The Bareknuckle Groom - Holly Bush Page 0,16

playing the piano and several were singing with the tune. There were a few men in the library he passed, talking softly and seriously, about some pressing government matter, no doubt. He continued down the hallway and turned right as his instructions had said, down a quiet and dimly lit corridor to the next to last door. He looked right and left, straightened his tie, and ran a hand over his hair before turning the knob and letting himself into the room. It seemed deserted at first glance, a sitting room for the lady of the house, most likely. He turned when he realized there was someone else in the room. It was not whom he had expected.

Lucinda Vermeal slid into view from the shadows and leaned back against the closed door.

“Miss Vermeal. This is undoubtedly a situation neither of us would like to be caught in,” he said. “Excuse me. I’m meeting someone and must have the wrong room. My apologies for disturbing you.”

“No, Mr. Thompson. You do not have the wrong room. Mrs. DeLuca will not be joining you.”

James narrowed his eyes and walked toward her. To her credit, she did not flinch or in any way alter her expression of disdain—and perhaps anger. What in the world could she have to be angry about?

“What is this about, Miss Vermeal? I do not appreciate deceptions.”

She stared at him, the only hint of emotion the slight widening of her nostrils, as if she was preparing herself to face a foe.

“Please step aside,” he said with less courtesy.

“I will not,” she replied.

“Then it will be a long evening without refreshments or friends. I will climb out the damn window, if necessary, before your chaperone comes charging in to save you from my evil wiles and you both disparage my name.”

He turned and strode toward the window, fully intending to somehow escape the room, and his captor, even if he had to shimmy down a tree to do so. His hand was on the sash to lift it when she spoke.

“Disparage your name! You, you pompous ass! Telling those men what you did about me and making my life uncomfortable for the sole purpose of your pleasure in bragging.”

He turned to her. “What are you talking about?”

“At the Pendergast ball three weeks ago. What you said had come back to my Papa by the next morning.”

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t say anything to any . . .” His words trailed away from her, as did his eyes.

“You do know what I’m talking about. I can see it in your face! You villain!”

James shook his head. “It was nothing. I said nothing that was disrespectful or would have belittled you.”

“That can’t be true. My Papa tells me that can’t be true, and he has a well-developed web of friends who say it is true!”

“There’s a young lady I was trying to discourage without insulting her. I had just danced with you, and the men in her crowd were asking about you, and I said you had enjoyed our dance. That’s all.”

“But you were trying to discourage another young lady, so you must have implied something more, and it was said you implied that you’d won my affections.”

James shook his head. “It was not much of a remark. Maybe the gossips changed some of the details. I don’t know. But it was never meant to be a claim on you.”

“You don’t understand my Papa and his expectations,” she said and looked away, giving him a view of the long length of her very pale neck.

That was when it dawned on him what her father’s real objections were. He walked closer to her, the subtle scent of roses reaching his nose, and she turned her head back to face him as he approached, those limpid blue eyes focused on him. She arched one brow as he stepped within a few inches of her.

“I think I know the real reason your daddy was so upset,” he said softly and ran one finger from her cheek to her chin. She gazed up at him coolly, the only evidence of any nervousness or fear was the pulse fluttering at the base of her neck. “He wasn’t upset you’d danced with a man you’d been introduced to; he was upset that it was me, a Scotsman, a boxer, and an uncouth ruffian.”

She took an impatient breath. “Of course that upset him, but your comments afterward made him furious.”

“You mean the comment I