“So you’ve yet to meet the chit?”
“She and her family have a fine reputation. Her father assures me she shall make an excellent wife.”
His friend made a face. “You sound like your father.”
Dread settled low in Roman’s stomach. His father had been a flawed man. Even whilst wanting his approval and agreeing with his father’s aim of keeping the family name intact and continuing, Roman recognized that. The last thing he wanted to do was sound like the man.
He ran a hand over his face. “Maybe I’ll have that drink after all.”
Chapter Four
Clem might as well have been standing in front of the Great Wall of China.
Arms folded, polished boots spread wide, peering down at her as though she were no more than a lone foot soldier against an army of thousands, Lord Roman Avery might as well be treating her like a foreign invader rather than a visitor to Hindwick.
She waved a note in his face. “I received it just this morning. Your aunt had another sighting.”
He widened his stance a little, filling the door to Mary’s home, if possible, even more. “I am entirely aware of that. I received a similar note.”
She bit back an exasperated sigh. His tone offered no inflection, no emotion, only the stern tones of a man used to people taking one look at him and cowing to his word.
Well, she was never one to be cowed. She lifted her chin. “You will know then that she requested my presence to investigate this sighting.”
“My aunt has a fevered imagination and I have done a thorough search. There is no sign of this…ghost.”
Skimming her gaze up and down him, Clem tensed against a shiver that rumbled through her. She couldn’t fathom why broad shoulders and the way his muscles seemed to be barely held in check by his jacket would do such a thing but if he spotted said shiver, he’d see it as weakness and swoop, of that much she was certain. Lord Rochdale had already taken advantage of her brother and it seemed he scarcely cared for his aunt’s wellbeing if the state of the house and his callous attitude to his aunt’s concerns were anything to go by. No matter what, she must remain strong.
And cease staring at his arms.
Clem shot her gaze upward and forced it to remain there, ignoring the way a knot in her throat gathered when she noted, actually, the man had rather full lips—a strange and intriguing design in amongst much stone-carved solidity.
“You will not...” she tried to step around him and he mirrored her step, blocking her from entering “...scare me away.”
“Do I scare you?”
Gaze narrow, she set her jaw. “Of course not.” The words felt like a lie.
“You should not be here, Lady Clementine—”
“It’s Clem.” She stepped to the right this time. He was too quick.
“So I suggest you return home.” He peered at the carriage waiting upon the street. “You do not even have your lady’s maid with you.”
“My footman and driver are here and what possible threat could your aunt be to my reputation and welfare?”
When she spied the slight lift of his lips in one corner, her blood heated. She knew what he was thinking.Reputation? What reputation?She balled her fists and took a slight step back. When she spotted the drop in his shoulders, she ploughed forward, shoving bodily past him until she emerged in the entrance hall.
Sucking in a breath, Clem pivoted on a heel and gave a triumphant grin as he stared. One thing Lord Rochdale needed to learn was that a woman with a family as ill-thought of as hers had very little to lose.
“What…” he muttered then pinched the bridge of his nose. “What the devil is the matter with you? Are you truly so bored you wish to drag out the pain of a widowed woman?”
“I wish to help a woman in need. A woman who is not being taken seriously by her family, a woman who is having her concerns summarily dismissed.” She spread her hands wide. “For all you know, a strange man has been sneaking about in her house. Are you not concerned?”
“Aunt Mary has been prone to conjuring stories,” he said tightly.
“What possible reason could she have for conjuring a story about her late husband? You have already pointed out that this has caused her many problems with regards to the will. Your aunt is many things, but she is not a fool.”
“This—” he moved closer “—is a family matter and should be dealt with as such. You have no place here.”