Grayson sank back in his chair while Wortley gasped in astonishment.“But, how?When?She has not spoken to me of it.”
To avoid speculation concerning the sudden betrothal, Grayson lied easily.“It is an old engagement, arranged by our families when she was just an infant, and one that was kept secret until we were both sure of our feelings.”
Wortley looked stunned, but swallowed the tale whole.“Why, this is astonishing news, my lord,” he said, nodding as if he had decided that such a scheme could benefit him.“Puts quite a different light on things, I must say.”He smiled eagerly.
“I thought it would,” Grayson said, dryly.“So, you have no objections to the match between Lady Courtland and your nephew?”
The squire cleared his throat again.“Well, now, as I was saying, we haven’t the room for a new family at the house, but if you are going to provide a living for the two of them—”
“Their income need no longer be your concern, Squire, for Mr.Rutledge will be moving from your household to take employment with me.”
Wortley sputtered some more, undoubtedly regretting his hasty words now that his nephew would be brother-in-law to one of the wealthiest men in the country.But Grayson paid him no heed.Leaning back in his chair, he eyed the man coolly.
“But that is not why I asked you here, Squire.I understand that you have borrowed some pieces from the estate, and I would like them returned as soon as possible.”
Wortley turned bright red, his eyes practically popping their sockets, as he spat out a denial.“Borrowed?I purchased those items, my lord!”
“Did you, now?”Grayson asked, fixing the squire with a gaze that made him squirm in his seat.
In the silence that ensued, Grayson casually picked up a silver-handled knife used to break the seals on correspondence.It was a trifle that Kate once might have sold to the man across from him, and he fingered the blade while Wortley’s crimson cheeks lost their color.
“Well, then, perhaps you can return these missing goods as wedding gifts to the Courtland ladies, your neighbors of long standing, as a sign of your goodwill,” Grayson said, feigning a smile.
Wortley squeaked out a protest, but Grayson disregarded it, as if the man had not spoken.“Very good.I knew we could come to an agreement.Now, I’m sure you will want to attend to that at once.Shall I have a full accounting prepared for you?”he asked, rising to his feet.
“No!I recall every item, but—”
“Badcock,” Grayson called out, and the vigilant valet immediately opened the doors to the study.“Show the squire out, will you?”he asked.
“Very good, my lord,” Badcock said solemnly, leaving Wortley no option but to follow behind.
Watching the fellow’s exit, Grayson’s lips curved slightly.Now he had only Uncle Jasper to run to ground, and his business with the Courtlands would be completed—with one glaring exception.His smile faded.
There was still Kate to contend with.
Resting his hands against the back of one of the few remaining chairs, Grayson stood pondering her increasingly troublesome behavior until he realized that his knuckles had turned white.Deliberately lifting his hands from their position, he stretched his fingers, then turned to rejoin the others.
Perhaps it was time he settled things with the poppet.
Grayson had nearly reached the drawing room when the sound of raised voices drifted to him from the foyer.Was Wortley giving Badcock trouble?He ought to have wrung the man’s neck!
The annoyance and frustration that dogged him so much lately made him swing on his heel, determined to test his fists on the squire’s red face.Stalking back along the gallery, he strode into the tiled entranceway, only to halt in his tracks.
Wortley was gone, but in his place were other visitors, two men and two women, and Grayson drew in a sharp breath as he recognized the gentlemen.They were all talking gaily as Badcock tried to fob them off, and for a moment Grayson thought he might escape unnoticed, but it was too late.One of the men glanced his way and gave up a happy shout.
“Wroth!”
Inwardly groaning, Grayson could do naught but make the best of the situation, while wondering what had brought Raleigh and his cronies to Hargate.He stepped forward as the other man, a rather obnoxious character named Pimperington, ogled him curiously.
“Wroth?Is that you?What the devil are you doing here, I’d like to know!Egad, man, the whole of Town is abuzz with speculation as to your whereabouts,” the fellow said before turning to Raleigh.“I say, where the devil are we?Who owns this place?”Slightly deaf, he spoke in a loud tone that Grayson recalled all too well.
“You are at Hargate, the ancestral home of the earls of Chister.”
Grayson stiffened at the sound of Kate’s cool voice, and total silence fell as all four visitors, including the giggling females, stopped talking to stare at the woman who stood in the doorway.She was beautiful, of course, and had more dignity than any of them, Grayson thought proudly.
“Eh, what?Who’s this?”Pimperington shouted.
“Indeed!”Raleigh echoed, lifting that ridiculous quizzing glass of his to gaze at Kate boldly.
