She lifted her gaze to his face, the corners of her almond-shaped eyes crinkling with unmistakable laughter. “I take it you were not expecting me.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned to his sister. “Cassandra, my dear,” she said, holding out her hands to give Cassie’s a squeeze. “Lovely to see you again.”
“I was so glad to get your telegram,” Cassie said with a profound and obvious relief he did not understand. “And I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Whyisshe here?” Simon asked his sister. “And what telegram?”
He was ignored.
“I was happy to come,” Delia replied. “I just hope I can help.”
“Help with what?” he asked, but he was again ignored as Delia turned expectantly toward the handful of servants who had now joined them in the drive.
“This is Mr. Filbert, our butler,” Cassandra supplied, “and Mrs. Knight, our housekeeper. And Mrs. Morrisey, my governess-companion.”
“How do you do?” Delia murmured. “Mrs. Knight, I’m afraid my maid was obliged to remain in town. If it isn’t too much trouble, could you perhaps have one of the housemaids do for me while I’m here?”
“I will see to you myself, my lady,” the woman replied.
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t dream of causing you any inconvenience of that sort. No, no, a housemaid will do quite well. As you can see,” she added, gesturing to the pile of luggage footmen were now removing from the boot of the carriage, “I didn’t bring much with me. I won’t be wearing anything too elaborate.”
To Simon’s decidedly middle-class eyes, a trunk, two hatboxes, and three valises seemed like an alarming amount of luggage, andhe wondered in consternation not only what she was doing here, but also just how long she intended to stay. When she moved toward the house with Cassie beside her, he decided he was going to find out that information right now.
He reached out, putting a hand on her elbow before she could move out of reach. “We need to talk, Countess,” he said in a voice that brooked no opposition. “If you will excuse us, Cassandra?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, but immediately began steering Delia across the drive to get her out of Cassie’s earshot.
“We don’t really have time for a conversation just now, do we?” Delia said as he turned the corner of the house with her in tow. “It’s half past six already, and I need a bath before dinner. So do you, obviously—”
“Later,” he cut her off, and as he pulled her along a moss-covered flagstone path, just the contact of his hand on her arm was enough to start arousal flickering to life inside him. “We are going to have a little chat first.”
He led her under the arch of an arbor, where he finally stopped amid the bare canes, iron pillars, and wooden trellises of the rose garden. Letting her go, he faced her, plunked his hands on his mud-encrusted hips, and launched into speech.
“My God, woman, do you never take no for an answer? I begin to see why you’ve had three husbands. The poor devils couldn’t run fast enough to get away.”
She made a sound of outrage. “You think I came down here chasing afteryou? What unbelievable conceit!”
“Is it?” he shot back, feeling trapped and frustrated, not by her, but by his own traitorous, ungovernable feelings where she was concerned. “After what happened a fortnight ago?”
“You mean when you kissed me?”
“I didn’t kiss you,” he took great satisfaction in pointing out. “You kissed me.”
She tossed her head, a gesture he was coming to know well, one that told him his shot had gone home. “Well, you weren’t exactly pushing me away.”
“I did push you away!”
“After you practically kissed my mouth off.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, and any satisfaction he felt dissolved in the wake of that undeniable point. He decided it was time to change tack. “Either way, what are you doing here?”
“I’m not here for you, so you needn’t worry I’ll fling myself into your arms. I made that mistake once, and believe me, once was enough. It will not happen again, I assure you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To help Cassie, of course. Didn’t she tell you I was coming? Well,” she added as he shook his head, “she probably hasn’t had time. After all, I only telegraphed her from the station two hours ago. Still, I had assumed she would—”
“Wait,” he cut in, his frustration deepening, “you sent her a telegram from the train station inviting yourself down here on the spur of the moment?”
