Page 13 of The Earl’s Inconvenient Nemesis

"Indeed," said Mr Cawlston.

The next quarter of an hour dragged as Mr Cawlston was grilled on his family and prospects by both her aunt and Anthony who took it in turns to torment their prey. Finally, his visit was over. He left rather rapidly.

Alice turned to her aunt and Anthony, a scowl on her face. "You could have been nicer to him!"

"I was perfectly polite," replied Anthony with a shrug.

"It is not that I do not appreciate your help," said Alice, sarcastically, "but scaring potential suitors away may not be the best method to find me a husband."

"He was not a potential suitor, he was far too young."

"I have to agree, dear," said Lady Jane.

Alice was saved from hearing more by the announcement of another visitor. Hopefully, this one would be more to Anthony's liking, she thought frustrated.

Chapter Six

Alice's ire had not abated when Anthony joined her for breakfast the following morning. He entered the room with his usual confident stride, looking annoyingly well-rested and far too cheerful for someone who had likely been out until all hours the night before.

"Good morning, Little Squirrel," he said cheerfully, helping himself to a generous plate of ham and eggs.

"You seem very pleased with yourself," Alice snapped.

"And, why should I not be? It is a beautiful spring day and I hope to enjoy it to its fullest."

"Perhaps because if you continue behaving as you did yesterday, I shall soon have no suitors left for you to harass and interrogate!”

Anthony raised an eyebrow, utterly unrepentant. "Would you honestly want to marry any of the men who visited yesterday?"

“I hardly had the chance to discover that,” Alice pointed out, her voice sharp with frustration. “Your barrage of questions scared them off before I could exchange more than a few pleasantries with any of them.”

"No genuine suitor would be so easily discouraged," Anthony countered. "And I thought you were serious about wanting to find a husband? Not one of those men were suitable. I did you a favour by finding that out for you before you wasted any more time."

Alice wanted to argue, but honesty forced her to admit he had a point. None of yesterday’s callers had stirred even mild interest. In truth, she had found herself comparing each one to the tall, broad-shouldered man now seated across from her. They had all seemed rather slight and pallid beside Anthony’s athletic frame, honed by years of riding and boxing. The direction of her thoughts shocked her. Since when had she begun noticing how muscular his arms looked in his coat, or how his shoulders strained against the fabric when he reached for the coffee pot? She gave her head a tiny, decisive shake to clear it.

"Do you have a headache?" Anthony asked, watching her closely.

"A slight one," Alice said. In fact her head did feel thick and slow.

"You are not used to being indoors so much.”

"That is true.”

"You would usually have cleaned out half the stables and rescued at least one wounded animal by this hour."

"Must you always tease me?" said Alice crossly.

Anthony looked genuinely surprised. "I am not teasing you," he said. "You do like spending time outside, preferably with animals rather than people."

"Their company is infinitely preferable to that of most people."

"Present company excepted, of course," he added with a wicked wink that sent an unwelcome flutter through her stomach. What was going on with her this morning?

"Are you blushing, Miss Fairfax?" Anthony grinned.

"Not at all," replied Alice, focusing intently on buttering her toast.

"Shall I take you for a horse ride later to clear your head? I have a sweet grey mare that would suit you perfectly. We could go to Rotten Row.”