me. I have no reputation worthy of losing.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It strikes me that you have put an enormous amount of effort into building just such a reputation.’
‘It strikes me that you are doing a very poor job of winning me over.’
‘I can see you are resolved not to assist me, and so I will make my own arrangements.’
His hands tightened on her arms. He pulled her the tiniest bit closer. She could feel his breath on her face. Her heart hammered in her breast. She was hot. Her stomach was churning. She felt as if she were hovering on the edge of a cliff, that giddy temptation to leap into the void almost overwhelming.
‘You would not dare,’ he said.
No, she would not, but nor would she back down now. ‘Did I falter when faced with the challenge of riding your unbroken horse?’ Caro asked.
Sebastian swore under his breath. ‘You would, wouldn’t you? No, don’t answer that.’
‘So take me then, Lord Chivalrous, it is surely your duty to do so. Your father would certainly expect it of you, to protect his neighbour’s daughter.’
Sebastian’s smile turned immediately to a frown. ‘I could easily inform your father of tonight’s events and this discussion, but you will note that I do not threaten any such thing, even though it is what any responsible man would do.’
The sudden change in his demeanour shocked her. She had quite forgotten what he had said of his relationship with his father, having dismissed it as a mere passing quarrel, but things had obviously not improved. ‘I beg your pardon, I meant only to tease.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he replied, though she could see that it patently did. ‘Caroline, you cannot—must not—go to Crockford’s alone.’
She refrained from making any further comment, aware that she had come very close to overstepping the mark. Her heart thudded as she watched him wrestling with his conscience. Her own was beginning to bother her. It was unfair of her. And wrong. But she had come too far to back down now.
She was eventually rewarded with a weary nod. ‘Very well,’ Sebastian said, ‘you leave me with no option, Crockford’s it is. But I earnestly hope we do not live to regret this rash decision.’
Chapter Three
Crag Hall—summer 1830
‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’
Sebastian looked up wearily from the account book to find Caro standing in the doorway. She wore a simple gown, cream striped with pale green and lemon. The scooped neck showed the soft swell of her breasts, the fragile hollows at the base of her throat. Her hair hung in soft, fiery tendrils over her shoulders. There were still shadows under her eyes, but her skin, no longer ashen, had regained the rich creaminess which had always fascinated him. There remained a fragility about her, she was still far too slim, but she had come a long way since he had brought her here. His mouth went dry as he met her eyes, the blue of a summer sky. Even after all that had passed, even with all that he knew of her, just looking at her was like a kick in the stomach. ‘You look better.’
‘Thanks to several good nights’ rest and a bath. Your housekeeper told me I would find you here. It is very—cosy.’
Convenient was the word he would have used, for the room served as his dining room, study and parlour. Seeing it through Caro’s eyes however, Sebastian realised that it was also cramped and rather shambolic. The large walnut desk stacked with account books, papers and tomes on all aspects of agriculture took up much of the available space. Two wingback chairs faced each other across the hearth. A bookcase occupied another wall, and the small table with two matching chairs took up the only remaining space, leaving little room for manoeuvre. ‘I find it adequate for my simple needs,’ he said defensively. ‘I am close to the stables, I don’t have to employ a small army of servants, and it suits me well enough.’
‘Mrs Keith told me that you kept the staff to a minimum, so I suggested I eat here with you from now on to avoid being an additional burden to the household.’ Caro picked her way across the room to the table and sat down. ‘She looked most disapproving. I suspect she thinks we do more than eat together.’
‘She may disapprove, but she won’t gossip, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
Caro rested her chin on her hand, eyeing him speculatively. ‘Are you having second thoughts, Sebastian? Mrs Keith may not gossip, but you know what it’s like in the shires, my being here will probably already have been discussed over the breakfast cups at every house in the county.’
Sebastian pulled out a seat and joined her at the table. He had been so engrossed in his accounts that he’d failed to notice that it was set for two. Having persuaded her to stay, persuaded himself that his motives were purely chivalrous, her remaining closeted in her room these last two days had allowed him to fool himself into thinking that he had quite forgotten her presence. This unexpected domesticity rather took him unawares. ‘I told you,’ he said, ‘I don’t give a damn what the county say of me.’
‘It’s certainly clear that you have made no effort to endear yourself.’
‘What the devil do you mean by that?’ Sebastian demanded, irked as much by the cool confidence of her tone as by her words.
‘Look at this room, it is as if you are camping out and will pack up and leave at any moment. As to the rest of the house—Sebastian, it cannot have escaped your notice that it is sadly neglected. Mrs Keith tells me all the rooms save yours are shut up. She said that I am the first person to stay here since your father died. She said...’
‘She said a great deal too much. It was my father who let the house go, if you must know. It was like this when I returned from my travels.’
‘Perhaps it was like this because you did not return from your travels earlier.’ Caro dropped her coffee cup with a clatter. ‘I’m sorry. That was unpardonable, I have no right to pass comment on your behaviour.’
‘It was. And you don’t,’ he said tightly.
She buttered a slice of bread, cut it carefully into four triangles and began to nibble on one, saying nothing, but he was aware that she was studying him from under her lashes. Sebastian poured himself another cup of coffee and sipped it broodingly. ‘I don’t see what my neglecting my house has to do with what the damned county think of me,’ he said.
‘No?’
She shrugged, and started on a second triangle of bread. She had very white teeth. She had a very sharp mind. He had no need to justify himself to her. ‘Besides, I have no time for the upkeep of this great barn of a place. Keeping the land in good heart takes all of my time and energy. Not that I get any thanks for that either.’
‘I expect it’s difficult for you to understand the way of things here. You told me the first day we met,’ she added, in response to his questioning look, ‘that you spent as little time as possible at Crag Hall. It is hardly to be expected that you would know how to manage such a large estate.’
Much as he would
