“Any more objections?”
There was one.
“What about Honora?” It suddenly occurred to Ava that his mother might present some opposition to their blossoming friendship. After all, had he not vowed to marry Lady Durrant? “She hopes you will make Lady Durrant an offer.”
An incredulous gape marred his fine features. “We all know there is no chance of that happening. What amazes me is that you think I would plan to pleasure you in my bedchamber while having designs on marrying someone else.” Disappointment rang loud.
“That was not what I said.” Ava scrambled to form a defence. Her voice sounded jittery, a result of what he planned to do with her once alone in his home rather than nerves. “Yet I do not wish to cause Honora distress.”
“My mother’s judgement is a little lapse at the moment.”
“Honora’s judgement is never lapse.” Though Ava struggled to see why the matron would want her son to marry a woman so shallow and deceitful. Indeed, the more Honora pressed her son, the more he backed away.
Interesting.
“Let me worry about my mother. Besides, in her eyes, the daughter of Hamilton Kendall can do no wrong.”
To hear her father’s name uttered aloud filled Ava’s chest with a warm glow. “I shall remind you of that the next time you find me in gentlemen’s clothes at the Westminster Pit.”
Chapter Thirteen
“And so you were to investigate all the ladies who attend your mother’s meetings?” Ava said from her seat at the opposite e
nd of the dining table.
The dim lighting, the roaring fire and his best bottle of claret might have set the scene for seduction had they not been discussing the fact she was on the list of those suspected of stealing his mother’s ruby.
Bringing her to his home in Hanover Square had affected Valentine in ways he had not thought possible. A flurry of emotions had plagued his senses since she stepped over the threshold. A deep feeling of satisfaction settled in his chest. Aveline Kendall belonged in his house, in his life, in his bed. The urge to protect her surfaced.
Here, she was safe.
Here, he might pretend she was his.
“Honora wished me to discover if any of her friends had motive enough to steal her precious gem,” he replied, feeling somewhat ashamed that he had not broached the subject earlier.
“You speak of the ruby you said my father sold on his last visit to England?” Ava clarified.
She had not touched her supper since he explained the nature of the theft that occurred at his mother’s house. Thankfully, the selection of meats and pastries were served cold.
“I do.”
“Then I do not need to tell you that the stone is rare and consequently worth a king’s ransom.”
“The paste replica is impressive in itself,” he agreed.
“Neither my brother nor I knew anything of the sale. There was no record amongst my father’s accounts. Mr F-Fairfax perished along with my parents in the mine, and so we presumed the ruby was either lost or stolen.”
“Mr Fairfax?” A pang of jealousy stabbed Valentine’s chest. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he sensed she was once fond of the gentleman.
“My father’s man of business. He may have known why my father neglected to mention he had sold the gem to your mother.”
“I cannot speak for your father’s motives for failing to disclose the sale.” Valentine sipped his wine as he studied her expression. She seemed irritated. Her down-turned mouth spoke of frustration and a heavy sadness. “And if it is any consolation, my mother has faith that you are in no way involved in the deception.”
“I should hope so.” She stared at the wine in her glass, lost in thoughtful contemplation. “Perhaps my father used the funds to purchase the house. Perhaps it suited his purpose to have me live opposite a woman he clearly held in high regard.”
“Perhaps.”
She glanced at the slices of ham on her plate but pushed the china away.