ladyship’s eyes twinkled, but Jessica’s expression did not soften. For once, even Sir Brian’s nearness as he leaned past her to open the French doors did not affect her. He walked beside her buoyantly, his expression one of satisfaction. Clearly he was pleased with himself and expected applause and perhaps even a modicum of gratitude for his efforts. But Jessica had no intention of accommodating him. She was furious, and she waited only until they had reached the bottom of the terrace steps before rounding on him.
“How could you do such a thing?” she demanded.
Sir Brian regarded her quizzically. “I told you I meant to expose that lot for the villains they are. I thought I had done well to unmask them so quickly, considering how crowded my calendar has been of late.”
“But to have presented the facts of the matter in such a public way! To have humiliated Andrew like that. It was cruel, sir. I did not realize you could be so insensitive.”
He frowned, taken aback by her criticism, and a look of resentment crossed his face. “Andrew will recover, and I could see no reason, once I had the facts, not to make them known. I am sorry if I offended your sensibility, ma’am. I seem to do that rather often. First with my estates in the
Indies and my mines here, then by helping you out on the road, and now with my handling of this little affair. No doubt you would have managed things with far more dexterity if I had just kept out of it.”
“Well, I was handling them with dexterity until you chose to lose your idiotish temper and rip up at him over his wishing to marry that stupid girl,” she informed him bluntly. “And I believed I had made a recovery, too, despite the awkwardness occasioned by your precipitate disclosure of the fraud. He was well on the way to discovering for himself that his princess was no such thing. But that is beside the point now,” she added hotly. “I should certainly have chosen a more delicate way to disclose to him the facts you discovered than to blurt them out in front of Cyril and Georgie and the rest. There was no need to humiliate Andrew like that in front of all of us. He is young and very sensitive.”
“Then the sooner he grows up, the better it will be for him.” His resentment was nearly tactile, and Jessica fought an impulse to take a step away from him. Suddenly he shrugged. “Perhaps Andrew is not the only one who needs to grow up. Good day to you, Miss Sutton-Drew.”
To her frustrated astonishment, he turned his back upon her and strode angrily away. There being nothing she could do to stop him, Jessica walked slowly up to the house, but she could not pretend to be very surprised when she heard from Lord Gordon a day or two later that Sir Brian had departed for London, taking his nephew with him.
6
F OR A WEEK LONGER Jessica kicked her heels in Cornwall, but her thoughts were often in London with Sir Brian. She found herself wondering what he was doing at a particular moment and whether or not he was still angry with her. Her own anger had dissipated very soon after she had returned to the house from the garden.
She still believed that she had been right to take him to task for his ham-handed mismanagement of a delicate situation, but she had learned in the short time she had known him that he was unaccustomed to criticism of any kind, particularly from a mere female—and one, moreover, whom he no doubt believed to take the same delight in spurning his amorous advances as she took in criticizing his management of everything from his West Indian estates and West Country mines to his nephew’s sensibilities. Perhaps she had been too critical, she told herself. She had certainly let her feelings about persons who exploited other persons be known. But then, when he had unmasked the pair of villains who had been exploiting them all, she had criticized his handling of the matter instead of congratulating him upon his successful investigation.
He had clearly
“How could you do such a thing?” she demanded.
Sir Brian regarded her quizzically. “I told you I meant to expose that lot for the villains they are. I thought I had done well to unmask them so quickly, considering how crowded my calendar has been of late.”
“But to have presented the facts of the matter in such a public way! To have humiliated Andrew like that. It was cruel, sir. I did not realize you could be so insensitive.”
He frowned, taken aback by her criticism, and a look of resentment crossed his face. “Andrew will recover, and I could see no reason, once I had the facts, not to make them known. I am sorry if I offended your sensibility, ma’am. I seem to do that rather often. First with my estates in the
Indies and my mines here, then by helping you out on the road, and now with my handling of this little affair. No doubt you would have managed things with far more dexterity if I had just kept out of it.”
“Well, I was handling them with dexterity until you chose to lose your idiotish temper and rip up at him over his wishing to marry that stupid girl,” she informed him bluntly. “And I believed I had made a recovery, too, despite the awkwardness occasioned by your precipitate disclosure of the fraud. He was well on the way to discovering for himself that his princess was no such thing. But that is beside the point now,” she added hotly. “I should certainly have chosen a more delicate way to disclose to him the facts you discovered than to blurt them out in front of Cyril and Georgie and the rest. There was no need to humiliate Andrew like that in front of all of us. He is young and very sensitive.”
“Then the sooner he grows up, the better it will be for him.” His resentment was nearly tactile, and Jessica fought an impulse to take a step away from him. Suddenly he shrugged. “Perhaps Andrew is not the only one who needs to grow up. Good day to you, Miss Sutton-Drew.”
To her frustrated astonishment, he turned his back upon her and strode angrily away. There being nothing she could do to stop him, Jessica walked slowly up to the house, but she could not pretend to be very surprised when she heard from Lord Gordon a day or two later that Sir Brian had departed for London, taking his nephew with him.
6
F OR A WEEK LONGER Jessica kicked her heels in Cornwall, but her thoughts were often in London with Sir Brian. She found herself wondering what he was doing at a particular moment and whether or not he was still angry with her. Her own anger had dissipated very soon after she had returned to the house from the garden.
She still believed that she had been right to take him to task for his ham-handed mismanagement of a delicate situation, but she had learned in the short time she had known him that he was unaccustomed to criticism of any kind, particularly from a mere female—and one, moreover, whom he no doubt believed to take the same delight in spurning his amorous advances as she took in criticizing his management of everything from his West Indian estates and West Country mines to his nephew’s sensibilities. Perhaps she had been too critical, she told herself. She had certainly let her feelings about persons who exploited other persons be known. But then, when he had unmasked the pair of villains who had been exploiting them all, she had criticized his handling of the matter instead of congratulating him upon his successful investigation.
He had clearly
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