Page 15 of Lady Controversial
‘Returning to the question of Lord Brooke’s luck at the tables.’ Isolda sat forward and pinned him with a look. ‘That is something that I would dearly love to discuss with you. You say that Papa missed his opportunity to question his lordship’s honesty, yet if Lord Brooke has been accused by others, presumably after the event, surely that implies…’
‘It implies, if the allegations prove to be founded, that he has a pressing need to acquire property in this district and isn’t too worried how he goes about achieving that ambition.’
Isolda closed her eyes and threw her head back, trying to make sense of Lord Finchdean’s cryptic comment. ‘As the principal landowner in the area, I can see why that would be of concern to you,’ she said, opening her eyes again, wondering if they had a common vested interest in getting to the bottom of Lord Brooke’s machinations. It would explain his reasons for calling upon her. Isolda knew she would never have been able to best Lord Brooke alone, even if she had suspected his motives, but a man with the earl’s influence could achieve anything he set his mind to.
‘Quite.’
‘Papa’s estate is not ten miles from here,’ Isolda said, tapping the forefinger of her right hand against her teeth. Lord Finchdean’s allegations, if that’s what they amounted to, had caused a raft of unpleasant possibilities regarding Lord Brooke’s conduct to filter through her mind. He was a man who behaved impeccably but whose company she had always found uncomfortable for reasons she’d been unable to fathom. ‘But I still do not see…’
‘There are other, smaller properties, that he has also acquired locally thanks to his luck at the gaming tables—luck that has held for so long that it has aroused the suspicions now dogging Brooke’s footsteps. He has been watched more closely before the accusations of cheating were voiced by several independent witnesses, but he is too practised to be easily caught out. Cheats are always wary of discovery, and that would have put him on his guard. He is defending his position most rigorously now that he is openly suspected, and the chances are that no one will be able to prove he did anything underhand. Be that as it may, everyone will avoid sitting down at a card table with him from this point onwards and no more fat pigeons will make easy targets of themselves.’
‘Like my father?’
His expression softened. ‘Like your father, who had every reason to trust the man, since he considered him to be a friend.’
‘His being suspect now is hardly satisfactory insofar as his previous victims are concerned.’ Isolda waved a hand in a state of considerable agitation. ‘Oh, I know Papa should have had more sense than to wager so much, but even so, the idea that he was duped by a man he trusted and called friend is very hard to digest. It is beyond infuriating too. However, it is done and I must decide what, if anything, I am supposed to do about it. It is not as if I can accuse him of acquiring Papa’s estate illegally.’
‘I am more concerned about your tenure in this property.’
‘This place?’ Isolda shrugged, at a loss to understand. Brutus had fallen asleep at her feet and she absently reached down to smooth his back, wincing when a pain shot through her arm. ‘It does not form a part of the estate, despite what you think. It’s an old, tenanted cottage that Mama inherited, I believe. Papa allowed it to fall into disrepair when the tenant died because he didn’t have the will or the funds to restore it.’
‘Even if you are right about its origins, it became your father’s property when he married your mother.’
Isolda twitched her nose. ‘I am fairly sure that Lord Brooke does not know of its existence.’
Lord Finchdean’s eyebrows disappeared beneath his hairline. ‘But then again, perhaps he does. Your aunt knows where to find you and I have heard that she and Brooke are intimately acquainted. Perhaps that is why he offered to take you in. I happen to know that he wants to get his grasping hands on this place.’
‘Why would he want this? He has my father’s entire estate,’ Isolda asked.
‘Simply because it is there,’ the earl replied. ‘Greed has no boundaries for some men.’
‘But he did not get his wish. It would have been unseemly, given that we are both unmarried. I am beyond marriageable age of course…’ Isolda broke off and sent the earl a look of mild concern. ‘Are you quite well?’ she asked. ‘You appear to be choking.’
The earl waved her concerns aside. ‘It is obvious to me that you are destined to become an ape leader,’ he remarked, clearly amused at the prospect.
‘I am glad you find my situation so diverting. Be assured that I am perfectly content with my circumstances, at least insofar as my spinsterhood is concerned. Only my sister yearns for undying love and marriage. I am far more sensible.’
‘You have something against the married state, Miss Crawley?’
‘Nothing whatsoever, if the parties are compatible.’ She sent him a challenging look. ‘But how often does that situation arise?’
He responded with a casual shrug that told Isolda a great deal.
‘I dare say you will be expected to marry someone suitable who will not denigrate your honourable family name as opposed to following your heart. That is what I cannot make Jane comprehend. The possibility of her being swept off her feet by a knight in shining armour who can also keep the entire family off the bread line is remote to the point of being too far-fetched to be plausible.’
‘Such cynicism in one so young,’ he said, a smile playing about his lips as he shook his head at her.
‘Not so very young.’
‘Ah, excuse me. I had forgotten for a moment that you were such a crone.’
Isolda laughed and gently punched his arm. ‘Stop teasing me.’ She took a deep breath, aware that she had been on the point of flirting with the highly engaging earl. That realisation brought her to her senses. Isolda most emphatically did not make a point of flirting with anyone. She left that sort of behaviour to Jane, who excelled at it. ‘Returning to the subject of Lord Brooke…’
‘If we must.’
‘I had no desire to live beneath his roof. Fortunately, Jane did not get to hear of the proposition, otherwise she would have plagued me to accept it. She admires Lord Brooke, you see, and he her, which is why I would have declined the offer, even if it had been a practical solution. They would not suit and it would be amésallianceof epic proportions.’ Isolda shuddered. ‘Now that you have opened my eyes to Lord Brooke’s true character, I congratulate myself upon always having held him at arm’s length without knowing what it was about him that offended my sensibilities.’
Lord Finchdean nodded his approval. ‘Very sensible, but I must disagree with you, at least insofar as Brooke not being aware of this cottage’s existence is concerned.’
