He had been staring at her steadily all the while. She continued to feel ill at ease, aware that she had seldom been watched quite so intensely.
She set her cup down. “I don’t know why on earth you believe that I’m lying or making any of this up. You are free to ask any of the men involved, and you’ll learn that I’m telling the truth. However, this job is important to me.” She hesitated. “My guardian…well, his past has not always been the most pure. I am doing all that I can, My Lord, to see that we are respectable. I’m deeply distressed that Tristan fell over your wall—”
He interrupted her with a choked sound of laughter. “Imagine! And I had been about to believe your every word!” he exclaimed.
She felt her anger rising, and also her color, for he had every right to laugh. She stood. “I’m afraid, Lord Stirling, that you are doing nothing but seeking revenge upon me as well as Tristan, and that there is nothing I can say or do that will stop you from pressing charges. I can tell you only that my work is very important to me, that Tristan is often foolish and misled but never evil, and that, if you’re going to press charges, you must just go ahead and do so. If I don’t appear at work soon, I will surely be fired. That may not matter, because I would never deny my association with Tristan, and once you file charges, word will get out and I will lose my job anyway.”
“Oh, do sit down, Miss Montgomery,” he said, suddenly sounding weary. “I admit that as yet I’m still feeling a bit…wary, shall we say? Regarding you both. However, for the moment, I suggest that you take a chance. Play along with me. If you’re ready, we’ll get you into work right now, and I’ll see to it personally that you receive no reprimands for tardiness.”
Stunned, she sat in silence.
“Sit. Finish your tea.”
She sat, a frown creasing her brow. “But—”
“I haven’t been to the museum in quite a while. I wasn’t even aware of how the hierarchy in your department worked. I think a journey in will be quite appropriate for me at this time.” He rose. “If you’ll be so good as to be at the front door in five minutes…?”
“But what about Tristan?”
“He needs the day in bed.”
“I have barely even seen him. I must get him home.”
“Not today, Miss Montgomery. Shelby will have the carriage at the museum doors at closing time.”
“But—?”
“Yes, what haven’t I covered?”
“I…must go home. And then, there’s Ralph.”
“Ralph can tend to your guardian today. He won’t be leaving. I’ve seen to it that he has lodgings in the metal smith’s place in the courtyard.”
“Really, Lord Stirling, you can’t just keep people prisoner.”
“Actually, I can. I rather think they’ll be more comfortable here than in jail, don’t you?”
“You are bribing me! Blackmailing me!” she choked. “You are toying with me, playing some kind of game!”
“Yes, but you’re a smart young woman, and therefore, you should play this game my way.”
He turned to leave, perfectly aware that she would do as he had suggested. Ajax might have decided that he liked her, but certainly no more than his master. The giant hound trotted out in Lord Stirling’s wake.
When they were both gone, she jumped to her feet. “I will not be made a pawn!” she swore aloud. But then she sank back into the chair again, staring across the expanse of the long hall. Yes, she would be made a pawn. She really had no choice at this minute.
She finished her tea, angry. And when she was done, she made her way from the wing to the great stairway. The Earl of Carlyle was waiting for her at the bottom.
She stopped before him, chin raised, shoulders squared. “There must be some agreement between us, Lord Stirling.”
“Oh?”
“You must promise not to prosecute.”
“Because I’m bringing you into London, to work?” he inquired.
“You are using me somehow, sir.”
“Then let’s just see how useful you prove to be, shall we?”
He opened the door. “You are buying a great deal of time, and since you arrived out here of your own accord last evening, I think it’s rather chivalrous of me to see to it that you maintain your employment.”
Her lashes fell and she walked past him.
The carriage, with the man, Shelby, driving, was waiting for them at the door. She was so angry that she jerked her arm away when the beast of the castle would have helped her in. She nearly careened off the step, but, thank God, saved herself. She somewhat crashed into the forward seat of the carriage, but that didn’t matter since she was able to rectify her position before he joined her, sitting on the opposite side. He carried a silver-knobbed walking stick, and he tapped it against the top of the carriage.
As they started out, she fixed her eyes on the view.
“What is going on in that devious little mind, Miss Montgomery?” he inquired.
She turned to him. “I was thinking, My Lord, that you need a new gardener.”
He laughed, the sound oddly pleasant. “Ah, but I like my deep, dark woods and the tangle of vines within them!”
She didn’t reply, but once again stared out the window.
“You don’t approve?”
She looked at him. “I’m sorry for what you’ve suffered,” she said. “But I’m equally sorry that a man of your position should hide himself away because of that suffering when you could be doing so very much for so many people.”
“I am not at fault for the ills of the world.”
“The world is better when the life of one man, or one woman, is improved, sir.”
He lowered his head slightly. For a moment, she couldn’t even see the sardonic curl of his lips or the intense blue of his eyes.
“What would you have me do?”
“There are dozens of things you could do!” she informed him. “With this property.”
“Shall I cut it into tiny lots and divvy it out?” he asked.
She shook her head impatiently. “No, but…you could bring the children from orphanages out here, let them have just a day with a lovely picnic! You could hire many more people, have beautiful grounds, give employment to some who desperately need it. Not that it will change all the ills in society, but—”
She broke off as he leaned forward. “How do you know, Miss Montgomery, that I don’t contribute to the welfare of others?”
He was very close to her. She didn’t think she had ever seen anything quite so intense, so silencing, so commanding and condemning as his eyes. She found that she wasn’t even breathing.
“I don’t,” she managed to say at last.
He sat back.
“But!” she said. “I know what I have heard about you. And you are one of the most powerful men in our kingdom. I’ve heard that the Queen and your parents were devoted friends. I’ve heard that you are one of the—”
“One of the what?”
She looked out the window again, afraid that she was