The Notorious Lord

‘Why do you think that I should take part?’ he asked abruptly.

Rachel had been idly watching her father, who was sifting a sieve full of soil on to the spoil heap further down the field. Now she looked up and focussed on him again. There was a faint smile still lingering about her mouth and the same hint of curiosity in her eyes. Cory knew that she was surprised by his reticence and that she did not really understand his reasons for refusing. She knew that he was neither naive nor coy. After all, she had seen the proof of it herself.

‘Why, because it is for charity-’ she began.

Cory put up a hand. He held her gaze. ‘Yes, I accept that. But why me?’

He saw puzzlement come into her eyes. Rachel had very beautiful eyes, speckled brown, gold and green. Taken all together, her features were pleasing, although Cory knew that she did not think so herself. But then, why should she, with no one to tell her? Lady Odell would be more likely to praise the attractive qualities of a Grecian urn than to extol her daughter’s virtues. As for him, he had given up attempting to pay Rachel compliments for he was unhappily aware that she did not take them seriously. She gave his admiration the same weight that she attached to his casual affection for a pet kitten.

‘Why you?’ Rachel repeated. Her brow wrinkled slightly. ‘I suppose…because you are an attractive man.’

Cory raised his brows. ‘Do you think me attractive?’

Rachel looked slightly confused. ‘Well, I…I mean that you would generally be considered attractive. By other ladies.’

Cory grinned. ‘A fine distinction. You yourself do not believe it, then?’

Rachel’s chin tilted up haughtily. ‘I have never really thought about it.’

Cory found that this rankled. He kept his gaze on Rachel’s face. A tinge of colour had come into her cheeks and though she held his eyes for a few seconds, she was the first to look away. Cory felt a rush of arrogant, masculine pleasure. So that was a lie. Rachel had looked at him and thought him attractive and the knowledge pleased him far more than it ought to have done. He sighed inwardly. Last night he had known that there was something between them when he had looked at her in the firelight and seen an echo of his own passion in her gaze. He had known then that he should not take matters further and he knew it now. There was a wariness between them at the moment and he suspected that it was largely down to the unease he had stirred in Rachel through his behaviour. He was slightly surprised that she had come to see him today. Cory looked around. There were plenty of other people on the excavation site and no doubt she felt quite safe. And at the moment he need not worry that he was arousing anything other than annoyance in her. She was looking at him with something approaching dislike.

‘I always said that you were odiously conceited, Cory,’ she said, crossly. ‘Why do I have to join the list of females swooning at your feet? Can you not accept that there is at least one woman who isn’t tempted?’

Cory laughed. Rachel always gave as good as she got and he enjoyed that. ‘Oh, I can accept it, Rae,’ he said easily. ‘My self-respect is not damaged if you fail to acknowledge my attractions! I should like to know, however, what sort of man you do find irresistible.’

‘I do not wish to find any man irresistible,’ Rachel said. ‘To my mind that argues a lack of self-control.’

Cory raised his brows. This was interesting. ‘You mean that you would not wish to lose your head over a gentleman?’

‘Certainly not.’ Rachel picked up a shard of pottery apparently at random and turned it over between her fingers. Her head was bent and her cheeks a little flushed.

‘You cannot envisage yourself being swept away by passion?’ Cory pursued. He liked the fact that he could discompose her like this. It made the awareness between them much sharper.

Rachel was looking horrified. ‘Good gracious, no! Swept away by passion? That would be very…’

‘Untidy?’

Rachel flashed him a reproachful look. ‘I know that you mean to make fun of me, Cory-’

‘On my honour, no.’ Cory smiled ruefully. He had to confess that he enjoyed teasing her and shaking her self- possession, but he found that he really did want to know the answer to his question. Both his questions. He was intrigued to know the sort of man who would appeal to Rachel. He was even more interested in finding out her attitude to passion.

Rachel spoke in a sudden rush. ‘I do not seek romantic love as a basis for marriage. In fact-’ she looked up suddenly and met Cory’s eyes ‘-I have decided that I should start to look for a husband. A prudent man whom I can esteem would be my idea of a perfect match.’

Cory had not been expecting this. He felt as though someone had jabbed him hard in the ribs, temporarily depriving him of breath. Rachel was looking to marry? The thought made him feel physically sick. And yet, what could be more natural than that she should seek to wed? She had already told him that she was tired of the constant uprooting that came with her parents’ mode of life. No doubt the idea of a worthy man and a settled home held immense appeal. The fact that the thought made him feel like doing some kind of injury to the as-yet-unidentified bridegroom was a problem that he would have to deal with himself.

‘I am surprised that you have not had offers before now,’ he said slowly. ‘There was a fellow pursuing you during your London season, was there not?’

‘Lord Sommersby.’ Rachel nodded. ‘He seemed quite ardent, but then Papa insisted on leaving London early in order to travel to Greece and I was not permitted to stay…’

‘A good thing too,’ Cory said with feeling. ‘Sommersby is a dreadful loose fish, Rachel. He is in no way a prudent gentleman.’

Rachel gave him a small smile. ‘Since I have been in Midwinter I have been driving with Mr Caspar Lang. He seems quite pleasant-’

‘Pleasant, yes. Prudent, no,’ Cory said, laughing. ‘The Langs do not have a feather to fly, Rachel, and Caspar gambles away what money he does have.’

Rachel frowned. ‘But he is a vicar’s son!’

Cory looked up. ‘Which proves…what?’

Rachel’s frown deepened. ‘Are you implying that Mr Lang is only interested in my money?’ she asked.

‘Not at all,’ Cory said. He eyed her angry pink face. ‘Mr Lang would be a fool if that was all that interested him about you,’ he said. ‘However, I am implying that if he got his hands on your fortune he would run through it in one sitting at White’s.’

Rachel scuffed the earth irritably. ‘There is no need for you to sound so pious, Cory. I recall you telling me that you had spent a goodly portion of your inheritance on drink and gambling and women!’

‘That was money well spent,’ Cory said, grinning. ‘The rest of my fortune I wasted.’

Rachel glared at him. ‘Very witty, Cory. So do you have any other animadversions to cast on your fellow fortune-hunters before I throw myself away on an unworthy man?’

Cory reached for the flask of water and took a thoughtful swig. ‘Of course.’

‘On the principle that it takes a scoundrel to recognise a man cut from the same cloth?’

Cory winced. He was accustomed to sparring with Rachel but, because he cared for her, her barbs could draw blood. ‘You are harsh, Rae,’ he said. ‘I could give you some advice if you wish.’

‘Please do.’

‘Then avoid Mr Lang since he is a wastrel. Sir John Norton is a rogue who would invite you out for a sail in his yacht and then seduce you, and all the Kestrel brothers…’ Cory shook his head. ‘What can I say? They are excessively dangerous.’

‘And Mr James Kestrel, their cousin?’

‘Ah.’ Cory laughed. ‘Yes, the white sheep in a family of reprobates. The only danger you would be in from him, Rae, was of being bored to death!’

Rachel sighed sharply. ‘I am beginning to think that I am unlikely to meet an eligible man in the Midwinter villages this summer. Either they are all gamblers or they are like your friends the Kestrels!’

Cory felt strangely relieved. ‘Indeed, you are right. Give up the plan! Almost all the gentlemen here are rogues and scoundrels of the most unreliable sort.’

Rachel’s eyes lit with laughter. ‘Are you including yourself in that description, Cory?’

‘If you like. But we have already established that I would not make the ideal husband, have we not, Rae?’

Rachel looked troubled and Cory felt a rather sweet tenderness for her swell inside him. It was the most