The Conqueror's Dilemma by Elizabeth Bailey

Author:Elizabeth Bailey [Bailey, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Amazon: B0095VTJGG
Published: 2012-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

The atmosphere was thick with question, but Ariadne sat mumchance, driving up William’s ill temper. Answering her summons to Brook Street, he had taken the stairs to the familiar tiny back parlour Ariadne reserved for her private use—and for just such a tête-à-tête as William had guessed he was in for the instant the butler had told him where Mrs Membury was awaiting him. It did nothing to improve his mood.

Nor was he cheered by the admitted brightness of the room, its walls done out in pale yellow paper with a green stripe of leaves, repeated in the drapery at the single window and upon the seats of the two wooden armchairs. These were all the furniture the parlour boasted, beyond the neat little writing desk set in a corner and its accompanying simple chair.

William broke the silence that had fallen immediately after greetings had been exchanged. ‘What do you want, Ariadne?’

Her eyes widened in a show of surprise, which did not fool him for an instant. ‘Why, nothing, dear Will. Except to see you. You have been a hermit these three days.’

William turned back to contemplation through the window of the narrow gardens behind. ‘I have been out of sorts.’

‘Out of something, at any rate.’

A lilt of question brought his head round again. She was regarding him with the steady gaze he knew of old. The stubborn determination it betokened provoked an inward groan. It was a mistake to have come. He dismissed the fleeting suspicion he might be cherishing a hidden desire to unburden himself. Ariadne was the last person to be trusted with his present woes. Lord knew what outrageous action she might take if she persuaded herself she was working in his best interests!

‘There is no point trying to worm it out of me, Ariadne,’ he said, taking the bull by the horns, ‘because I utterly refuse—’

He was unceremoniously interrupted. ‘At least you admit there is something to worm out.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘And you had as well give in immediately, you know. You are hopelessly outclassed, my poor Will.’

William could not suppress a grin. ‘I am not Hector.’

‘Granted. But you are a man, dear, which is a distinct disadvantage to you in such a situation as this.’

A reluctant laugh was drawn from him. ‘How glad I am you are not really my sister.’ He came away from the window and took a seat opposite. ‘Where is Hector, by the by? I’m surprised you didn’t make him come as well to give you moral support.’

Ariadne’s hand wafted in a dismissive fashion. ‘He would be worse than useless to me, forever interrupting and allowing loyalty to confuse the issue. Besides, I made him take the boys to Astley’s.’

This was sufficiently astonishing to pull William’s attention off his own troubles. ‘How in the world did you get him to agree?’

Hector’s generally recalcitrant attitude to dancing attendance on his nephews was well known to William. The last time they had met, his friend had been eloquent on the subject, expressing a strong interest in leaving on a well-timed visit to his country estates.

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