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She looked straight into the Dark Viscount’s stormy eyes and everything inside her turned to stone.
“Oh, bloody Christ,” she said.
“Watch your mouth, Miss Russell,” he said coolly. “Anyone would think you were a lowly tart with language like that, instead of a proper young lady. Or perhaps proper is the wrong word for it. A spying, cheating, lying trollop might be a better description.”
She stared up at him in instant fury. “Trollop!” she echoed, unable to argue with the lying or spying bit. “I was a virgin until last night.”
“So I noticed. I’m assuming that was part of your plan. Sneak into Renwick under false pretenses and seduce the master of the house so he has no choice but to marry you.”
Her outrage grew, and she managed to scramble to her feet without a complete loss of dignity. “Seduce you?” she snapped, furious. “You idiot clodpole, in case you didn’t notice, you seduced me. And I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth. I just needed a place to stay while Nanny was
in hospital.” She certainly wasn’t about to tell him she suspected him of destroying her father. Somehow he knew her name, but he might not know her connection . . .
“You sound so very self-righteous, Miss Russell, for the daughter of an embezzler. I’m sure you could have found better pickings than me for this little game. Why not go for a royal duke? I’m assuming this blasted estate must have something to do with it. You’re willing to barter your virginity to own it again?”
He was so damned big, towering over her, and the difference was even worse with her lack of shoes. “You’re a bully,” she said. “I . . . I was wrong.” It devastated her to admit it. “I shouldn’t have come, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go at the time, and then things got complicated.”
“And you fell madly in love with me,” he said with heavy irony. “So that you couldn’t bear to leave my side.”
She jerked her head up at his words, and she was filled with a horrific thought. He was mocking her, of course, but did he have any idea that he might be far too close to the truth?
She pulled herself together. She’d had lots of experience arguing with her sisters, particularly Maddy, and she never gave in without a fight. “I have no interest in you,” she said icily, pleased with herself. “You’re a deluded popinjay, to think you were ever part of my plans.”
“So you admit you have a plan then. Did that include watching me swim day after day? Were you disappointed I didn’t strip down completely?”
The truth of that was unmistakable, and she could feel the heat flush her face. There was no way he could know that, no way she was admitting that. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then why were you up here, watching me?”
“How did you know . . . ?” she began, and then could have kicked herself.
He didn’t look gratified. “I could feel your eyes on me, even from a distance.”
She wasn’t ready to give up. “Oh, so that’s why you preened and strutted like a peacock?”
A trace of amusement lightened a bit of the anger in his eyes. “No, you little hellion, I’m just that glorious. Why were you watching me?”
She went for a bit of the truth. She glowered at him. “This was always my favorite place to walk to, and I always went out while Nanny napped. Is it my fault that her naps and your public disrobing happened to coincide?”
“It was hardly public—I had an audience of one,” he drawled. “So tell me your plans, Miss Russell. I admit I’m mildly curious. I’d like to know what they are before I throw you to the curb.”
“There aren’t any curbs in the countryside,” she said, a pathetic triumph. “And my plans are simple. I’ve been trying to find a way to get back to London. I have dozens of friends I could stay with”—a rash exaggeration—“and I’ll have you know I was quite the sought-after young lady last year. I could have had my pick of a dozen men.”
“That was when you were an heiress.”
Bastard, she thought grimly. “I was hardly a wallflower with only my fortune to recommend me,” she said. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m beautiful.” Saying the words out loud felt odd, but it was simply the truth.
“Oh, I noticed,” he said softly, and a chill went down her spine.
“And what were you going to do when you got your lovely, deceitful self to London?”
If she’d had shoes on she’d have kicked him. She could hardly pull his hair as she and Maddy had done with their big go-rounds—even though he wore his long, he was too tall for her to reach it. “I was going to find someone rich and handsome and titled and marry him!” she shot back, not caring how venal she sounded. And then the simple truth of what she’d said hit her, and she wanted to disappear.
“But luckily for you, you found someone rich and handsome and titled right in your former backyard,” he said, his voice dripping sarcasm.
She had no argument but a weak one. “What makes you think you’re handsome?”
“What makes you think you’re beautiful? We’d make a lovely couple if I ever planned to take you to London, but since I hate the place, I’m afraid you’ll be staying right here.”
