“Yes…me!”
Chapter 4
Callie froze where she stood, her heart a pounding roar in her ears. It was Viscount Sherbrooke. How handsome he appeared in dark trousers and jacket, with a burgundy waistcoat. His hair was messy and in need of taming. How rakish it made him look! He was one of the ton’s most elusive marital catches, and the scandal sheets featured him often. With an effort of will, she maintained a serene expression. “I beg your pardon, Viscount Sherbrooke, I wasn’t aware there was someone else here,” Callie said with what she hoped was a great delicacy.
“Evidently,” he said with an icy bite. “I believe you had preferred to conduct your outrageous plots in secrecy.”
His stare was a tangible thing, reaching out to touch her. Yet it was not a tender look, something cold and judgmental filled his glare.
“Outrageous plots?” she asked softly. “What outrageous plot?”
His brow arched in sharp disbelief. “Ah, so even when caught you think to play the long game.”
The door to the conservatory closed. She glanced over her shoulder, and noted her mother and the earl had left. Facing the viscount, she took a steady breath and lifted her chin to meet his unflinching and oddly intimidating regard.
“I am not playing any game.”
She could see the dangerous glitter in his narrowed eyes, but she refused to give in to the urge to step back. Then his words came back to her. ‘And I will do everything to ensure that my father does not marry that woman!’
“Whatever do you mean by saying you’ll ensure your father does not marry my mother?” Callie demanded, thoroughly affronted.
“I believe I was clear, Miss Middleton. My father deserves more than a woman who would scheme with her daughter to entrap him,” the viscount said in a voice mingled with civility and condescension.
“Mama has done nothing of the sort! And I only fanned the flame which had already been lit. A blind man could have sensed the attachment between the pair.”
It galled Callie unspeakably that he might do something to rip apart her mother’s happiness.
“And do you really think I would believe your mother had nothing to do with the contriving act you’re putting on?” he drawled. “Spare me the act, I’ve gotten it enough times from fortune hunters looking to marry into our family’s wealth.”
She gasped, crushing the mistletoe between her fingers. “How dare you! My mother might endure strained circumstances, but she would never form an attachment with someone only because of money! There are genuine feelings, and I daresay Mama is falling in love.”
“Love!” A sharp laugh which ended as soon as it began followed that incredulous utterance. His mien became even more remote, his eyes pinning her in place that of a hawk. It was positively uncomfortable.
“If the viscountess admires anything about Father, it is his deep pockets and connections.”
She did not trust herself to make a civil reply. “You odious creature!” Well…she did try to hold her tongue for a few seconds. “Who gives you the right to object to true love?”
An arrogant brow lifted. “Ah…so your mother’s feelings have even exceeded the normal type of affection? Of course, this…” he waved toward the mistletoe and the conservatory, and continued, scathingly, “This is true love and not the manipulation of a family after my family’s fortune.”
Callie faltered into astonishing stillness, an unknown tempest brewing in her breastbone. How had she ever thought this man handsome? He was the devil! For she could see he intended to ruin her mother’s chance at happiness with the earl, and she would not allow it!
“I assure you, nothing of the sort is happening! I am appalled, mortified, and angry that you should think it and express your opinions in such an uncivil and arrogant manner. I cannot credit that the earl…who is kind and most thoughtful, is your father! I can see your purpose is to ruin my mother’s chance at happiness, and I will not allow it,” she fired, jabbing the point of her finger against his shoulder.
Surprise flared in his beautiful blue eyes before unexpected humor filled his gaze. The shift in his temperament rattled her.
“And how do you plan to stop me?” he asked with provoking amusement.
Sudden tears pricked behind her eyes, and her throat burned.
His eyes widened, and his entire body stilled. “Why are you crying?” he demanded in a gruff tone.
She fought her reaction with a will Callie hadn’t known she possessed. It would be so mortifying if she should shed a tear in the odious man’s presence. “I am not crying,” she snapped, hating that her voice trembled.
“Then, what is this?”
The tender way he spoke had her peering into his eyes in surprise. He reached out, his thumb brushed against her cheek in a feather-light caress, and it was then she realized he traced the path of a tear. Her stomach twisted itself into a knot, and her breath hitched at the weakness that assailed her. “I have a tendency to express my emotions a bit too obviously.”
“I supposed I frustrated you with my plans to thwart your schemes?” There was an edge of steel beneath the gentleness of his tone.