Page 46 of A Virgin for the Rakish Duke

“Not a bit of it. There is some kind of a bee in his bonnet, though. I think you are best placed remaining here and seeing if you can't dislodge it, Hattie.”

She left the room, and Harriet immediately rounded on Jeremy.

“That was rude,” she shot.

“I did not invite either of you,” he pointed out.

“You did not, and I did not invite you under my skirts that I can recall,” she hissed back.

He strode towards her. “Did you not? Was it not you then who was reaching through the curtain and fondling my buttocks?”

Harriet flushed bright red, remembering her own reckless passion.

“Well… I suppose I did at that. I do not mind admitting it, though I increasingly regret even letting you kiss me. Is this how a rake divests himself of an unwanted female after he has tired of her? You ignore me for a week and then treat me like a beggar at your door!”

She strode away from him, folding her arms tightly. She looked out of the window, seeing Jane walking away from the house along a gravel path.

Poor Jane. Caught between us. She does not want to be here. She has her beau to think about, not my ridiculous mess…

“You deny knowing Simon Winchester?” Jeremy said.

“I do!” Harriet replied, turning away from the window to confront him.

“Then how did he know of Eloise de Rouvroy? You cannot deny knowingher.”

“I wish I could! She threatened me and my brother. As to how Simon Winchester knew of her... how am I to know!”

“Because only two other people knew of Eloise, and I trust both.”

“Then perhaps your trust is misplaced,” she snapped.

They had come together again, standing almost toe to toe as they argued. Jeremy's eyes blazed, and he towered over her, but she did not care. She was incensed that she was being accused of betrayal. Of lying and conspiring to... to do what? Poison a business arrangement? Why should she care enough?

“Ah, I see,” Jeremy laughed with a tone of triumph, “you sow seeds of distrust concerning my friends. The tactic of a spy.”

Harriet was left gaping at the accusation.

“Or of an innocent woman defending her honor. I am no spy. What do I have to gain from betraying you to this Simon Winchester?” she asked.

Jeremy stared at her for a long moment and then turned away with a grimace. He tugged sharply on a bell-pull and threw himself into an armchair.

“Contrast that to the question of what I have to lose,” Harriet said, “my freedom. If this arrangement of ours ends, I go back to being a virtual prisoner of my brother. And whether you believe me or not, that is the very last thing I want.”

With the next to last being losing the attentions of this infuriating but exciting man! How can I still want him after his maddening accusations? He is prickly. Too prickly to touch, let alone embrace. He is arrogant. He is... is... infuriating!

Jeremy ran his hands through his hair, leaning forward to sit with his elbows on his knees. He stared broodingly into the fireplace. A knock came at the door.

“Come in!” he barked.

When the door opened to admit the butler, Jeremy snapped.

“Brandy!”

Atkins bowed and withdrew without missing a beat, closing the door quietly behind him. Jeremy glared at Harriet.

“It is too much. They told me that my character was in question because of my association with a French divorcee. I do not denythat I have been a rake. That my morality has been questionable in the past. But it is the past. How did they know?”

Harriet paced the room.