The Reluctant Heiress by Evelyn Richardson

Author:Evelyn Richardson [Richardson, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 1996-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

As if reading her thoughts, Alistair smiled grimly. “Never fear, as soon as these are quite dry”—he nodded toward his jacket and shirt—”I shall be on my way. You need not trouble yourself that I shall continue to impose my disreputable presence on you any longer than absolutely necessary.”

Sarah shook her head, but he had seen the conscious look on her face, even though it was quickly suppressed. “I do not worry for myself,” Sarah protested, “but how are you to ride after the shock, after losing all that blood and ...”

“After drinking all that brandy,” he finished with a harsh laugh. “Do not fret yourself. I have found my way home in worse shape than this times out of mind. There is no need for concern.”

The bleakness in his voice and the proud, remote look on his face cut Sarah to the quick. He was so ready to believe himself despised, so determined not to care, not to depend on anyone for anything. This air of desolation wrung her heart, and she could not help laying a gentle hand on his bare shoulder. “Indeed, you mistake me. I was but trying to think of some way to convey you to Cranleigh without arousing suspicion, for it would never do to have the chevalier get wind of even the slightest irregularity.”

It was the earl’s turn to look self-conscious. “The chevalier! How did you know it was he? I must be making a bad job of it indeed if you arrive so easily at such a conclusion.”

The faintest hint of a smile played across Sarah’s mouth, and there was a mischievous twinkle in the green eyes. “Come now, my lord, I fancy I am more awake on all suits than most. I am not stupid, after all, and being less caught up in the flirtation and gossip than the rest of the world, I am more at liberty to look around me. I fancy that no one else noticed, but what I saw was that while you lavished a great deal of attention on the females present at Cranleigh, you also spent a fair amount of time observing the Chevalier d’Evron.”

The earl was silent for a moment, struck by his companion’s perspicacity. Lady Sarah Melford might eschew the social milieu, but she was a fair observer and judge of humankind, it seemed. He could not help feeling chagrined. “Still and all, I ought to have been clever enough, or at least careful enough to disguise my interest in the gentleman.” But in a way Alistair was glad he had not deceived her, for two reasons. One, he liked it that she was perceptive enough to notice and deduce such things, and, two, the thought of deceiving someone whom he was coming to respect more and more was repugnant to him. “I have not been very intelligent on all counts.” He pointed to his bandages with a grimace. “I have become what you thought me all along—an arrogant coxcomb—and now I am paying the price of my overweening of confidence and pride.

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