The Earl Next Door Read Online Free

not barbarians, and are not in the habit of insulting young ladies, even if they do not have a chaperon in tow. If you intend to stay here – whoever you may be – I suggest you don’t forget it.’
And then, anger and confusion having temporarily driven the reason for her visit out of her mind, she turned on her heel, and sweeping up her cloak she crossed to the door. She had no intention of staying to be insulted, whoever the gentleman turned out to be.
‘It seems I have made a grave mistake. You must let me make amends.’
She did not falter. ‘No.’
But he was not prepared to take “no” for an answer. Reaching the door before her, he planted himself firmly in front of it, forcing her to confront him  –  and  forcing her,  for the first time, to really look at him.
She had not realised quite how tall he was. He was at least six inches taller than she herself, which made him a little over six feet, and his shoulders were broad. His body was well toned - which she found surprisingly at odds with his fashionable clothes, until she realised that it must have become well toned through riding and fencing, occupations that were as fashionable as his outfit. She took in his clothes: a tight-fitting pair of breeches which disappeared into top-turned boots - she could not help but notice the length of his legs - a high-collared shirt and a cutaway coat, beneath which was a striped silk waistcoat. Then she turned her eyes up to his face. His gaze was fixed on her, but his look was not admiring as it had been earlier. To her annoyance she discovered it was appraising.
‘You don’t like me very much, do you?’ he asked, reading her expression.
Something about him challenged her. ‘Correction,’  she said. She was now fully back in control of herself. ‘I don’t like you at all. Now kindly let me pass.’
He did not move. He was still planted in the doorway, arms folded across his broad chest. ‘Not until you give me a good reason for leaving so soon.’
She almost gasped. Surely he could not be serious? Was it not obvious? There were so many reasons she hardly knew where to begin! ‘Only one?’ she demanded.
An amused look flitted across his face. ‘As many as you like. Pray don’t stint yourself.’
She smarted at the mockery in his tone. It left her in no mood to mince her words. ‘Very well. I am leaving because I find you rude, arrogant and unscrupulous,’ she said.
‘Oh, do you?’ he said. But this time there was an undercurrent to his words. The mockery was still there but there was an edge to his voice, as though he did not like what he was hearing. ‘And is that all?’ he asked, quiet but dangerous.
‘No, it is not,’ she replied. She was determined not to let him control this situation as he had controlled the earlier part of their encounter. ‘I find you boorish, and . . .  and shallow.’
‘Shallow?’ he asked with a raise of one eyebrow. Then repeated, more softly, ‘Shallow.’ The anger left his face, and the mocking look was back in his eyes. ‘It’s the first time I have ever been described as  shallow.’
‘There is a first time for everything,’ she said. She cast him a look that dared him to make a joke out of her use of a cliché. And then, as he refused to move, she swept round him and out the door.
‘It can’t have been very serious,’ he remarked as she set foot over the threshold.
She stopped; then almost walked on.
‘Your business,’ he said.
She hesitated. Then turned. Slowly. And took him in. There was no more mockery in his eyes. He looked, for a moment, as though he might be someone to whom she could talk.
‘You said you wanted to see me on a matter of some urgency,’ he said.
A perplexed look crossed her face. She would rather sweep out of the room, reclaim her cart and head for home, putting the whole disastrous visit behind her. But the matter of the mantraps had not been resolved, and it was a matter of such importance that she knew she should swallow