Lady Mysterious by Soliman Wendy

Author:Soliman, Wendy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Nate noticed an air of expectation amongst the gentlemen the following day. Oscar explained what had caused it.

‘There is to be a prize fight this evening,’ he said. ‘The champion is a local man and the heavy favourite. A sight to behold, by all accounts. Latimer is arranging transport for those of us who would like to attend. Shall we go?’

Nate shrugged. ‘It might be diverting,’ he said.

Nate wasn’t a great fan of pugilism but it would be preferable to evading the ladies’ increasingly desperate attempts to make a favourable impression upon him. And his mother too, for that matter. She had noticed his disinclination to put himself out for any of them and taken him to task for his inattentions immediately after he rescued Kyra from Ingram the previous evening. Fortunately she hadn’t noticed his interest in that particular lady, rather proving Kyra’s point. She was all but invisible, at least to the ladies, who didn’t look upon her as a threat.

Kyra had arranged games on the lawns that took up the afternoon. Archery, at which the gentlemen were expected to give the ladies the benefit of their advice. Kyra did not participate. Quoits and skittles didn’t seem to interest her either. Paille-maille, however, was a different story and she proved to be a demon with a mallet, beating all comers. But, unlike most of the other contestants, she steadfastly refused to wager even a small sum on the outcome of any contest. Nate challenged her to what proved to be a close-fought battle.

‘You don’t share your brother’s love of wagering?’ he asked, having been narrowly defeated.

‘There is no such thing as a racing certainty,’ she replied, giving the façade of Latimer Lodge, which was in urgent need of restoration, a critical glance. Nate could see that some of the pinnacles were crumbling, there were wide cracks appearing in places, a chimney had partially collapsed and he could just make out a few spots where roof tiles were missing. ‘Take it from one who knows,’ she added with a wry smile.

Kyra’s cryptic comment made Nate understand why the estate was so dilapidated. The profits had been gambled away, accounting perhaps for Kyra’s unwillingness to continue living there. He had satisfied himself that she was not romantically involved with her footman, so the desire to have free access to his attentions didn’t account for her determination to remove herself from the Lodge. Her strong aversion to gambling on the other hand, very likely did.

So many aspects of her life remained clouded in mystery. He had not forgotten her moneylending activities but failed to align them with the compassionate nature of the young woman who took up an increasing number of his thoughts. Moneylenders were, by necessity, cold-hearted and cynical. Kyra Latimer was neither of those things.

He wondered if Oscar had noticed the estate’s air of neglect too. Most likely not. His friend wasn’t the most observant person and all his attention appeared to be concentrated upon Melanie. He glanced

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