captivate him with your attention and flatter him by insisting on conversation? Did you press your advantage as his better to throw him off his guard?”
“What peculiar accusations you make, Lord Ambury.I called to press for a conclusion of our business, not to press my advantage.”
“I doubt that. Having written that letter, you would not want to witness my reaction to it.”
She stilled. She blinked twice. She donned a mask of innocence. “Letter? What letter?”
“You know what letter. The angry, demanding, insulting one in which you accused me of being a scoundrel, a blackguard, a fraud, a—what was it? Oh, yes, a
liar
. The letter you stole from my library yesterday.”
He could see her flush from the edge of her bodice to her hairline. “Oh,” she said. “That letter.”
A mbury dominated the sitting room’s space and air. His vitality imposed itself on every damned inch of it. A tall dark column of lithe strength, his presence and energy barely left Cassandra room to stand.
Yet stand she did. She had no choice. She had a lot of practice in facing down people like Ambury, and it helped her now.
His eyes smoldered so hotly that their blue color could not be seen. His jaws appeared carved out of rock. The line of his mouth looked almost as hard.
“Higgins said you were not in residence,” she said. “It was my hope to retrieve the letter before you read it.”
“I stopped here for a day only before going to Essex. I have not taken up residence of a public nature. Nor does it matter. Whether you took it before I read it, or after, it was not
retrieved
. It was
stolen
.”
“I was most distraught when I wrote that, and I regretted it almost at once. It was very wrong to write those things. However—”
“However?”
“My apology about taking the letter stands, but I will notapologize at all for insisting that you pay me what is owed. I have waited months for you to settle up on those earrings. I consigned them and the other jewels to that auction because I needed the funds. I am not some tradesman who can extend credit indefinitely, and due to circumstances that I cannot explain, my frustration got the better of me. So I apologize for the letter’s worst insults, but I do not regret making sure that you attend to this matter now instead of months from now.”
He glared at her. She steeled her spine so she would not flinch.
“So have you come to settle today, or only to berate me about my behavior?” she finally asked. “If I must still wait until next week, so be it, but that is the extent of my patience.”
He shook his head in exasperation. “You are too bold by half.”
“Bold enough to sell the earrings elsewhere if I must, along with the ring you left with me after the auction as surety.”
“Even if you sell all of it, you will never get what I bid.”
“That is why I have waited. But I can wait no longer and must do what is necessary.”
A scowl still marred his brow, but it furrowed more in thought than anger now. “I simply want to know how your aunt came to own the earrings. Once I document the jewels’ history, I will settle everything immediately.”
“I never said those earrings came from my aunt.”
“You never said they did not, so I assumed—”
“Too much, once again. However, I will admit to that part of their history now.”
“Then establishing their provenance should not take long at all. Since she will not see me, I ask that you raise the matter with her.”
“And if I refuse?”
“In bidding on those earrings, I was buying information as well as jewels. Without the information, I have received only half a loaf.”
“My consignment at the auction was
jewelry
, not information. You are too much trouble. I will sell them elsewhere and—”
“I have been told that the earrings may have been stolen, you see. I am sure that you do not want to trade in stolen goods. The law frowns on that.” He tossed out that accusation ever so calmly.
It
“What peculiar accusations you make, Lord Ambury.I called to press for a conclusion of our business, not to press my advantage.”
“I doubt that. Having written that letter, you would not want to witness my reaction to it.”
She stilled. She blinked twice. She donned a mask of innocence. “Letter? What letter?”
“You know what letter. The angry, demanding, insulting one in which you accused me of being a scoundrel, a blackguard, a fraud, a—what was it? Oh, yes, a
liar
. The letter you stole from my library yesterday.”
He could see her flush from the edge of her bodice to her hairline. “Oh,” she said. “That letter.”
A mbury dominated the sitting room’s space and air. His vitality imposed itself on every damned inch of it. A tall dark column of lithe strength, his presence and energy barely left Cassandra room to stand.
Yet stand she did. She had no choice. She had a lot of practice in facing down people like Ambury, and it helped her now.
His eyes smoldered so hotly that their blue color could not be seen. His jaws appeared carved out of rock. The line of his mouth looked almost as hard.
“Higgins said you were not in residence,” she said. “It was my hope to retrieve the letter before you read it.”
“I stopped here for a day only before going to Essex. I have not taken up residence of a public nature. Nor does it matter. Whether you took it before I read it, or after, it was not
retrieved
. It was
stolen
.”
“I was most distraught when I wrote that, and I regretted it almost at once. It was very wrong to write those things. However—”
“However?”
“My apology about taking the letter stands, but I will notapologize at all for insisting that you pay me what is owed. I have waited months for you to settle up on those earrings. I consigned them and the other jewels to that auction because I needed the funds. I am not some tradesman who can extend credit indefinitely, and due to circumstances that I cannot explain, my frustration got the better of me. So I apologize for the letter’s worst insults, but I do not regret making sure that you attend to this matter now instead of months from now.”
He glared at her. She steeled her spine so she would not flinch.
“So have you come to settle today, or only to berate me about my behavior?” she finally asked. “If I must still wait until next week, so be it, but that is the extent of my patience.”
He shook his head in exasperation. “You are too bold by half.”
“Bold enough to sell the earrings elsewhere if I must, along with the ring you left with me after the auction as surety.”
“Even if you sell all of it, you will never get what I bid.”
“That is why I have waited. But I can wait no longer and must do what is necessary.”
A scowl still marred his brow, but it furrowed more in thought than anger now. “I simply want to know how your aunt came to own the earrings. Once I document the jewels’ history, I will settle everything immediately.”
“I never said those earrings came from my aunt.”
“You never said they did not, so I assumed—”
“Too much, once again. However, I will admit to that part of their history now.”
“Then establishing their provenance should not take long at all. Since she will not see me, I ask that you raise the matter with her.”
“And if I refuse?”
“In bidding on those earrings, I was buying information as well as jewels. Without the information, I have received only half a loaf.”
“My consignment at the auction was
jewelry
, not information. You are too much trouble. I will sell them elsewhere and—”
“I have been told that the earrings may have been stolen, you see. I am sure that you do not want to trade in stolen goods. The law frowns on that.” He tossed out that accusation ever so calmly.
It
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