Chapter Ten
Two days later, Alice found herself sitting in Lord Arndel’s library, the gentleman unfashionably late for their meeting. She tapped her foot against the parquetry floor and stared out the window, watching as the gardener strode across the lawn with a wheelbarrow full of weeds.
At least the garden was looking a lot better than it used to.
The door opened and closed, the snip of the lock loud in the quiet room. Alice didn’t bother to turn and greet his lordship. He was late and there was no hiding the truth as to why she was here today.
They had a lot to discuss.
Lord Arndel strode past her and much to her dismay, the gray suede buckskin breeches looked worn and a little tattered. How bad were his financial woes? He didn’t bid her welcome, and her stomach twisted in nerves. For all her aplomb, even Alice understood the severity of their forthcoming conversation, and so it would seem, did he.
He sat, and with seeming reluctance, looked at her. He’d not slept, if the dark shadows beneath his eyes told her anything, nor did he seem pleased to see her. Which, she supposed, was understandable.
“I apologize for my tardiness and lack of formal attire. I was not expecting you until this afternoon.”
Alice looked away, as he hastily tried to right his cravat, and, unable to do it without a mirror, left it loose about his neck, the top shirt buttons lay open and allowed her to see his too-lovely shaped neck. Had he been sleeping? The thought of him idle in his bed, half dressed or perhaps even naked, wasn’t a helpful musing and she shook the deliberation aside.
“I must apologize for calling early. I have an appointment I do not wish to miss in Ashford. I hope you do not mind. Perhaps I should call another time, when you’ve had time to dress yourself appropriately.” Alice raised her brow, narrowing her gaze when he chuckled, the sound deep and oddly, seductive. She’d meant her remarks to be cutting, anything other than this longing that had taken over her body and wanted nothing more than for him to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. Just as he had a few days ago. What would his lordship do if she stood up and went and sat in his lap? Would his reaction be horror or hope?
“Tsk, tsk, my lady. You are all kindness this morning.”
She sighed. “I think you know, and let’s not pretend otherwise, why I am here today.”
“I have no idea.” He stared at her without a flicker of emotion, and Alice couldn’t believe the gumption of the man. He wanted her to state it, to bring up what obviously he wouldn’t. The cad.
“How old are you, Lord Arndel?”
He frowned at the change of subject. “Nine and twenty years, but I fail to see how this has anything to do with our discussion.”
“I’m merely wondering if your lack of memory is due to your ancient age, as it would seem that his lordship is nearly thirty, and so one could forgive you for your inability to remember as to why I would come.”
He smiled and her stomach tightened. Alice adjusted her seat and fought to pull herself into some form of decorum. There was something wrong with her to be so out of sorts. It was most certainly not due to Lord Arndel and his ability to fluster her without even saying a word. She inwardly swore.
“You wish to discuss the ball you’re hosting in my honor.”
Alice ground her teeth, hating the fact he was baiting, teasing her to the point where she would lose her temper and say or do something she would regret. She nibbled her bottom lip and with a little satisfaction watched as his lordship’s attention fixed on her mouth.
“Not the ball, no. Although that would be a much preferable conversation. Alas, due to your actions over the last few months, the ball and its organization will have to wait.”
He didn’t say anything, just stared at her with a stoic visage. “Go on, then. I wait with keen interest.”
“You leave me with little choice and so I will be blunt. How long have you been the Surrey Bandit?”
“A while.”
For a moment Alice didn’t say a word, having not expected him to be so honest. “Is that all the reply I’m going to receive from you, my lord? A while. Are you not ashamed of your actions? I would’ve thought an apology was in order, since you stole from my family. But it would seem you believe this kind of behavior is acceptable.”
“Would saying ‘sorry’ make what I’ve done to you forgivable?”
His eyes were no longer filled with mirth.
“No.”
“Well then,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “It is a wasted word that I do not need to say.”
She gaped. Unbelievable, insufferable coxcomb. “Do you hear yourself? You sound, and forgive my language, like an ass. You ought to beg forgiveness from everyone. You have a home, land, and a daughter, although you keep her from everyone for reasons only you yourself know. And yet you would risk all of that to line your pockets with gold.”
“You have no idea as to why I stole, and yes, it was wrong, but people will do what is required for those around them to live normal, healthy lives without danger or threat. And I would do it all again should my loved ones be threatened.”
“Were they threatened?” she asked, wondering at his choice of words.
His lordship rubbed his jaw and looked toward the windows for a moment.
“You forget that you also stole from me, Lady Alice. Two wrongs do not make a right.” He laughed, mockingly.
“Answer the question, dammit. Are you being threatened? Is there more to this thieving that you’re not telling me?” Such a possibility hadn’t entered Alice’s mind, and on reflection, even she would consider such crimes, if her family was in danger. Of course, such thoughts were wrong, and in church next Sunday she would have to beg forgiveness for such views, but it didn’t change the fact that she would still do what was required to survive.
“Language, my lady.” Arndel stood and came about the desk, leaning against it before her. Alice sat back in her chair, not liking that being this close to his lordship did all sorts of absurd things to her body. It was not her own when around him, and as hard as she tried, she could not get her heart to behave.
“Your mouth is quite the dirty little fiend when riled.”
Alice stood, coming up to stand almost eye level with him. “That’s a lark coming from you, for as I recall, you enjoyed my mouth.” Where the words came from, or the gumption to say them, Alice had no idea, but say them she did, and the heated turn of his demeanor left her knees weak and her stomach coiling in expectation.
He reached up and laid a finger against her lips, and her breathing hitched. “I wonder what else your mouth could do when tutored.”
Alice frowned, not understanding the meaning behind his words. She should step away, she really ought. “And will it be you who tutors me?” His finger slid across her lips, and a heavy ache settled between her thighs. “After your kiss the other day, I find your technique lacking, my lord.”
He smirked. Smirked! And Alice had the urge to swipe off such a delectable lilt to his lips. Lord Arndel was truly acting the rogue.
“I don’t believe that for a moment. And no matter how much you may deny it, you liked my kiss. Admit it.”
Heat suffused her face. “I did not. If anything, it only proved that you, my lord, are a debaucher and thief whom, after this ball, I shall have nothing to do with.”
“Well,” he said, standing and pushing her back by her shoulders before walking around to the other side of his desk and taking his seat. “How will I ever recover from the cut direct such as the one you intend to give me?”
Alice strode up to the desk and leaned over the mahogany. “This conversation is not over, sir. You must pay for what you’ve done, and I’m here to ensure that is the case.”
“And what does the honorable Lady Alice Worthingham suggest? Please don’t say you wish for another kiss, for the first one was torture enough.”
Alice pushed away the flicker of hurt that his words caused. He had to be lying, for remembering back to their embrace, it had been anything but torture and he had seemed to enjoy it.
“As you know,” she said, pacing before his desk. “I have a row of cottages that are about to be renovated. I need a man on site who’ll overlook all that I wish to be done. My mama has raised concerns over me doing it myself, and because I love her so dearly, I promised to be a little less…”
“In everyone’s business?”
She glared at him. “No. Inappropriate, even though I don’t believe doing something to help others could be deemed as such, but we must keep the upper ten thousand happy, mustn’t we?”
He shrugged. “I never have, nor will I ever. And neither will I fall into your plans, so it would be best that you find another gentleman to do your bidding.”
“I will not. And for two reasons,” she said, holding up two fingers. “First, you have no choice. Second, I will sweeten the deal for you, even though you deserve no such appeasement.”
He raised his brow. “How so?”
“Well, I’m glad you asked.” He rolled his eyes and she sat back down. “The crime you committed, should I go to my brother about, would either see you at the end of a noose, or transported for life. Because of Amelia, and only because of your daughter, Victoria and I have agreed to hold what we know to ourselves. We will, and I can promise on my life, never break that promise of silence, but of course, it comes at a price.”
Alice could see the muscle on his temple flex before he said, “And that fee is to help you with your cottage rebuilds.”
“Yes.” She smiled and he glared. “But that’s not all. Gathering the only jewel in the bag was Mama’s brooch, Victoria and I worked out an approximate value of £1200. Does that seem correct?”
…
Callum stopped grinding his teeth. Lady Alice Worthingham was clever, but even this went beyond what he ever thought her capable of, and he had held her in high regard. Well, until she’d come up with the absurd notion she was spouting right at this moment. “That seems correct.”
“Well, forgive my rudeness, but—”
He scoffed and she paused. Forwardness, if not rudeness, was her second nature.
“What?” she asked, looking at him like an innocent child and not the devil’s spawn she so obviously was.
He waved her concern aside. Something told him whatever Lady Alice had to say, he needed his wits about him. “Nothing, please continue.”
“What I was going to say was that your home seems in disrepair. You’re selling land, and you’re stealing items from wealthy land owners. Forgive me, my lord, but your pockets are to let.”
“My financial situation is not your concern, Lady Alice.” He threw her a silencing stare, which of course, she ignored.
“I find speaking frank and to the point is best, and Lord Arndel, by the state of your library, anyone can assume what I’ve just stated. But it is here that I think I can help.”
“You cannot save everyone, my lady. Now,” he said standing, wanting the little minx out of his house. He’d had enough of being told what he already knew: that he was asset-rich but bloody broke. Not even able to keep his daughter safe from moneylenders hell bent on claiming their pound of flesh. “I think it best that you return to Dunsleigh.”
“I don’t,” she said, not moving. “I will offer you a boon, and I think you should take the offer. I know you’ll not see it favorably, but again, should you refuse, I shall have to think again about keeping your secret safe. For my solution will help you and your daughter, who is my main concern in all this trouble you’ve brought upon your head.”
With each word out of her mouth, no matter how consuming or exquisite, right at this moment, were he not a gentleman, he’d throw the Lady Alice Worthingham out on her perfectly shaped ass. If only the solution he was sure she was about to disclose was as easy as that.
“I will, therefore, offer to pay you each week up until the equal value of the amount you stole. I’m sorry that money has caused you to act in such a way, but I believe you should swallow your pride, if not for yourself, most certainly for Amelia. No one need know of our arrangement. It’ll be between you and me.”
You and me. The words pulled him from the red haze he was starting to see her through. As much as she was trying to help, the thought of charity, when he’d grown up with nothing but second-hand goods and, sometimes, a peer’s leftovers, made his fists clench at his side. He’d promised to find a way forward with this estate in the atrocious condition it had been left for him, but he’d be damned if he’d accept help from an interfering miss who thought too highly of herself. Not that her offer helped in the least. The moneylenders wanted the Duchess of Penworth’s brooch, the last trinket in a long line of beautiful jewels that had paid off his cousin’s debt.
“Forgive me for being blunt and not a little rude, but get out. Now.”
She gasped and for a moment, he regretted speaking to her so, not liking the hurt that flickered through her eyes. But she needed to leave. Immediately. Before he picked her up and placed her outside, preferably on a rose bush with thorns or a freshly laid horseshit patty.
She gathered up her gloves, pulling them on vigorously while glaring at him. He marveled at her courage. Even in the face of his temper, she had a backbone. Callum couldn’t help but adore her more for it. “Think about my offer. All of what I offer.” She walked to the door and paused. “Work in Ashford commences tomorrow. I’ll be there from nine.”
Callum held up his hand, not wanting to hear another word. No gentleman should swear in front of a woman, but that was all he wished to do. “Good day, Lady Alice.” Not that she was acting like one.
She curtsied. “Good day, my lord.”
“Daddy?”
Alice stopped on the threshold and looked up to where his daughter stood at the top of the stairs.
Callum sighed, gesturing for his daughter to come down. “Amelia, this is Lady Alice Worthingham, the Duke of Penworth’s sister. Lady Alice, this is my daughter, Miss Amelia Arndel.”
Alice dipped into a curtsy and so, too, did Amelia. Callum smiled, knowing she’d been practicing for such situations for months. He winked at his daughter.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Amelia. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Callum frowned, knowing Alice was lying to save his own rude ass at not telling anyone of his daughter’s existence. Why he had not, he doubted he’d ever fathom. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of her. He loved Amelia more than life itself, but perhaps he’d wished to keep her safe from people who would view her differently for not having been born a peer.
“You have?” Amelia clasped Callum’s hand. “Papa, you told her ladyship about me? How exciting.”
Alice chuckled. “He did and he told me you’re doing very well in your studies.”
Something in Callum’s chest thumped hard at how kind Alice was being toward his daughter. And what a spectacular liar she was. And what a total ass he’d been.
“I am, my lady. I’m studying very hard and learning all my letters and I can count now up to one hundred.”
“That’s wonderful. How very proud your father must be.”
Callum swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “I’m always proud of my poppet, no matter what she does.”
Amelia smiled up at him and Callum lifted her up. Alice eyed them a moment, before she turned back toward the door.
“Alas, I must go, but thank you for seeing me today, my lord. And Amelia?”
“Yes,” his daughter said, her eyes bright with expectation.
“I think we’re going to be great friends, and so would you mind calling me Alice? Titles are so tiresome sometimes, don’t you agree?”
“I would love to call you Alice. Thank you, my lady.”
Alice chuckled at his daughter’s lapse already. “I will call again, Amelia, and we’ll have tea. All young ladies need to learn such etiquette if they’re to host afternoons in Town when they’re older.”
Amelia turned to Callum. “Can Alice teach me, Papa? Please say yes?”
“Of course,” he said, nodding to the woman wiggling under his skin more each day. What a truly remarkable soul Alice was, even if she was a meddler at times. “Thank you for the offer.”
“It’s no trouble. Amelia and I will have a jolly good time. I’m sure of it.”
The footman opened the door and Alice turned to leave. “Think about my offer, Lord Arndel.”
He glared at her departing figure, all good humor going at the reminder. “Good day, my lady, and thank you again for coming.”
She waved a hand over her head but didn’t reply.
Unable to control his ire, Callum slammed the front door before she reached the second step. He strode back into his library, his footsteps like the drum of a war march before the battle. Various servants stopped to see what the ruckus was about, but with a steely glare, they soon went back to their employment.
He placed Amelia down on the chair before his desk, before pouring himself a whisky, swirling the golden liquid in the crystal glass before downing it in one swallow. How dare she expect him to heel to her rules? He would never, under any circumstances, be blackmailed again. Callum would sooner walk down the main thoroughfare of Mayfair naked before doing as she asked.
“Papa, Lady Alice had the loveliest gown I’ve ever seen. Did you see?”
Arndel looked up, having forgotten his daughter was in the room with him. He smiled and, picking her up, sat down with her on his lap.
“I must admit I didn’t notice her ladyship’s gown.” Liar, he had noticed her attire, right down to the delicate fichu that sat across her chest that attempted to conceal the delicacies hidden beneath. He tweaked her button nose when she gave him a disbelieving stare.
“I hope she calls again. I would love to take tea with a real lady. She has lovely hair.” Amelia sighed and Callum smiled. Alice did have lovely long locks, and he wished he’d managed to feel them the day they’d kissed. Not that that would ever happen again. ’Twas a shame, for no matter his lies to her, Lady Alice’s untutored lips had been delightful. Another lie he’d told.
His daughter looked up at him, her normally perfect forehead furrowed in confusion. “Do all gentlemen slam doors after their guests have left? Nanny says gentlemen should always open the doors for ladies and bow in farewell, or perhaps even kiss their hand, so long as the lady has a glove on.”
Guilt rolled through him at the thought of his crass, ungentlemanlike behavior. That his daughter had been privy to it made it even worse. He ought to be taken outside and horse whipped. “I apologize for what you witnessed, Amelia. I shouldn’t have slammed the door behind Lady Alice. I was angry and upset over something we had discussed earlier, but even so, that is no excuse. I will be sure to apologize to her next I see her.” Arndel inwardly shook his head at his own actions. What was I thinking? The woman, vexing as she was, held his little angel’s future in the palm of her hand. He would be wise to think over her offer and meet her in Ashford on the morn, for he could never bear to lose or leave his precious girl.
“Papa, are you angry with me?”
“Of course not. What makes you ask such a thing?” he asked, pushing a lock of hair away from her eyes and meeting her gaze.
His daughter’s little hand rubbed against his face and tried to pull his lips into a smile. “You look mad at me.”
“Never at you, pet. I was thinking of how terribly I’ve acted. I promise it shall never happen again.” And it would not. If there was one thing Callum honored, it was his word to his daughter.
“Will you allow me to ride Whiskers today? Nanny said I was free to play for an hour or two.”
For all the years he would live, Callum would forever marvel at how changeable children and their thoughts could be. He hugged her for a moment, before swinging her up into his arms and onto his shoulders, eliciting a squeal of excitement from her.
“Well, we had better make the most of our time and get out to the stables straight away. And, when we return, would you like to have lunch in the dining room with me? I’ll be all alone, otherwise.”
“Oh, yes please, can I? I should practice, Papa, since I’m going to be a lady when I grow up, exactly the same as Lady Alice.”
Callum walked toward the back of the house, ensuring his daughter didn’t hit her head on the door threshold as they headed toward the stable. Her future was paramount, and, if for a time, he had to please the esteemed Worthingham daughter, then so be it. He would bow to her decree and ensure the little lady atop his shoulders was forever free of scandal. As for his cousin’s debt and the final jewel that was due, well, he could only hope the sale of his horses and the money that would bring would be payment enough for the moneylenders.
To work for Alice for some weeks would be no hardship. Callum could only hope he could withstand the company of the little minx without strangling her…or kissing the hell out of her.