Forsters 04 - Romancing the Runaway (18 page)

Miranda hadn’t thought it possible for Nesbitt to pale any more than he already had, but this revelation proved her wrong. He was probably recalling all the secrets regarding his activities that Mr. Blake carried in his head, she surmised with considerable satisfaction.

“That’s very kind of Sir Darius,” Miranda said.

“We’re wasting time here.” Peacock spoke with the authoritative tone he used to bully his minions. He might just as well have saved his breath because with Gabe in the room there was only ever going to be one person in charge. He was her golden champion—magnificent, determined and totally out of her league. Intelligence gleamed from his beautiful brown eyes as he controlled his anger and made it work in his favour.

Absently he twisted the heavy ring on the third finger of his right hand. She’d once admired it and he’d shown it to her. The Forster crested was stamped in the gold and a diamond twinkled from the left segment. He told her that all the Forster males wore such a ring. Their father had commissioned them and each brother was presented with his when he went up to university, following in family tradition by attending the same college. His half brother Giles would be the last of the current generation to do so.

Just for one fleeting moment Miranda allowed herself to yearn for what could never be. Still, what harm could it do? No one knew what thoughts occupied her head. Besides, everyone else in this room was playing a part, pretending to be what they weren’t. Why shouldn’t she?

“I want you to quit this place at once, Lord Gabriel, and leave my ward in peace,” Peacock said, clutching his lapels as though the gesture might lend his demand more authority.

“Certainly, I shall be happy to oblige. I intend to return to London just as soon as you two have left and I have Nesbitt’s assurance that those accounts will be with Sir Darius by the end of next week.”

Peacock and Nesbitt shared another calculating glance, probably wondering why Gabe had capitulated so readily. Miranda tried to hide her disappointment. Of course he had to leave. His recent behaviour made explanations unnecessary. He wished to distance himself from her, she just hadn’t realised quite how urgently that desire had affected him. It shouldn’t matter to her.

It absolutely didn’t.

“We have a few matters of business to attend to,” Peacock said grudgingly. “We’ll be gone in a couple of days.”

“See that you are.” Gabe strode across to the bell cord and tugged. “See these people out, if you please,” he said when Mrs. Dalton answered it.

Chapter Eighteen

“Thank you, Jessie, you may leave us now,” Gabe said.

Jessie bobbed a curtsey and withdrew, closing the door quietly behind her.

“What the devil—”

“Why did you—”

They spoke at once and as abruptly stopped again.

“Forgive me,” Gabe said, grinding his jaw to keep his temper in check, “but I will have my say. I specifically asked you to think before you spoke. Why on earth did you imply that I’d despoiled you?”

“You might at least try to pretend gratitude,” Miranda replied, appearing to believe
she
had the right to be vexed with
him
.

“Gratitude? For being labelled a dishonourable cad?” He shook his head. “You have a strange notion of gratitude.”

“I know you think I’m completely without wits, but if you’d bothered to consult me before issuing orders like a general commanding his troops on a battlefield, you would know that I do actually have a brain in my head.”

“Then it’s unfortunate you choose this interview with your guardians as an opportunity not to use it.”

“Oh, this is impossible!” She stood up and flounced towards the window. Gabe had never seen her flounce before, and the elegance of the gesture briefly distracted him. She was compelling in all her moods, especially when she gave free vent to her capricious and engaging personality. But when she was angry and upset she was almost irresistible. Few women lost their tempers with him, mainly because they were more intent upon making an impression upon him. Miranda’s attitude was a refreshing change. It also kept him on his toes since if he said something she disagreed with, she wouldn’t scruple to let him know it. “I was trying to repay your kindness. I should have thought that would have been obvious, even to you.”

Gabe shook his head, sending his hair cascading across his eyes. Absently he pushed it aside and fixed her with a stern gaze. “Have the goodness to explain.”

With her back to him, she remained silent for a moment, staring out the window at the paddocks beyond. “I know how Mr. Peacock’s mind, such as it is, works. His only interest in me in pecuniary.” He slender shoulders lifted. “Well, that’s not surprising because all his interests centre round lining his own pockets. He came here with the intention of forcing me to marry his odious son so he could carry out his arsenic business without complaint from me, or interference from the local populace. When he found us here alone together and couldn’t bully you into leaving, I knew he would assume…well, what he did assume.”

“You thought I hadn’t anticipated his reaction?” Gabe asked, his temper cooling.

“Please allow me to finish.” She turned to face him, her cheeks a becoming shade of pink. “Must I remind you of your situation? Have you forgotten how high up you are on my friend’s list of eligible
partis?
”

“I am aware of my personal circumstance.” Gabe shook his head, trying to remain angry. It was a difficult ambition to achieve since he was being highly entertained by her skewered logic. “Pray continue.”

“Well, if you’d been found alone with Louisa in inappropriate circumstances—circumstances she would have gone to considerable trouble to contrive, I might add, much as it pains me to paint my friend’s character in such a poor light. However, were you to be unwise enough to fall into her trap, you can be sure an angry brother would have discovered you and required that you do the right thing by her.”

Gabe was unable to contain a ghost of a smile. “Perhaps now you understand why I spend so little time in the
ton.
”

“We have been far more than simply alone,” she said, her blush deepening, “and I knew Mr. Peacock would seize on that to try and force your hand. Presumably he thought I would co-operate with him because I harbour grandiose ambitions of becoming Lady Gabriel Forster, which of course I do not, and so I chose to gainsay him.” She offered him a glittering smile. “You see, I thought to save you from an unwanted entanglement, but there’s no need to thank me. It’s the least I could do to repay your kindness.”

“Unfortunately, you’ve saved me from no such thing. Those men are desperate, especially since I’ve asked to see the accounts for this place. They can’t afford to release the genuine ones and don’t have much time to manufacture fabrications. Instead, you’ve given them a legitimate reason to spread word that I’m living here with you alone—”

“Oh my goodness!” Miranda clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’ve landed you in a terrible fix. I was so angry, so determined to get the better of them, that I didn’t think it through properly.” She looked up at him, her eyes round with anguish. “What can we do to put matters right?”

Gabe tried very hard not to laugh, all anger forgotten. The silly goose really did think she’d done him a favour. “You obviously planned this but didn’t bother to acquaint me with your intentions first.”

“You’ve been avoiding me and so I couldn’t have told you, even if I’d wanted to.”

Damnation, she was upset because he’d been avoiding her. Not because he didn’t want to be with her, but because he did. Worse, he was no longer sure that he could control himself in her company. He sighed. Being noble was deuced overrated.

“I knew Peacock would make those accusations, which is why I had Jessie remain.”

“And say that she sleeps in my room, even though she doesn’t?”

“I confess, I didn’t know she planned to say that.” Gabe smiled at her. “It seems I’m not the only one intent on saving you from your own folly.”

“I don’t need your protection, Lord Gabriel.”

“I disagree. By your childish behaviour just now you’ve proven to me that you need me more than ever.”

“Well, of all the ungrateful, domineering—”

“I asked Jessie to stay precisely so that your reputation wouldn’t be called into question.”

“But I don’t give two figs what my guardians think of me!” No longer contrite, her eyes blazed. “What do I need to do to make you understand that?”

“You say that now, but you might change your mind in the fullness of time. Unfortunately, mud sticks. Your earlier confession could somehow become public knowledge and you
would
be compromised.” To say nothing of his own position. Gabe held up a hand to fend off the protest he could sense her formulating. “I know you don’t intend to marry but you do intend to run a business from the Wildes. It’s hard enough for a single woman to do that, especially in the field of horses that’s still thought of as a man’s preserve. If there’s scandal attaching to your name, then…”

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of it in that light.”

Gabe shook his head. Did she have the slightest notion how adorable she looked when she allowed her disappointment to show? The desire to comfort her was almost too much to bear.

“No,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back to prevent them from developing a mind of their own. “I didn’t suppose that you had.”

“Why didn’t you tell them we know what they plan to do, instead of agreeing to leave the district? Not that I expect you to stay, of course,” she added hastily. “Don’t think for one moment that I’m asking you to dally. You’ve already spent far longer here than was necessary.”

“I can’t leave you until I’m sure you’re safe from their conniving ways.”

“Humph, I’m not sure that will ever happen until I come of age.”

“Oh ye of little faith.” Gabe winked at her. “They have to do something quickly to force their arsenic scheme through, and by demanding the accounts I’ve now greatly reduced the time frame in which they can do it. They will either have to return to London and produce them, or set about blackening my name. There’s nothing they can do about the arsenic while I’m still here and they know it.”

“Thanks to you I’m well set up here now so you don’t need to remain. Anyone wishing to get to me will have to pass through the village. You’ve seen how it is there. Strangers stand out like a fox in a henhouse. The villagers like me and won’t allow anything bad to happen.”

Oh, if only it were that simple. “Nesbitt’s desperate. Peacock might give up the scheme but I’ll wager my fortune on Nesbitt not doing so.”

“You didn’t tell me Mr. Blake had been dismissed, or that Sir Darius had kindly taken up the cudgels on my behalf.”

“It seems there’s a lot we haven’t told one another,” he said softly. “What say you that we wipe the slate clean and be completely honest with one another from now on?”

“Yes, thank you. I’d feel more comfortable if I knew what you were thinking.”

Gabe suppressed a groan. If she knew what he was thinking at that very moment she’d be horrified or, knowing her character, intrigued. She was standing at the window again and he walked up behind her. She turned as he reached her position, somehow their bodies collided and she finished up in his arms. He tightened them around her waist and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Gabe noticed the remnants of a cobweb buried in one of her curls.

“What have you been doing?” he asked, pulling the offending web away and showing her the evidence.

“Cleaning out one of the attics. It’s full of things that must have been there for a hundred years. A lot of my mother’s possessions are amongst them. I don’t suppose my father could bear to look at them. I mean to have everything brought down so I can sort through it at my leisure. I hadn’t realised that the attics set aside for the servants only form a small part of that upper floor. I might eventually use the rest for…well, for something.”

“A nursery?”

“Hardly that, but it seems silly to waste the space.”

She was chattering, a sure sign that she was nervous. Gabe held her and allowed her to run on, trying very hard indeed to be sensible.
Sensible
would require him to release her from his embrace, of course, and he wasn’t ready to do anything quite that extreme. He still couldn’t get over the way she’d so willingly sacrificed her own reputation in a desire to protect his. His heart swelled, as did other parts of his anatomy, and releasing her was now out of the question. If ever a lady had deserved to be thoroughly kissed, it was the one he held in his arms.

But not here.

“Let’s take a walk,” he said. “Fetch your cloak and meet me in the stable yard in ten minutes.”

*

Miranda blinked her way back to consciousness. She had been so sure that Gabe was about to kiss her. Now he just wanted to take a walk. She felt disgruntled, thinking she’d earned a kiss after going to such trouble on his behalf. At least he was willing to be alone with her again, which was a minor victory.

She might as well make the most of it since he was becoming impatient to leave. She could scarce blame him for that, but he seemed to think he could fix her problems before he went. Just like that. That was what came of being born into a position of money and privilege. Gabe was accustomed to being deferred to and getting his way in all things. Since nothing seemed beyond him, perhaps he actually would find a way to put paid to her guardians’ scheme once and for all.

But she really didn’t see how.

Miranda grabbed her bonnet and cloak and was in the yard before Gabe appeared. As soon as he arrived they set off at a brisk pace.

“I’d like to walk the perimeter that abuts Banks’s land, if you’re in agreement.”

“Certainly.” She threw a stick for Tobias. He woofed and gambolled after it in an ungainly lope. “May I ask why?”

“I’ve not taken a close look at it yet.”

“There’s no need to worry about infiltration from that area, if that’s your concern. The fencing is secure because it was important that none of our stock roamed onto land with mine shafts. That was Mr. Banks’s responsibility. He’s a good neighbour and wasn’t negligent in his duty.”

“Even so, if the mine is no longer in operation, then the fences might have fallen into disrepair.”

“Possibly, but we won’t be able to cover it all on foot. It goes on for too long.”

That proved to be the case, but the areas they did manage to see apparently met with Gabe’s satisfaction.

“I’ll ride the entire length of the perimeter tomorrow, just to be sure.”

“Anyone could climb the fence,” she pointed out. “It isn’t exactly high.”

“Yes, but anyone intent on abducting you would require transportation to spirit you away before you were missed.”

Miranda shuddered. “No one would dare to abduct me.”

“Really?” Gabe quirked a brow. “Just as they wouldn’t dare lock you in your room and half-starve you?”

“That was different. I’m on home territory now.”

“There’s a thin dividing line between courage and recklessness, Miss Cantrell.”

Their gazes clashed. “But sometimes I enjoy being reckless,” she said softly, slowly drowning in his fathomless eyes. “What fun would there be in life in one didn’t take the occasional risk?”

Miranda sensed Gabe was fighting some sort of inner battle. He sighed but didn’t respond. Instead he took her arm and turned her towards a thicket.

“What’s this place?” he asked, nodding towards a rickety cottage just inside the line of trees.

“When Papa was alive we used to come to this woodsman’s hut all the time,” she said with a wistful sigh. “We’d bring a picnic and sit inside, just the two of us, talking, watching the wildlife, the birds. It was unoccupied and became our special place. Sometimes we came at night just to look at the stars.” She opened the door and gasped. “Nothing’s changed and it’s spotlessly clean. That must be Dalton’s work.”

“Very likely.”

The walls of the small cabin felt as though they were closing in on her when Gabe walked into it behind her and closed the door. He dominated the space with his musculature, and it felt as though there wasn’t enough air for them both to breathe. When he flashed a wicked smile, pure predatory male, she was sure of it. It made her entire body heat and the fizzing reach boiling point.

“You might be willing to compromise your reputation,” he said softly, pulling her into his arms, “but I’m not prepared to let you make that sacrifice.”

Miranda gulped. “You’re not?”

“Absolutely not.” His lips twitched. “Not even in a noble attempt to protect me.”

“I must remember to tell Louisa that you don’t care about your reputation and enjoy being in compromising situations with ladies you barely know.”