A Scandal at Midnight by Annie Burrows

Author:Annie Burrows [Burrows, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-06-11T15:30:50+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

As soon as Ben managed to get rid of Miss Fairfax he went off in search of Daisy. God knew what she must be thinking after catching him with that...insufferable woman hanging off his neck!

But he couldn’t find her. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Daisy was exceptionally good at hiding. She’d had so many years’ practice during the school holidays when her brothers brought their friends home, and they’d regarded teasing Daisy as the highest form of sport. He’d discovered one or two of her hiding places at the Priory, but she hadn’t been here long enough for him to know about the ones she’d found here.

After going through every floor of the house, and finding nothing but empty rooms, he came to a halt on the threshold of the dining room. The dining room she’d said she was going to tackle today. He should probably have looked here first. He opened the door, his heart pounding. There was Vale with a duster, and Marcie with a mop and bucket, but of Daisy there was no sign.

His heart felt as though it was shrivelling up in his chest as he saw what this meant. There hadn’t ever been much of a chance for him and Daisy to make a go of it, but after this morning’s episode...he shut his eyes...two episodes, there was no longer the slightest shred of hope.

He might just as well go straight out and shoot himself right now.

Only what would become of her then? Where would she live? He had a suspicion that whatever heir the lawyers ferreted out of his tangled family tree would send her packing.

He ran his fingers through his hair with a feeling of impatience. Only cowards shot themselves and left their dependants to clean up their mess. And he was no coward. He turned away from the dining room and strode down to the stables. He may not know where her hiding places were, but as a boy he’d found many of his own about this estate. Whenever he’d been threatened with the birch, or his mother had pushed him aside impatiently and irritably, or his brothers had forbidden him from joining in with whatever they’d been doing, he’d walked away. And come to one of the places around the estate that other people rarely visited. He’d never been in more need of the thicket of hazel bushes down by the lake than now. With his horse cropping the turf behind him, and the wind shimmering over the water, maybe he’d find...if not peace then at least a frame of mind where he could make rational decisions, instead of haring off at the behest of his deepest, darkest fears like a startled, well, hare.

And, as so often happened when he was down there by the water, under the shelter of bushes that should have been pruned back instead of being left to run rampant, he achieved a measure of calm. At least, by the time he thought dinner would be ready he felt composed enough to face her across the table.

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