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He was rather surprised she hadn’t gotten wind of the incident with the Chinese screen. “Not much at all, I admit.”
Again she studied him as if he were an exotic species. “I see. Then perhaps you could take a moment to tell me what I need to know about the marquess before you fade back into obscurity.”
Then she flashed a dazzling and utterly knowing smile, one guaranteed to knock the sharpest fellow off his pins. She was a vision in her pretty yellow gown, sunny from the bouncy curls at the top of her head to the tips of her fancy gold slippers. But what had emerged from her lips was more command than request. Graeme suspected she was a lassie to whom very few said no.
“You owe me, Mr. Kendrick,” she added.
That was debatable. Still, Sabrina seemed the sort who’d go digging, and that would not be good for her or the Kendricks. Especially Ainsley.
“It’s a bit tricky, I’m afraid.”
She glanced past him. “I see two empty chairs waiting just for us. Shall we sit quietly and discuss it?”
“I have the feeling you’d chase me down if I refused,” he said dryly.
As he led her to the chairs, he didn’t miss her smug little smile. She was insanely adorable, and he had to repress the urge to kiss that smile right off her lips.
Sheltered by large potted palms, a shallow window bay afforded a semblance of privacy while maintaining propriety. He handed her into one of the chairs, then carefully sat in the other. A spindly, fashionable thing, it creaked under his weight. Graeme hoped he would not find himself sitting on the floor in yet another pile of expensive wood.
The lady neatly folded her hands and gave him a nod, as if giving him permission to start.
Easier said than done.
“Mr. Kendrick,” she said after he remained silent, “aside from his rude behavior—which his lordship was adept at concealing until now—how bad can it be? Is Cringlewood completely in dun territory? While that would be an unpleasant revelation, the marquess would not be the first man intent on gaining my fortune through the wedded state.”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. The positives generally outweigh the negatives.”
She was refreshingly blunt for a society miss.
“It’s true that Cringlewood’s pockets are severely let. He’s been forced to rusticate and sell off whatever wasn’t entailed to the estate.”
“Is that the real reason he went to the Continent? He told me he was buying art.”
“He was fleeing his debts.” And fleeing Aden St. George and the Kendricks, but she didn’t need to know that.
She frowned. “It seems rather foolish to have come back, then.”
“As you mentioned to Vivien, he has friends at Court.”
“I see.” She crinkled her nose. “Thank you for the warning, sir. I will keep the marquess at arm’s length, and there will certainly be no more assignations in the park.”
“No assignations, anywhere,” he sharply replied. “He’s completely untrustworthy.”
She looked startled for a moment, but then gently rested her gloved hand on his arm. Graeme had a mad urge to gather her up and keep her safe from anything that could ever harm her.
Och, yer a bloody fool.
“You can tell me everything, you know,” she quietly said. “You have my solemn word that I will keep our conversation in the strictest confidence.”
Trust was a hard thing for him. But her gaze, so open and earnest, convinced him.
“Very well, then. Are you acquainted with my sister-in-law, Lady Ainsley Kendrick?”
“Lady Ainsley is a few years older than I, but our families know each other.” She flashed that brief, sunny smile, the one Graeme was beginning to like quite a lot. “She’s so lovely and witty, and had a legion of suitors, as I recall.”
Lovely was certainly accurate, as was sharp-tongued and rather terrifying. Graeme had a great deal of admiration for Ainsley, and even more admiration for his brother for having the courage to marry her.
