The smile crept across Henry’s face before he could smother it. Miss Fairfax didn’t seem to like that and eyed him with suspicion and dislike.
“What are you laughing at, Lord Henry?” she asked, voice tight.
“I am not laughing. I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to offend you, Miss Fairfax. I am not one of those men who thinks that ladies have smaller brains and can somehow not handle the sight of blood or of long numbers. Really, it matters little to me whether I do business with you or your father.”
Miss Fairfax looked slightly mollified, but not much.
“Right. Well. I understand you have a large amount of capital to invest in our business. Are you able to access that money right away?”
“Oh, yes,” Henry lied. “I have a great many ideas to improve the business. It requires a lot of modernization, of course, not least of all…”
“I’ve already suggested modernization to my father,” she interrupted. “But perhaps he’ll be more inclined to listen to you. You are, after all, a man and a stranger.”
There was no ignoring the bitterness in her voice, simmering just beneath the surface. Henry shifted, beginning to feel uncomfortable.
“Miss Fairfax, let me be clear. I have no intention of stepping on your toes. I have no intention of stopping your father from listening to you, or accepting your help, or…”
“Accepting myhelp?” Miss Fairfax hissed, crossing the office in a trice and standing entirely too close to Henry for comfort. He found himself leaning backwards before the whirlwind of her anger, even though her head barely came up to his chin.
“I do not need yourhelp, Lord Henry. I have been running this business, as much as my father will allow without relinquishing more control, and I can truthfully say that if it were not for me, we may well have gone under years ago. I am a good businesswoman, Lord Henry, but since I am a woman, I have to fight for every suggestion to be heard. If I had my way, Lord Henry, I would not…”
“Let me guess,” he interrupted, recovering himself a little. “You would never stoop to enticing an investor? Would never accept capital from a spoiled little lord like me?”
She had the grace to blush. However, Miss Fairfax had auburn hair and pale skin, and Henry guessed that she blushed at most things.
“I didn’t say that,” she said, losing some of her anger. “But I would not take capital from you in particular, sir. We need an investor, but I think a more established businessman would be required.”
“You must know that an established businessman would not stand here and bandy words with the owner’s daughter, no matter how hard she worked to keep the business afloat.”
“If nobody will listen to me, then I will be obliged to make myself heard,” she said shortly. “I’ve gotten good at it.”
For a moment, they glared at each other, her tilting her head to look up, him peering down. Henry was not a tall man, butEleanor Fairfax could be no taller than five feet tall. In this light, her eyes were the most ethereal green he had ever seen. She hadn’t bothered with the discreet touches of powder and rouge some modern ladies favored, and her hair was slowly but surely coming undone around her temples.
As if sensing his gaze, she lifted her hand and tucked a few tendrils behind her ears. Some of the anger faded from her eyes.
“I… I should not have said all that,” she muttered, dropping her gaze. Henry let out a breath, not quite aware that he’d been holding it at all.
“I appreciate honesty, Miss Fairfax,” he murmured, but she wasn’t listening.
She turned, walking briskly over to the window. He suspected that she was trying to compose herself, before he said something else and she hurled a paperweight at his head.
Before another word could be exchanged, the door opened, and a breathless Mr. Fairfax appeared, smiling weakly.
“My apologies, the worker was quite chatty,” he said, for all the world as if Lord Henry and Miss Fairfax didn’t know that he’d spent the time slowly and painfully dragging himself up the stairs, not talking to anyone at all. The man glanced around the messy office and frowned.
“Oh, Eleanor, why did you bring Lord Henry in here? And where is the tea? Fetch some at once!”
Miss Fairfax wordlessly moved to obey, striding towards the exit. Without being asked, Henry stepped out of her way.
He suspected many people did that around Miss Fairfax. It was easier to just get out of her way, really.
Chapter Four
The Fairfax Estate
“We can cancel Aunt Florence’s visit, if you aren’t feeling up to it, Papa.” Eleanor suggested, and immediately knew that she’d said the wrong thing.
Charles bridled, drawing himself up where he sat in his armchair, fire crackling in front of him.
