I not realize that?”
How indeed? She’d mentioned it often enough over the years. Had he paid no attention?
Or . . . wait, had she ever said their name? Or had she done as she always did and called them Mrs. T and Mamm-wynn T and Beth and Ollie, just that?
His hands on her shoulders softened a bit, massaging instead of just holding her down. His voice was low and soft, undoubtedly meant to reach only her ears and not his cousin’s. “Well now, that’s perfect. You’ll be able to help more than I dared to hope.” Louder he said, “Good to see you, Henry. And you’ve met my girl, clearly.”
His girl. A few weeks ago, she’d thrilled when she’d heard him call her that to another servant. Somehow, it felt very different now, with all this ugliness spilling out. And with Henry Ainsley staring them down.
“I asked you what you were doing here, Rory. Though I suspect I know, given that ‘ugly way of putting it.’”
There was something odd about his tone. Something she’d never heard in it before—a coolness, a reserve. Strange, because she would have told anyone who asked that Ainsley was always on the cool, reserved side. But his normal voice sounded downright tropical in comparison to his current one.
“Good to see you, too, cousin.” Rory chuckled and slid one of his hands down her back, resting it on her waist. No less an anchor but somehow more possessive. And not in a way she particularly liked. “Actually, I owe you quite a lot of thanks. If you weren’t such a stick-in-the-mud, I’d never have had this golden opportunity land in my lap.”
If possible, Ainsley’s spine went even straighter. He glanced momentarily to Senara.
She wondered what he saw. Did she look as undone by Rory’s arrival as she felt? Could he see in a glance all the guilt she bore when it came to him?
Putting on the playful mood she’d once loved, Rory gave her shoulder a squeeze, still laughing. As if they shared a joke. “Is it anywonder they couldn’t get information from him? Sealed up tighter than that sarcophagus his employer has on display. But that’s all right, old boy. Your reticence is my gain.”
Ainsley’s expression went utterly still. “Rory. What have you done?”
Rory laughed again. “What you hadn’t the gumption to do. They said they approached you first, back in May. Just wanting a bit of information about your employer, so as to make the best business deals possible with him. Harmless, Hank. You ought to have seen it was—but just becauseyoumissed the opportunity doesn’t meanI’mso dense.”
“They.” Ainsley took a step—one single step closer to his cousin. But it was a step so forceful that Rory stumbled back, pulling her with him. “The Scofields? What have you—you wouldn’t.Couldn’t. You don’t know anything of interest to them.”
Rory’s laugh sounded thin this time. “Theydidn’t realize that. All they knew was I’d spent Christmas with you. Two cousins, of an age.Of coursewe’re the best of friends. They’re happy to believe anything I tell them—and pay me handsomely for it too.”
Senara’s arms sagged to her sides. After all those years of flirtation, after an innocent stolen kiss last year, he’d finally focused his full attention on her this summer. Because, she’d thought, he loved her too.
But by that time, he’d already been in the Scofields’ pocket. Tears stung her eyes. He must have remembered where she was from, at the very least. He may have forgotten she had a direct association with the Tremaynes, but he’d clearly known something about what Beth had gotten involved in. Was that all this summer had ever been to him? Were all his words of affection empty?
Had she compromised everything she’d ever believed in for a rake who was just out to use her?
Ainsley took another menacing step. “What information? What have they asked you for? I told them in May that I had no interest in betraying Lord Sheridan’s trust.”
Rory finally stepped a bit to the side, though he kept that one armaround her waist. “I know you did. Probably even told his lordship that they approached you.”
“Of course I did. He had to know that the people he was doing business with weren’t above stooping to bribery.”
Rory raised a finger, grinning. “Or extortion. That’s why they came to me, you know. Not because they thought I’d know anything about Sheridan—because they assumed I’d know things aboutyou. Things that they could use against you to get what they needed about him, if it came to that.”
Ainsley didn’t take another step. But his hands curled into fists.
Senara sucked in a breath. “Rory. How could you?”
He rolled his eyes. “Relax, Nara. It isn’t as though I gave them anyrealweaknesses of his to exploit. Couldn’t—he hasn’t got any, you know. Pillar of virtue is Henry Ainsley.” His tone dripped mockery.
The breath she’d pulled in felt like a rock in her chest. She’d thought ... well, that the cousinswerefriends. That she ought to get to know Ainsley because he mattered to Rory. She’d come to admire this man she hoped would be her cousin soon, for every sterling quality Rory was now mocking.
She’d misjudged him so. Not Ainsley—Rory. How? How could she have been so blind?
A muscle in Ainsley’s jaw ticked in the light spilling through the kitchen windows. “What have you told them?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. Blimey, Hank, I wouldn’t put you in danger. I may want to make a few quid, but I’m not a monster. And really, you ought to be thanking me. Since they think they found a fount of information in me, it means they’re not pressing your mum, or mine. I’m a blightedhero.”
