She almost dropped the gun, which might have been unfortunate if it had gone off. “What?”
“I assumed both of them would rather be buried on English soil. I made arrangements for them to be brought back to your father’s estates and buried there. ”
“And you didn’t think to ask me?”
“Obviously we had to move with a fair amount of speed, although winter made such a gesture more reasonable. You don’t think that’s what they would have wanted?”
“Nanny Maude, of a certainty. She always missed England. My mother would be rolling over in her grave to be buried with my father. ”
“There was always that advantage as well,” he said solemnly. “You think your mother deserved eternal peace?”
“I think my mother had her own hell in this lifetime,” she said.
“True. However, she was more than generous enough to share it with her daughters, her older one in particular. I don’t happen to believe in heaven or hell, so I can’t imagine it will make any difference where she’s buried, but you’ll have to allow me my quixotic gesture. ”
“I don’t really have a choice in the matter,” she said tartly.
“True enough. May I sit?”
“No. ”
“Which leaves me with a quandary. If I sit anyway, will I simply be rude, or will you shoot me? You’ve been quite h
ard on my clothing so far, and I’m particularly fond of this toilette. I would hate to have it marred with bullet holes. ”
“Why don’t you try it and see what happens. ” She had the most delicious amount of menace in her voice. It would almost be worth it, just to see how far he could push her.
“Thank you, I will,” he said, spreading the voluminous skirts of his coat out and sitting on the end of her chaise.
She quickly pulled her legs up, away from him, and her grip tightened on the gun. “You certainly do like tempting the fates, do you not?”
“Are you my fate, poppet? I’ve had that uneasy feeling ever since I saw you, huddling beneath your rags out at my château. Most men would run in the opposite direction, but I must admit I’m inordinately fond of risk. Are you really going to shoot me?”
“It’s quite possible. ”
He smiled at her. “Why? Simply because I annoy you? That’s a bit extreme. Do you think I’m going to rape you?”
He felt the sudden jerk of her body, so near to his, and he allowed himself to be grateful that her finger hadn’t jerked on the trigger of the pistol that was still pointed in the general direction of his belly. And he could feel the effort she made to calm herself.
“No,” she said.
“Why not? I’ve made it very clear that I intend to have you, even though you’ve chosen not to believe me. ”
“You said you wanted me to stay for conversation. To entertain you,” she said.
“And you believed me? Silly child. You’re talking to a libertine, a member of the Heavenly Host. I don’t believe we’re known for our love of good conversation. ”
She grew very still. “So you are going to rape me?”
“Good heavens, no,” he said with a soft laugh, and some of the tension left her body. “I never take by force what I can have by charm. ”
Her astonished laughter was genuine, and it might have wounded a more sensitive soul. It just made him want her more. “If you’re relying on your charm you’ll have a long wait, my lord,” she said tartly.
Author: Anne Stuart
“Perhaps,” he said. “Why don’t you put that pistol away. I’d take it from you, and you’d let me, but then we’d simply have to go through the rigmarole of getting it back to you. Set it down, poppet. You know you don’t want to shoot me. ”
“You’re wrong. There’s nothing I’d like more than to pull this trigger,” she said, her voice uncompromising.