Redeeming the Reclusive Earl - Virginia Heath Page 0,31
he was back to cutting his food with more aggression than the task warranted, it was patently obvious he did not want one. Effie had no idea where to look so stared mournfully at her plate, too, the awkward atmosphere as dense as city smog on a frigid winter’s morning.
‘Have you always lived at Hill House, Miss Nithercott?’
Effie grabbed his sister’s rescuing olive branch with both hands and for the rest of the meal the pair of them chatted over-brightly about everything and nothing while he did not attempt to say another word.
* * *
‘Thank you so much for having me.’
After another entirely mute half-hour in the drawing room, Lord Rivenhall accompanied his sister and Effie into the hallway to bid her farewell. She had never been so delighted to be leaving a place in her entire life and felt dreadfully sorry for Mrs Baxter who kept staring at her in abject apology. That they had managed half an hour in the drawing room was a miracle when he had continually glanced at the loudly ticking clock on the mantel every five minutes, making it as plain as day he was sat there on sufferance.
Effie never dared produce any of the interesting stash of coins, brooches and rings from her satchel which she had brought on Mrs Baxter’s express instruction and instead gulped down two large glasses of sherry in quick succession while she counted the seconds before she deemed it polite to leave.
She regretted that now.
Those two glasses on top of the dinner wine she had also consumed much too much of during the many awkward silences were making her head spin.
Smithson opened the door and she was almost out of it when Lord Rivenhall spoke for the first time since the main course.
‘Where is your carriage?’
‘I do not have one. I came on foot, my lord.’
‘But it is dark.’
‘I know the way home like the back of my hand. I have walked it often enough.’
‘But it is dark, Miss Nithercott.’ Nowhere near as dark as his eyes and his expression. ‘We have spoken about the dark. It is not safe for a woman all alone.’
‘Perhaps in London, my lord—but here in Cambridgeshire the only thing I am likely to encounter on my way home is the odd fox or badger.’
He shook his head and growled. ‘Smithson—have the stable ready two horses and bring them around immediately.’ Good grief, surely he did not mean to come with her?
‘Really, my lord, there is no need to trouble yourself or your poor stable master. In the time it takes to saddle the horses I will already be home. Hill House is just across the pasture.’ She pointed to the moonlit navy horizon while glancing pleadingly at Mrs Baxter, hoping she would aid in talking him out of it. ‘I do not want to be a nuisance.’
‘Miss Nithercott, I am afraid I agree whole-heartedly with my brother. What sort of neighbours would we be to leave you exposed to danger? It is best if Max accompanies you home. I should sleep easier knowing you are safe.’
‘I could send a message back the second I arrive if it would put your mind at rest.’ Although with the housekeeper and maid long gone home she would have to return to deliver it herself. ‘Honestly, this is unnecessary fuss when the walk takes less than fifteen minutes.’ She seriously considered making a bolt for it, but worried he might chase her. ‘And I am not a great fan of riding. Hence my choice to come on foot tonight.’
‘Then I shall walk with you, Miss No-common-sense-whatsoever.’ A prospect somehow more unnerving than riding alongside him. ‘Because alongside the badgers and the foxes are footpads. A man was robbed only last week on the turnpike not five miles from here. Something you would know if you read the newspapers alongside your scholarly books.’ A curt reminder, she supposed, that he disapproved of her extensive education, too. Typical, really. A woman with original thought! Whatever next!
‘For my own peace of mind as well as my sister’s I shall accompany you.’ And with that he strode past her out