Benedict's Challenge - Carole Mortimer Page 0,30
she was. Chloe had rested her hand briefly on the butler’s forearm in reassurance before hurrying down the hallway to the study, where the voices were loudest.
The last thing she had expected to see after opening the door was Benedict and Jimmy raining blows upon each other. “Release Jimmy at once, Benedict,” she now instructed when she saw one of his hands was about the younger man’s throat. “Whatever has occurred, I am sure strangling one of your guests is not the answer.”
“The satisfaction might be worth any repercussions,” he scorned.
“Do not be ridiculous.” Chloe stepped forward to release Benedict’s fingers from about Jimmy’s throat. “I have no idea what started the argument, but it now seems to have been reduced to a clash of male egos.” She shook her head as the two men, now both standing, continued to glare at each other. “Benedict, why were you trying to strangle Jimmy?” she prompted briskly.
“If that had really been my intention, I should have succeeded.” he assured her.
“You might have tried!” the other man came back sharply.
“Will the two of you please stop behaving like small children!” Chloe snapped her exasperation with both of them. She might have expected better from Benedict, at least. “And if you cannot talk to each other sensibly, then talk to me instead, so that I might try to arbitrate and help resolve the situation.”
Benedict’s glittering gaze remained fixed on the younger man, just as Jimmy’s was accusatory. But neither spoke, in their own defense or otherwise.
Finally, Jimmy let out a sigh. “Are you going to tell Chloe, or am I?”
“That would depend upon what it is you intend telling her,” Benedict bit out.
The younger man gave a sneer. “Why, that you are keeping the young and lovely Lady Winter locked away in the east wing!”
Chloe recoiled, hit with a wave of dizziness as the blood drained quickly from her head.
Both because of the accusation and the possibility of there being a Lady Winter—Benedict’s wife?—who was both young and lovely.
Chapter Eleven
“You idiot!” Benedict glared at Jimmy the moment he saw how pale Chloe had become as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. He stepped forward with the intention of assisting her if she fell, but Chloe roused herself and neatly avoided his touch by moving deftly away from him.
As if, Benedict realized with an inward groan, his very touch now repulsed her.
“I’m the idiot?” Jimmy scorned incredulously. “It seems to me that you’re the one who has a wife hidden away but is leading another young lady on by bringing her here and decking her out in beautiful dresses and jewelry.”
“I am not leading anyone on,” Benedict thundered.
Jimmy snorted. “I’ve seen the way you look at Chloe and the way she looks back at you. You should be ashamed of yourself, behaving that way when you ain’t free to do so.”
“I’m not so young, nor am I that impressionable,” Chloe rallied, indignant color returning to her cheeks.
“And I am free to do exactly as I please,” Benedict stated firmly.
“As I said earlier, you’re an arrogant bastard,” Jimmy muttered.
Benedict drew in a deep and steadying breath. “Could we all just calm down, and try to resolve this situation in a way there is at least some modicum of politeness left between the three of us at the end of it?”
“Fine with me,” Jimmy muttered as he dropped onto the chaise in front of the window, the ankle of one leg resting on the knee of the other as he looked up at Benedict expectantly.
“Of course.” Chloe kept her gaze lowered as she crossed the room to sit perched on the edge of the chaise beside Jimmy.
Leaving Benedict, as he loomed over the two of them, feeling as if he were a stern father, or possibly a headmaster, addressing recalcitrant children.
The last thing he felt toward Chloe was fatherly!
He could only hope that, after he had given his explanation, Chloe could forgive him for not having been honest with her. “The lady who resides in the east wing is indeed Lady Beatrix Winter.” His steely gaze remained on Jimmy. “She is my sister.”
Chloe was so relieved at hearing this that she fell back against the chaise, lightheaded for the second time today.
The very thought of Benedict having a wife had been enough to cause her to feel ill. Not just because of the intimacies the two of them had previously shared, but also because it would mean Benedict wasn’t the man she had previously thought him to