Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount by Catherine Hemmerling Page B

answer.”
    “I…see,” Hope replied haltingly. “Yes…that was a…very good idea. Er, thank you, I guess.”
    Hope put on what she hoped was a convincing smile, but inside, her heart was breaking just a little. Even though she had been reminding herself not a minute earlier that this visit was just business, the flowers had thrown her for a moment.
    Needing a minute alone, Hope excused herself so that she could put the blooms in water. It was certainly a valid reason to leave the room, but Hope felt a coward nonetheless. She could have easily called for a servant, but sometimes a girl just needed time to pull herself together. Certainly there should be no shame in that?
    Feeling much more composed after dropping the flowers off at the kitchen with a request to put them into something appropriate, Hope returned to her study to find Michael still standing where she had left him, apparently talking to himself, of all things. Michael looked up when Hope returned with what appeared to be a rather guilty look on his face. Hope wondered what he had been saying but couldn’t bring herself to ask. Professionalism—that was the way to go here.
    “I must say,” Hope said as she made her way across the room to sit behind her desk, “I did not expect to hear from you so soon.”
    “Yes, well,” Michael replied with a small cough, “I was able to meet with the committee almost immediately after leaving Lady Lancaster’s. I told them about the imposter posing as Du Bourg and they found that information very interesting. Once I shared what I knew and why I could be helpful to them, they formally invited me to be part of the committee and shared what they knew thus far. Afterward, I felt I should stop by to tell you what I found out.”
    “They discovered something important, I gather?”
    Sitting down in the chair across the desk from Hope, Michael said, “Yes, quite. Since late yesterday when the hoax was discovered, the members of the stock exchange have been going through all of the trades to find any suspicious transactions. Today it was revealed that there was a sale of two different government-based stocks for more than one million pounds total…most of which had been purchased last week when the prices were especially low. It was the most significant event found.”
    “I knew it,” Hope whispered to herself. Then she said louder, “Do you know who was involved in the sale?”
    “No,” Michael replied slowly, but with a twinkle in his eye, he added, “however, I asked the gentlemen of the committee to entrust all the records to me, so that I might study them in an attempt to identify the perpetrators.”
    “And by I , you meant me , I presume?” Hope replied with a knowing smile.
    “Ah, no,” Michael stuttered. “I, ah, had hoped…I mean…I thought maybe we …”
    “Oh, yes, of course,” Hope replied quickly. “That is what I meant, too… we can study them, ah, together, as it were.”
    …
    Michael nodded jerkily and reached up to tug slightly on his suddenly too tight cravat. What was he thinking? Why hadn’t he just handed the damn files over to Hope and bid her a good day? Certainly she would get much more done without him there. But no , Michael sighed inwardly. Something inside him wouldn’t give up this chance to spend time with her…preferably huddled together over a mountain of paperwork.
    Really, that shouldn’t sound like nearly as much fun as it did.
    “Good, well, I have the files in my carriage. Is now a good time to begin?”
    “I don’t see why not, but I have a dinner party to attend this evening, so we will not have much more than a couple of hours.”
    “Oh, yes, Miss Warren and Trumbull’s dinner party.”
    “Were you invited, as well?”
    “As a matter of fact, I was. It seemed a rather important occasion, if I recall.”
    Hope stared at him thoughtfully before saying, “Yes, it is.” She leaned in to whisper, “Rose is working on a case for Lady Lancaster.”
    “A