Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(31)

“Do you hunt?” Henry stared at her in fascination. “It’s dangerous for women, you know.”

Lily glanced at Raiford and found he was staring at her. She couldn’t prevent a teasing grin. “Why Henry, your brother said the same thing to me when we first met.” Their gazes held. Suddenly there was a betraying tug at the corner of Alex’s mouth, as if he were holding back a wry smile. “My lord,” Lily said impishly, “don’t worry that I’ll be a bad influence on Henry. I’m much more of a danger to older men than to younger ones.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “I believe you, Miss Lawson.” Ushering Henry from the room, he left without a backward glance.

Lily did not move. She was flooded with confusion, her heart thumping irregularly. The look of him all tired and disheveled, the protective hand he had placed on his small brother’s shoulder…all of it had made her feel strange. She was not the kind of woman who would fuss over a man, and yet she had a sudden wish that someone would smooth his hair, order a light supper for him, and make him confess what had put the troubled look in his eyes.

“Lily,” Zachary questioned, “do you think he believed our kiss was genuine?”

“I’m certain he did,” she replied automatically. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“He’s a very perceptive man.”

“I’m getting bloody tired of the way everyone overestimates him,” Lily said. Immediately she was sorry for sounding so sharp. It was just that she was astonished by the image that had come to mind. Her wilful imagination had conjured a picture of herself embracing Raiford, feeling his hard mouth against hers, his blond hair underneath her hands. The idea made her stomach tighten. Unconsciously she raised a hand to soothe the prickling on the back of her neck. She had been held by him only once, when she had fallen during the Middleton hunt and Raiford had picked her up and nearly strangled her. The power in his hands and the violence in his face had frightened her.

She doubted he had ever shown that side of himself to Caroline Whit-more.

Lily was immensely curious about the mysterious Caroline. Had she loved Raiford, or had she agreed to marry him because of his inordinate wealth? Or perhaps his aristocratic lineage…Lily had heard that Americans were quite impressed with titles and blue blood.

And what had Raiford been like around Caroline? Was it possible he had been warm and smiling? Had Caroline made him happy?

The unanswered questions annoyed Lily. She rebuked herself silently. It didn’t matter what Raiford’s lost love had been like. All that was important was that she rescue Penelope from him.

Alex bid the tutor good-bye and sighed as the man left. The man, a Mr. Hotchkins, was the fourth he had interviewed for the position of Henry’s tutor. So far none of them had been satisfactory. He guessed that it would take some time before he found a tutor with the right balance of discipline and understanding to suit Henry’s needs. Between that and the meetings he had held for the last few days with irate tenants, Alex had been busy. The tenants were angry because of the damage done to their crops by an abundance of marauding hares and rabbits. At the same time, his gamekeeper had informed him with some distress that the amount of poaching had increased considerably. “ ’Tisn’t bad that they poach t’ rabbits, sir,” the gamekeeper said. “But they’s trappin’ an’ poachin’ at night, an’ they’s interferin’ with the pheasants breed’n. There willnae be pheasant to shoot this year!”

Alex resolved the problem by offering to compensate the tenants for their damaged crops if they would restrict their illegal poaching—which they refused to admit doing in the first place. In the meanwhile, he’d had meetings with some of the district agents for his Buckinghamshire property, discussing their rent collecting and other aspects of estate management.

“You should appoint a full-time steward,” Lily had remarked to him after eavesdropping on some of the discussions. “Other men of your position do.”

“I know how to manage my own affairs,” Alex said brusquely.

“Of course.” Lily had given him a flippant smile. “You prefer to do everything yourself. You’d probably like to go and personally collect rent from each of your tenants, if you could but find the time. I’m rather amazed you don’t sweep and polish the floors in the mansion and knead the bread dough in the kitchen—why appoint a servant to do it, when you’re perfectly able?”

Alex had snapped at her to mind her own business, and she had called him a medieval tyrant.

Privately, he had considered her point. Much of the work he did could be handled just as well by subordinates. But what if he did manage to make more time for himself; what would he do? Spend it with Penelope? Although they were perfectly civil to each other, he and Penelope found no great enjoyment in each other’s company.

There were the options of gaming, hunting, parties, and politics in London. It all seemed a great bore. Alex supposed he could renew some old friendships. In the past two years he had avoided the company of his closest acquaintances, especially those who had known Caroline and expressed sympathy over her death. Alex hadn’t been able to stand the pity in their eyes.

Frustrated, moody, Alex went to visit Penelope, who clung to her mother like a shadow. He tried to converse with them, drinking a cup of the tepid tea they offered. Shyly Penelope glanced at him while she did embroidery-work on a tambour frame, drawing colored silk through fabric using a delicate hook. She looked maidenly and refined as her soft hands moved deftly over the white muslin. After a few minutes in the cloying atmosphere, he escaped with a mutter about needing to do more work.