Page 33 of Lady Audacious
She waved the suggestion aside. ‘He would have warned me about you if that was the case. Anyway, I have no need of your protection, so you have had a wasted journey. Be so good as to leave me in peace.’
‘You will be shamelessly exploited if you attempt to restore this house without a man to watch out for your interests. No one you deal with will take you seriously. At least allow me to provide that service with no expectation of reward, if only so that I may honour your father’s wishes.’
‘Thank you, but I am more than capable of taking care of myself.’ God alone knew, she thought, she’d had enough practice.
‘You think you are but you have absolutely no idea.’ He approached Odile and grasped her upper arm. ‘You dress like a man but you will never be mistaken for one.’
‘Let go of me!’ Odile pulled at her arm, but his grasp was too firm and she couldn’t shake it off. Instead, she stamped as hard as she could on his foot. The younger man on the roof called out and started making his way down his ladder. At the same time, the puppy barked and then ran up to Brigstock and sank her needle-sharp teeth into his calf. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to feel anything, implying that her small teeth had not penetrated the thick leather of his boots.
‘You need me,’ he hissed through gritted teeth, his face puce with rage. ‘Now stop being difficult and I am sure we can…’
A full-grown dog bounded up to them, growling, its hackles raised. Before Odile could gather her scattered wits and assess this latest development, she sensed a presence directly behind her shoulder.
‘The lady asked you to leave,’ the earl’s voice said in a mordant tone.
Reuben and Chase had risen early. When Reuben learned that the lost puppy hadn’t returned during the night, he felt increasingly concerned for her wellbeing and decided to search for her on foot. Convinced that some injury or other had prevented her from returning, he could be more thorough if he walked the land, looking in every possible nook. She would never make the grade as a racing dog, and there were many who would have accused him of sentimentality in spending time searching for her. Be that as it may, she was his responsibility and he wouldn’t let her suffer if it was within his power to help the little scrap.
He managed to convince himself that it was Chase, nose pressed to the ground, who led him towards Fox’s Reach, when there were so many other directions he could have taken. In actual fact, it presented him with a perfect excuse to call upon his new neighbour again, regardless of whether or not Willow had made her way there. Miss Aspen’s fierce determination to restore her house without any help filled Reuben with admiration and he was keen to see her succeed, even if that meant he would never own the property himself.
Reuben had only wanted to acquire the crumbling dwelling to please his mother, who’d declared it unsightly, and to extend the expanse of his own estate. Having someone new in the locality willing to put it back into a habitable state worked just as well.
He and Chase strode towards Miss Aspen’s land, keeping a weather eye out for the puppy. Reuben called to her every so often, but there was no response. The unusual new owner of Fox’s Reach had caught Reuben’s imagination on any number of levels, and not just because she seemed so indifferently inclined towards him as an earl, as a neighbour or as a man. That was a refreshing rarity and his pride would likely recover in time, he decided with a rueful grin.
There was something about her; something that transcended the qualities that Sarah would consider essential if a young woman was to have any chance of standing out from the crowd. Sarah would be devastated to learn that Miss Aspen’s lively disposition and stark determination to succeed had assured her of Reuben’s complete attention, regardless of her disinterest in society’s mores—and, worse, herfreckles.
Who was she? Where had she come from and who had left Fox’s Reach to her? Gaining answers to those questions were only some of the reasons why Reuben had decided to search for his missing puppy in this direction.
By the time they reached the stream, there was still no sign of the missing pup. Reuben glanced at Fox’s Reach as he waded through the shallow water and noticed activity on the roof. Good, she had got her priorities right, he thought. Or she would have if any work was actually being done. Instead, both men were staring down at something in the gardens. Reuben quickened his pace, causing water to slop over the top of his boots and soak his feet. He barely felt the discomfort, sensing that something was very wrong.
As he gained a foothold on Miss Aspen’s land, he could see the lady herself, being accosted by a man he didn’t recognise.
And Chase’s pup had attached herself to the man’s calf.
Wondering why Harris or the men on the roof hadn’t come to her aid, Reuben strode forward.
‘The lady asked you to leave,’ he said in a hard voice.
‘Who the devil are you?’ the man replied harshly, his eyes flashing with anger. ‘Go away. This is not your affair. The lady and I were settling a difference of opinion.’
‘We were not!’ Miss Aspen said with asperity, shaking her arm free from the man’s grasp. ‘This person is trespassing, so you might as well set your dog on him.’
‘Are you harmed?’ Reuben asked.
‘Hardly,’ she replied with asperity, her eyes shooting daggers of disapproval at her visitor.
‘Leave,’ Reuben said succinctly, ‘and don’t return, or it will be the worse for you.’ He beckoned the man who was halfway down the ladder from the roof, who had paused when he noticed Reuben approaching, as though unsure whether or not he would still be required to intercede. He damned well should have done so before now, but if he’d evicted the scoundrel it would have deprived Reuben of the opportunity to be of service to his compelling new neighbour. ‘See this person on his way and ensure that he doesn’t return,’ he ordered the man from the roof. ‘Feel free to use whatever force is necessary.’
‘All right, I shall leave.’ The man glowered at Reuben. ‘For now. Make the enquiries I suggested, Miss Aspen, and you will then be obliged to accept that I speak the truth and only have your best interests at heart.’
‘The truth?’ Miss Aspen, who looked momentarily pale and shaken, revived sufficiently to elevate her chin and regard him with a look of icy disdain. ‘I doubt if you would recognise the truth if it bit you as hard as this brave puppy just attempted to.’
‘M’lord,’ the roofing man said deferentially, clearly recognising Reuben. The intruder looked shocked when he realised whom he had just offended and turned to leave, shaking off the heavy hand that the roofer obligingly placed in the small of his back to help him on his way.
‘You are hurt,’ Reuben said, furious on her behalf when she rubbed her upper arm.
‘Thank you for helping me but I could have managed. Anyway, what are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘Two intruders in short order does not fill me with confidence. I shall have to fence off that river crossing as well as fortifying my front gate,’ she added, perhaps a little unfairly.
‘I came to ask if you had seen my lost puppy, but I can see that she has already made herself at home.’ He ruffled Willow’s ears as she slunk down on her belly beside her father, subservient, her tail no longer flapping. Reuben gently took Miss Aspen’s arm—the opposite one to that which the intruder had grasped and probably bruised. ‘Come and sit down until you are recovered. You have had a shock.’
