he said drily, ‘that your settlement would be safe, as would my mother’s.’
‘That is not what I was worried about!’ She stared at him, aghast. ‘I was thinking about you, your brother—if he died of some sort of hereditary disease, it would explain why you do not wish for children. To have such a—a cloud hanging over you...’ She broke off, blinking furiously as tears blurred her eyes. Alexander looked quite thunderstruck, and no wonder, the poor man. He looked so healthy. Eloise searched frantically for her handkerchief.
‘Miss Brannagh, I am in rude health, I assure you. My brother’s demise was largely self-inflicted.’
‘Oh. I see.’ Though she didn’t, quite, but she could not possibly embarrass herself further by asking. ‘I don’t think I could bear to marry you, only to have you die on me. People would think I was a murderess as well as a gold-digger.’
She had meant it to make light of the situation, but his smile faded immediately. ‘I have only just met you, but I am absolutely certain that you are not a gold-digger.’
‘Well, no, I’m not, but...’
He caught her hands in his. ‘As you can imagine, the life of an Admiralty Victualling Commissioner is fraught, danger lurks behind every inventory. There, I have made you smile! But there is an important point to be made. What I’m proposing is a purely—I believe the term is companionate relationship, though we won’t be companions in that sense, for I will be away much of the time, as I said.’
‘I do understand that, Alexander. I’m not sure exactly...’
‘I won’t marry you, if you—forgive me if this sounds presumptuous, but you must not become overly fond of me.’
She was mistaken, was reading too much into what he said, he was simply being scrupulously honest, and she appreciated that. Yet there was such a bleakness in his eyes, his expression so earnest, and his grip on her fingers so tight. Then it dawned on her, and she felt extremely foolish. Even she, who considered herself utterly immune to such things, had found herself momentarily attracted to the man and he had sensed it. ‘I won’t fall in love with you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I assure you, that sort of thing is anathema to me, so you need have no fears, I will respect both our marriage vows and the terms under which we must live them.’
He studied her for a long moment. She held her breath, realising as she did so, that if he did not believe her, he would leave, and she wanted him to stay. Very much. When he nodded, her audible sigh of relief made her want to cringe. ‘Inscrutability is not one of my talents,’ she said.
To her surprise, he smiled. ‘I would rather say that you lack guile, and I find it charming.’
‘You mean I’m naïve.’
‘I always say what I mean, Miss Brannagh. You are a surprise. A very pleasant one.’
He lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss to her fingertips before getting to his feet. Wholly taken aback, flustered as much by the unexpected leaping of her pulses as by the odd compliment, Eloise glanced at the clock and exclaimed in dismay, ‘I haven’t even offered you a cup of tea. Would you like one? Please don’t say that you would, simply because you feel obliged to. If you think that perhaps we’ve said all there is to say and you wish to leave I won’t be—this would be a good time to—because there’s no point in continuing if...’
‘Take a breath, Miss Brannagh, I beg of you.’
He was, to her relief, still smiling. She did as he bid her. ‘What I’m trying to say is, if you have formed an unfavourable impression of me, following this admittedly awkward conversation, then it would be best if you said so now.’
Alexander’s smile broadened. He really did have a very, very attractive smile. ‘I’m not thinking any such thing.’
‘I was hoping not, as you have no doubt already surmised.’ She smiled back at him. ‘It comes of living in a household of four women, this habit of mine of speaking my thoughts without putting them into order. And also, because Kate and my sisters know me so well, of course. They always know if I’m trying to keep something from them. As I do when they try to do the same. In fact, I think I’m worse. I should warn you that I’m the sort of person who—who sees too much, if you know what I mean? I’m painfully observant. I wish I wasn’t. It makes me uncomfortable sometimes—I don’t mean I spy on my sisters, but I notice things they would rather I did not.’
‘Is that a warning, Miss Brannagh?’
‘Has it put you on your guard?’
He laughed. ‘Actually quite the opposite. I would very much like to continue our conversation, but I think we’d both benefit from some refreshment first, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’ Eloise got to her feet. ‘If you’ll excuse me,’ she said, ‘I’ll go and organise it.’
In the kitchen Eloise was immediately waylaid by Phoebe and Estelle, who were sitting at the huge scrubbed table guarding the tea tray which was set out in readiness, waiting to pounce on her the moment she appeared.
‘Is he as handsome close up as he looks from a distance?’
‘He was immaculately turned out. He does not have the look of a man who is a stranger to soap.’
‘You’ve been closeted away with him for an age. Why has it taken you so long to order tea? Look, Phoebe, she’s blushing.’
‘Do you like him, Eloise?’
‘Do you think he likes you?’
She refused to answer a single question while setting Phoebe’s freshly baked biscuits out on a plate, and there were a great deal more thrown at her while she waited on the water boiling. ‘I’ll tell you all about it later, I promise,’ Eloise said, picking up the tray.
‘Chapter and verse!’ the twins chorused in unison.
Returning to the drawing room, Eloise was even more flustered than when she had left fifteen minutes earlier. The fact that Alexander, when he crossed the room to take the tray from her, looked even more handsome on second viewing, did nothing to improve her fractured composure. It was a huge relief, she told herself, nothing more. It wasn’t that she wanted an attractive husband, but facing this man over the breakfast table would be no hardship.
‘Were you thinking that I had fled the country in embarrassment?’ Irked at the breathless note in her voice, Eloise sat down beside him and began to set out the cups. ‘Please try a biscuit. Phoebe made them. They are not sweet, but spiced.’
‘I take it, then, that you reassured your sisters, while making tea, that I am neither odiferous nor do I have bad breath. They would have seen for themselves that I don’t stoop or wear spectacles. I spotted them peering out of the window at me when I arrived.’
Eloise stopped in the act of spooning tea from the walnut caddy. ‘How embarrassing. I am so sorry.’
‘There’s no need to apologise. It’s perfectly understandable that they would be protective of their big sister
