Page 65

She sighed. “He won’t let it go just like that. He’s like a dog with a bone. He’s been… been bothering us since Papa died. He’s one of Papa’s creditors, you see.”

Theo did see. He’d known a hundred men like Lord Downton—a thousand, in fact—and they were all more or less the same. Lustful, entitled, greedy, never quite content with what they had. He imagined that Lord Downton had a genteel wife and a handful of children at home. Not as much money as he would like, not as pretty a wife as he felt he deserved, and so on.

Men like him were never content. Theo had seen the way he looked at Anna, and it was nothing short of covetous. Anna was a beautiful woman, and she was intelligent and firm in her principles.

The allure was, as far as Theo could tell, in breaking the lady in question. Lord Downton seemed to have set his mind on Anna and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

It was a tale as old as time, and just as sickening as one would expect. Except…

“What was he talking about when he mentioned your mother?” Theo asked suddenly.

What little color there had been drained from Anna’s face. Her hands clenched by her sides.

“I won’t let him near my mother,” she choked out. “I won’t let her see that man ever again. I won’t let him hurt her. I won’t let him blackmail her… never, never again!”

Her vehemence shocked him a little.

“Wewill not let him near her again,” he corrected firmly. “Your business is mine now, remember?”

Anna wasn’t looking at him. She was staring off into the distance, unspoken thoughts dancing around in her head. All of a sudden, he wanted her to look at him—reallylook at him. If they hadn’t been in a crowded ballroom, he might have reached out and hooked a finger under her chin, turning her face towards him.

He did not, of course, and Anna seemed to snap out of her little reverie.

“I can’t stay here,” she said suddenly. “I need to find somewhere quiet. Excuse me, Your Grace.”

She turned and hurried away without another word, leaving him with a stinging sense of annoyance.

I am Your Graceagain.

He stood there for a moment, watching her scurry towards a dark hallway and disappear into it. He only wavered for a moment.

Sighing, he raked a hand through his hair and went after her.

CHAPTER 18

Anna’s heart was pounding. Seeing the Earl again had triggered a powerful feeling of nausea. To see himhere, among her new friends, in what was meant to be her new life, was more upsetting than she would have cared to admit.

He’s making a point. He’s telling me that wherever I am, whoever I marry, he can reach me.

She hurried blindly down the dark corridors. The deeper she went into the house—the parts that guests really weren’t meant to venture into—the quieter it got. There were no footmen around now, and the noise and music of the ballroom was steadily fading away. It was cooler, too, and she felt the flush of heat leaving her skin.

She suddenly heard echoing footsteps and whirled around in a blind panic, afraid that the Earl hadn’t left at all and had followed her into this lonely part of the house.

The hallway was empty, though, the flickering candles throwing dancing shadows.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Anna glanced around her. The nearest door was half-open, and through it, she glimpsed rows and shelves of books. A library.

It drew her in, and she was inside before she knew it.

Leaving the door ajar, she turned in a tight circle, finding her bearings. The library was largeish, clearly not well used. It was dusted and aired, of course—all rooms in such a large house would be—but there was an unused air to the place, the books standing silent and untouched on shelves. Only a handful of candles were lit, throwing most of the room into shadow.

Still, Anna had always loved libraries. The presence of books somehow managed to soothe her. There were comfortable-looking red velvet chairs everywhere, piled with fluffy cushions. Blankets were draped around the chairs as if somebody might fling themselves down at any moment with a good book and look around them for a blanket.

As usual, however, Anna found herself moving towards the window seat. It was well-padded, large and deep, with red velvet curtains that could be pulled around the window to give oneself a little private alcove of peace.

She plopped down and let out a long, ragged sigh, her eyes fixed on the door.

It wouldn’t be an odd thing for Theo to follow her, would it? He was her husband, after all, and shewasdistressed.