Page 40 of Sense and Suitability
There was nothing natural about it. Gentlewomen didn’t pursue thieves as a rule.
“And what areyoudoing here, Lord Ravenscross?” Her arched brow and the challenge in her voice nearly made him smile—blast her for that. He had been resolute in his plan to avoid her, to keep a safe distance, and now here she was, drenched, defiant, and entirely too tempting. He would not weaken to this attraction. He couldn’t. And encouraging any banter was a very bad idea.
“I live here,” he said simply, folding his arms as if to underscore the point.
Those hazel eyes rounded in an unnervingly attractive way. “Oh.”
Some of her confidence dwindled with her posture. Was she so disappointed to have run into him? And no wonder, with his brusquemanner in the Ruthtons’ library. But he had to. For his own sake as well as hers.
Forcing himself to remain detached, he watched as her gaze shifted to the looming gray edifice of Ravenscross, its stone walls spiraling against the moody sky. “So that is the famed Ravenscross?”
“Infamous, more like,” he muttered under his breath, following her gaze to the house. With the recent history behind those walls and the current state of the place, fame sounded like much too grand a word.
Lottie’s movement to his left caught his attention, as she attempted to disappear back into the woods. At his steady glare, she froze in place.
So Lottie had been caught by the esteemed Miss Lockhart in the act of stealing... chickens, and then Emme had followed the girl all the way to Ravenscross to nearly meet her doom in the pond?
Of course. He almost shrugged in ludicrous resignation. Why not?
His life was a madhouse.
Utterly.
And he was beginning to lose his own senses right along with everyone else.
“It’s even better than I imagined it to be.” Emme turned back to him as her body gave a shiver. “Older homes retain such character, don’t they? Such... mystery. It’s one of the small disappointments Father and I express over the older buildings in St. Groves being torn down in favor of more modern options.”
She clipped her lips closed as if she hadn’t meant to relax into conversation. But she couldn’t help herself, could she? Her heart was much too generous, and he didn’t need to tempt her forgiveness any more than he needed to tempt his own desires. If she turned her affections back on him after all he’d done, he might very well give up everything to secure a future with her.
But what sort of future could it be? He had nothing.
And his siblings needed him to keep practicality as a primary motivator.
But she made it so difficult. She swept into his life so unexpectedly, bringing light into the dark places of his heart he didn’t even realize he’d had and bathing it with some kind of gentle touch he kept craving over and over.
A desire he’d been attempting to squelch for nearly two years.
And was nigh impossible when she kept showing up in all her loveliness and wit and... hope.
Hope for what might have been.
He took another step back from her as another shudder trembled over her body.
“You’re shivering,” he said abruptly. “We should get you to the house. Can you manage the walk?”
“To go inside your home?” She straightened her spine, her gaze slipping back to Ravenscross, before turning back to him. “Of... of course.”
His lips twitched despite himself. “Whatever you’re expecting, Miss Lockhart, I assure you, you’ll be disappointed.”
“Miss Lockhart?” Lottie’s small voice broke the moment as she inched closer, glancing between Simon and Emme. “You’reMiss Lockhart?”
Heat climbed Simon’s neck. How much had Lottie overheard during his discreet discussions with their parents regarding proposing to Emme? Too much, if her expression was anything to go by.
Her eavesdropping was as notorious as her thievery.
“Well, I’m one of them.” Emme’s brow creased a little, and she glanced at Simon before turning back to Lottie. “I have a younger sister.”
Before Lottie could press further, Simon cut in. “Charlotte, collect Cleopatra and go to the house with your brother. I’ll bring Zeus. LetMrs. Patterson know to set out some of Arianna’s clothes for Miss Lockhart.”
