Entangled with the Earl (Tangled Threads Book 1) by Lisbette Tomas

Author:Lisbette Tomas [Tomas, Lisbette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-25T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Teresa bit her tongue hard. Martin’s tone made it very clear that he considered the matter closed and off-limits. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to push on it, but she had learned a few things during her time with her aunt and uncle. One of them was that sometimes, a strategic retreat and regroup for later would be much more effective than continuing a frontal assault.

She found it impossible to believe that he was really as unaffected by what his parents had done as he claimed to be. There was too much anger for that, as much as he was trying to hide it. She needed to know what was driving it. Her instincts said it was important, too important to be left alone like he wanted.

But not right now. If I push now, I’ll get nowhere.

The silence stretched between them, awkward except for the food. It was simple, hearty food — more ham, a good sharp cheddar with fresh, crusty bread, and there were apples and lemonade to go with it. The ride had given her an appetite and Teresa was hard pressed to eat in the small, polite bites expected of a female.

Finally finishing her bread and ham, she began to carefully slice an apple, occasionally glancing up at Martin from underneath her lashes. Despite the hat he had worn for the rides, his hair was slightly disheveled and his cravat was less neat than it had been at breakfast that morning. Ruth had said that Martin was more than willing to help out physically in the village if it was needed and she wondered if that had been the case this morning.

Ruth had certainly given her a lot to think about. Aside from the effect of the wind on his appearance, he didn’t look any different than he had at the breakfast table and yet Teresa couldn’t shake the feeling that he had changed in that hour. No, that’s not fair. He hasn’t changed, my understanding of him has.

He’d been aloof in London, but no more arrogant than any of the other gentlemen she’d met in the ton. That hadn’t stopped her from wanting to slap him when that arrogance had been turned in her direction, but honesty forced her to admit that she was equally unlikely to back down when she thought she was right.

Seeing him here on the estate was an entirely different experience. He still carried himself with the unmistakable confidence of the lord of the manor but the arrogance was missing, tempered instead by the willingness to listen and consider. Her father would have let his estate manager handle the roof leak, rather than going out to see to it himself, and yet Martin had been right there, rolling up his shirt sleeves in order to look into the matter.

He was cutting his own apple now, his hands steady as he neatly sliced it into quarters. She hadn’t noticed his hands in London, although that was understandable given the custom of wearing gloves everywhere.

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