The older woman cocked her head. “I cannot advise you if you do not explain.”
Slowly, pools of shining green looked up at the woman. “No, you cannot.”
Magdala tried to speak gently and failed. “Shall I fetch Payne?”
Throwing up her hands, Arabella barked, “Fetch more tea. Fetch something. Just leave me in peace! It is too early in the day for so many questions.”
Magdala paused, scowling at the tight-lipped woman before leaving the room.
Seeking distraction, Arabella came to her feet and stepped nearer the hearth, her gaze turning to the portrait of the woman. Their expressions were a match at that moment, both a little lost. Both trapped.
From the shadowy stairs, Gregory spoke. “Her name was Emily.”
Arabella turned her head and did her best to hide what she was feeling. “A beautiful name.”
Closing the distance between them, he stared hard into her eyes. “You could not have slept more than a few hours.”
“I seldom do.” She frowned a little and looked back toward the fire.
His voice dropped lower as he tugged a loose curl by her temple. “You slept the night full on the moors with me.”
She seemed to be considering the memory, a little line forming between her brows. “Please don’t be unpleasant.”
Lowering his chin to his chest, black eyes smoldered. “If you would have remained in bed like a good girl, I would have made it very pleasant for you.”
“Yet it would have scandalized my Magdala,” Arabella said quietly, aware the housekeeper was near enough to hear every word. “Unless, of course, that was your intention.”
“I told her yesterday that I was going to put you over my knee... she seemed to approve.” Backing her into her chair, Mr. Harrow made it clear she better stay put before claiming the seat across. “I believe she would also approve of what I did to you last night. Why don’t you ask her?”
Her face went pink and her voice unsteady. “Payne would trounce you. I suggest you keep your mouth shut.”
He had the nerve to chuckle. “It is fortunate you enjoy haunting a house I know intimately. Think of how easily I can slip in and out.”
Though Arabella had dressed herself in one of her new gowns, she’d mussed t
he laces and layering. Even her hair was little more than a coiled braid pinned quickly and loose. She felt as rumpled as she looked. “Is that a threat?”
She wondered if it was possible for a man to look upon a living creature in such a way as Gregory looked at her. Had she a soul, she was sure he was trying to devour it. “A promise.”
“I’d turn the lock on my door.”
Gregory countered quickly. “I would employ the window... I also possess the master key.”
Their bickering was starting to get absurd, Arabella struggling to keep the smirk ticking at her mouth restrained. “A knife under my pillow then.”
“And how would you explain the body?”
A red brow arched. “I could just run away. No one has caught me yet.”
Smug as the devil, Mr. Harrow crooned, “Face facts, my love. There is nowhere left for you to run. Otherwise you would not be playing the noble lady and I would not have you so beautifully cornered.” A smile grew across the lounging male’s beauty. “You like it here and so here is where you will stay.”
“We shall see.” She took a moment and looked him over, unsure of herself. “How did you,” it seemed for a moment she was going to ask something else, yet ended up muttering, “...make your fortune?”
The answer was simple. “I killed people and was paid for it.”
“A soldier? You were in the war?”
The man simpered and shook his head no. “And then I returned to Harding and destroyed my uncle, reduced him to poverty as I bought up his lands. When there was nothing left, like his sister, he leapt from the top floor. They found his brains splattered all over the courtyard.”