Your butler informed me you were here. I thought-that is, I wondered how things were going."
"And since my butler didn't know," Ian concluded with amused irritation, "you decided to call on Elizabeth and see if you could discover for yourself?"
"Something like that," the vicar said calmly. "Elizabeth regards me as a friend, I think. And so I planned to call on her and, if you weren't here, to put in a good word for you."
"Only one?" Ian said mildly.
The vicar did not back down; he rarely did, particularly in matters of morality or justice. "Given your treatment of her, I was hard pressed to think of How did matters turn out with your grandfather?"
"Well enough," Ina said, his mind on meeting with Elizabeth. "He's here in London."
"And?"
"And," Ian said sardonically, "you may now address me as 'my lord.'"
"I've come here," Duncan persisted implacably, "to address you as 'the bridegroom.'"
A flash of annoyance crossed Ian's tanned features. "You never stop pressing, do you? I've managed my own life for thirty years, Duncan. I think I can do it now."
Duncan had the grace to look slightly abashed. "You're right, of course. Shall I leave?"
Ian considered the benefits of Duncan's soothing presence and reluctantly shook his head. "No. In fact, since you're here," he continued as they neared the top step, "you may as well be the one to announce us to the butler. I can't get past him."
Duncan lifted the knocker while bestowing a mocking glance on Ian. "You can't get past the butler, and you think you're managing very well without me?"
Declining to rise to that bait, Ian remained silent. The door opened a moment later, and the butler looked politely from Duncan, who began to give his name, to Ian. To Duncan's startled disbelief, the door came crashing forward in his face. An instant before it banged into its frame Ian twisted, slamming his shoulder into it and sending the butler flying backward into the hall and ricocheting off the wall. In a low, savage voice he said, "Tell your mistress I'm here, or I'll find her myself and tell her."
With a glance of furious outrage the older man considered Ian's superior size and powerful frame, then turned and started reluctantly for a room ahead and to the left, where muted voices could be heard.
Duncan eyed Ian with one gray eyebrow lifted and said sardonically, "Very clever of you to ingratiate yourself so well with Elizabeth's servants."
The group in the drawing room reacted with diverse emotions to Bentner's announcement that "Thornton is here and forced his way into the house." The dowager duchess looked fascinated, Julius looked both relived and dismayed, Alexandra looked wary, and Elizabeth, who was still preoccupied with her uncle's unstated purpose for his visit, looked nonplussed. Only Lucinda showed no expression at all, but she laid her needlework aside and lifted her face attentively toward the doorway.
"And since my butler didn't know," Ian concluded with amused irritation, "you decided to call on Elizabeth and see if you could discover for yourself?"
"Something like that," the vicar said calmly. "Elizabeth regards me as a friend, I think. And so I planned to call on her and, if you weren't here, to put in a good word for you."
"Only one?" Ian said mildly.
The vicar did not back down; he rarely did, particularly in matters of morality or justice. "Given your treatment of her, I was hard pressed to think of How did matters turn out with your grandfather?"
"Well enough," Ina said, his mind on meeting with Elizabeth. "He's here in London."
"And?"
"And," Ian said sardonically, "you may now address me as 'my lord.'"
"I've come here," Duncan persisted implacably, "to address you as 'the bridegroom.'"
A flash of annoyance crossed Ian's tanned features. "You never stop pressing, do you? I've managed my own life for thirty years, Duncan. I think I can do it now."
Duncan had the grace to look slightly abashed. "You're right, of course. Shall I leave?"
Ian considered the benefits of Duncan's soothing presence and reluctantly shook his head. "No. In fact, since you're here," he continued as they neared the top step, "you may as well be the one to announce us to the butler. I can't get past him."
Duncan lifted the knocker while bestowing a mocking glance on Ian. "You can't get past the butler, and you think you're managing very well without me?"
Declining to rise to that bait, Ian remained silent. The door opened a moment later, and the butler looked politely from Duncan, who began to give his name, to Ian. To Duncan's startled disbelief, the door came crashing forward in his face. An instant before it banged into its frame Ian twisted, slamming his shoulder into it and sending the butler flying backward into the hall and ricocheting off the wall. In a low, savage voice he said, "Tell your mistress I'm here, or I'll find her myself and tell her."
With a glance of furious outrage the older man considered Ian's superior size and powerful frame, then turned and started reluctantly for a room ahead and to the left, where muted voices could be heard.
Duncan eyed Ian with one gray eyebrow lifted and said sardonically, "Very clever of you to ingratiate yourself so well with Elizabeth's servants."
The group in the drawing room reacted with diverse emotions to Bentner's announcement that "Thornton is here and forced his way into the house." The dowager duchess looked fascinated, Julius looked both relived and dismayed, Alexandra looked wary, and Elizabeth, who was still preoccupied with her uncle's unstated purpose for his visit, looked nonplussed. Only Lucinda showed no expression at all, but she laid her needlework aside and lifted her face attentively toward the doorway.
( Judith McNaught )
[ Almost Heaven ]
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