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Ten minutes later, she’d donned her cloak and set out to follow in the direction he’d gone. When she found him, he was skulking about Brambleberry Cottage.
Why?
Before she could formulate an appropriate question or even hail him, the dratted man pried one of the ground floor windows open and then he climbed inside the house. How would he even know to do that? What kind of man thought of such things?
While annoyance tightened her chest, she couldn’t help but be intrigued as well. With a furtive glance about the area, Belle waited a few minutes and then scrambled over the windowsill after him. This particular room was a little used back parlor, so had there been someone in residence, it was doubtful the intruder would have been heard or detected straight away. She landed unceremoniously on her backside when she tried to avoid a small table, but when he didn’t make an appearance to investigate the thud she’d made, her confidence grew.
Oh, the man deserved a scathing dressing down for this! In fact, she should have done exactly that last night after he’d dared to kiss her.
Rubbing her hip that throbbed slightly from the fall, Belle left the parlor. By the time she gained the small entry hall, she caught the hem of his greatcoat as he sprinted up the stairs, taking two treads at a time. Though she thoroughly enjoyed the distraction of this adventure, such behavior was outside of enough. This was private property, and he was trespassing!
As quietly as possible, she sneaked upstairs to hide behind a longcase clock in the corridor. Mr. Montague went from room to room. He didn’t stay in each for long before he moved onto the next.
Why? What was he searching for?
When he entered the dowager suite, she padded silently along the hall only to linger in the doorway.You are definitely not who you said you are.The man peeked behind various paintings. He knocked softly on various places of the walls, and then he opened drawers in the clothes press. The behavior was most odd and perplexing.
Finally, when she could stand the mystery no longer, Belle burst into the room. “I don’t believe I gave you leave to traipse about Brambleberry Cottage, Mr. Montague.” She propped her hands upon her hips. “Explain why, this instant.”
To his credit, he startled, but when he turned about to face her, a slight grin curved his sensuous lips, and she couldn’t help but stare at his mouth.Drat the man.“Ah, Lady Ravenscroft. Good morning.”
As if they were in the breakfast room instead of him being confronted.
“I refuse to waste a moment on pleasantries. You do not deserve them.” Though annoyance bounced through her veins, she raked her gaze up and down his person. No, this man was not a wayward former soldier going through the English countryside without purpose, but she couldn’t quite figure him out. Something about him niggled at the edges of her mind. She might not know what right now, but eventually she’d remember. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Ah, straight to the point.” His grin widened. “However, I am afraid the answer isn’t so simple.”
Apparently, nothing was with this man, and that only added to his mystery.Drat his eyes!“Why are you prowling about Brambleberry Cottage?”
“I don’t know that I would consider what I’m doing prowling, per se…”
Oh, he was the height of annoying! Squashing the urge to stamp her foot as she’d done last night when they’d engaged in banter, Belle huffed in frustration. “Prowling, skulking, acting in a furtive manner. Take your pick, but there is something off about you.” She narrowed her eyes. “And what is more, now that I’m seeing your face in the daylight, there is something familiar about you I just cannot place at the moment.”
Obviously, she would need to think upon the problem a bit more, but the reasons why would come to her. They always did.
A tiny flicker of unease appeared in those ice blue depths, gone at his next blink. “What can I say except I was curious.”
“So you decided to sneak into the house through a window?”
He shrugged, and of course the gesture was an elegant affair. Slowly, he removed his greatcoat and then draped it over the back of a nearby winged-back chair. “Perhaps I wanted the adventure, for the front door was undoubtedly locked and the residence isn’t in use.”
“Did it occur to you to come find me and that I could take you over here?”
No, this man didn’t have the look of an unemployed former soldier. The jacket of bottle-green superfine hugged his broad shoulders and chest like a lover’s caress. There was no sign of malnourishment or disease about him, and at no time did he scratch at himself or his head like a person would if they’d contracted lice or fleas. A waistcoat of brown tweed practically begged her to remove it merely to see if his abdomen was as flat as it appeared. And good heavens, it should be a crime at how well his buff-colored breeches fit his legs.
“Where is the fun in that, Lady Ravenscroft?” The corners of his mouth tugged his lips into a faint grin. “And is not the point of life to at least chase adventure whenever one can?”
“I couldn’t say.” She frowned. “Why are you trying to distract me, Mr. Montague?” As she glanced about the room, she couldn’t understand why he would have needed to enter the house in the first place.
“Oh, there are a few reasons, but right now, you will probably want to know there is a mouse nearly at your feet.”
“What?” When she looked down, sure enough, there was a little brown mouse who had paused, perhaps in fright. “Oh, I donotlike rodents!” Because she was deathly afraid of those tiny little animals, Belle squealed. She didn’t care how ridiculous it made her, but she vaulted over the mouse, scrambled over the floor, and then climbed onto the four-posted bed. “Get it right now, Mr. Montague!” Standing on the bed, she frantically searched the floor for the rodent.
“Me? Why me?” Amusement twinkled in his eyes as he watched the progress of the mouse.
“It’s the least you can do, and isn’t that the purpose of bringing you on? This is an odd job.” She waved a hand as her heartbeat raced. “Go perform it.”
“It’s merely a little mouse, Lady Ravenscroft.” He edged closer to the bed, and his grin grew wider with every step. “Never say you are frightened of him?”
