Page 17 of An Enchanting Dare

If anything, Aisling turned a darker shade of scarlet.

“Perhaps I should go,” he offered with a smile. “Alana is here safe and sound, and I can return to Marcross. I’ll fetch her again when she is ready to go.”

It was for the best, he told himself, though he was already regretting the impulse to be polite. Aisling looked so deliciously ruffled and out of sorts, like a wet hen. He wanted very badly to soothe her feathers, or perhaps ruffle them some more. He wasn’t sure which.

“No. Wait.”

Aisling was looking anywhere but at him, her hands clasped, the fingers so tight he felt sure she must be hurting herself.

“Of course, you m-must stay,” she said, confirming it was she who had spoken. He had not imagined it. “Please forgive my outburst, Mr Cootes. I am afraid you took me by surprise. Mrs Wilson, which room have you given Mr Cootes?”

“The forest room, my lady.”

Aisling gave a brisk nod, all business now. “Very well. If you would see to Lady Alana, I will escort Mr Cootes. If you would come this way, sir?”

Sylvester regarded her suspiciously. What was she playing at? She’d had the perfect opportunity to get rid of him, and she hadn’t taken it. Too curious to object, he followed her up the stairs and along a wide corridor.

“Why didn’t you let me go?” he demanded once they were out of earshot. “You could have been rid of me. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Because it would have been horribly ill-mannered of me. My father was appalled by my rudeness as it was, and he was concerned. He’ll want to know why I spoke to you so rudely.”

“You mean to say you won’t lie and tell him I insulted you?” he suggested.

She shot a furious glance at him. “Is this what you think of me? That I would lie to cover my own bad behaviour?”

“Easy, tiger,” he said, holding out his hands in a peaceable gesture. “No. I don’t think you’d do that, but I wonder what you will say, because I’m not sure you know yourself.”

Her eyes flashed. “I assure you, Mr Cootes, I have no difficulty in knowing why you annoy me. You are a very annoying person.”

Sylvester’s lips quirked. “I try my best.”

“In that case, you are most talented.” She was striding through the corridors at quite a pace now, her skirts swishing, every line of her body taut with impatience. Why he should find her quite so beguiling, he could not fathom. It was like trying to befriend a hedgehog, no matter what angle one approached from a fellow got stabbed.

“I’m not as dreadful as all that, though. Am I, my lady? Be fair,” he persisted, wondering if she was softening just a little. After all, she had let him stay.

She did not answer him, but opened a door and strode through it. “This is the forest room, so named for obvious reasons.”

The enormous bedroom was lavish and somewhat overwhelming. The vast ceiling was a mid-green with mouldings in gold and the wall panels were filled with tromp l’oeil paintings that depicted woodland scenes with such realism that Sylvester wondered how he would close his eyes at night.

“I feel like a fox might savage me whilst I sleep,” he murmured, staring about him.

He thought perhaps her lips twitched, just a fraction, but she did not laugh.

“One can only hope,” she said sweetly. She strode to the door, clearly intent on abandoning him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, before she could disappear.

She hesitated, suspicion glinting in her dark eyes, as though she sensed a trick. “What for?”

“For giving you a shock. You did not know I was coming, did you?”

She shook her head. “No. Probably my own fault. I expect Mama mentioned it, but I wasn’t paying attention. A failing of mine, I’m afraid.”

“A lowering thought,” he said sadly. “I assumed one mention of my name would be enough for you to prepare to repel boarders.”

She returned an impatient glance. “We are not at war, Mr Cootes. Yet. Trevick is a big place. With luck, we need not see each other for the entirety of your stay here with a little careful management. For example, this evening I shall plead a headache, so you might enjoy dinner with my family. If you could cry off tomorrow, that’s two days gone already.”

“Or… we could just be civil to each other and see what happens?” he suggested, wondering why she would go to quite such lengths to avoid him.