Part 54 (2/2)
”However, as you are here, I have a bone to pick with you!”
Rea.s.sured they were alone, Harry brought his gaze to her face as she halted, slender and straight, before him.
”Indeed?”
”As you well know!” Lucinda glared up at him.
”How dare you organise to have me invited to such a gathering as this? I realise you might be somewhat irritated because I did not accept your proposal--' She broke off as the thought occurred that she, like Lady Coleby, might be said to have rejected him.
”But the circ.u.mstances were nothing like those of Lady Coleby. Or whoever she was then.” With an irritated wave, she dismissed Lady Coleby.
”Whatever your feelings in the matter, I have to tell you that I view your behaviour in this instance as reprehensible! Utterly callous and without justification! It is totally inconceivable to me why you--' ” I didn't. ”
The steel beneath the words cut through her denunciation.
Arrested in mid-tirade, Lucinda blinked up at him. ”You didn't?”
His jaw set, his lips a thin line, Harry regarded her through narrowed eyes.
”For a woman of superior sense, you frequently indulge the most remarkable notions. I didn't arrange to have you invited. On the contrary.” His tone turned conversational, his accents remained clipped; the undercurrent was positively lethal.
”When I discover who did, I'm going to wring his neck.”
”Oh.” Lucinda backed a step as he closed the distance between them. Her eyes met his; abruptly, she stiffened and stood her ground.
”That's all very well--but what are you doing here now?”
”Protecting you from your latest folly.”
”Folly?” Lucinda coolly raised her brows--and her chin.
”What folly?”
”The folly of the invitation you just, all unwittingly, issued.”
Harry glanced at the bed, then the fireplace. The fire was lit, a smallish blaze but there was plenty of wood by the hearth. An armchair sat before it.
Lucinda frowned.
”What invitation?”
Harry's gaze came back to her face; he merely raised his brows at her.
Lucinda snorted.
”Nonsense. You're imagining things. I issued no invitation-- I did nothing of the sort.”
I.
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