‘A very good morning,’ George assured him, a mischievous smile, which he instantly mistrusted, on her lips.
‘And why is that?’ he asked, his voice dripping with irritation. ‘Because I’ve been rousted from bed when I had just managed to fall asleep? Or because I’m now confronted by two hoydens with unknown—but certainly dangerous—intentions? Wild women, who have further encroached by undermining my staff I might add.’
‘It’s a good morning because we’re here to help you, you dolt,’ Victoria said with asperity. She clinked her spoon in her cup as she stirred her tea.
‘That is, if you deserve it,’ George qualified, refilling her own tea cup.
Gabriel eyed them both with misgivings, but refused to be drawn. They’d tell him exactly what was afoot when they had finished roasting him to their satisfaction, and not a minute sooner. If only Torrie would stop making that infernal racket with her spoon. She knew how it irritated him, and she was far too well bred to be making such a rude noise by accident.
His coffee arrived and he sat back to wait for their pronouncement. Whatever it was, their presence couldn’t bode well for him. They were darlings, both of them, but interfering, social queens at the same time. Always so sure they knew what was best for everyone else.
After a few minutes of silence, he glared at them and set his cup down with a thump. If it was about his nymph, George was far more likely to play the avenging angel than the Good Samaritan. Something was certainly in the works, and he couldn’t imagine any other topic that would bring them down upon him at such an hour, but he also couldn’t imagine why George was looking so pleased with herself.
‘So are you going to tell me why you’re here, or do I have to guess?’
Bad enough that Imogen had rejected him yet again, now he had these two meddling. He was a fool for wanting her, and a fool for having proposed, and thrice times a fool for continuing his pursuit in the face of her rejection. But there was no way he was going to give up. He’d get her by hook or by crook, fairly or unfairly. He’d get her any way he could, and the sooner she realized it, and gave in, the better off they would both be.
George eyed him coolly while his cousin glared right back at him, as though he were one of her recalcitrant offspring.
‘Don’t come the matriarch with me, Torrie. I’m not one of your sons, and I’m not your husband. Save that look for someone it works on.’
‘It doesn’t work on Rupert,’ she replied haughtily.
‘Or Hay,’ George put in, still wearing her mischievous smile, an odd contrast to his cousin’s serious expression.
‘Or Hay,’ the countess agreed, clinking her spoon again. ‘And I’ll look at you anyway I please, idiot.’
Gabriel narrowed his eyes but held his peace. If he got her wound up, he’d never find out what was afoot.
‘Help me with what?’ he drawled, trying to sound as bored as possible.
‘Help you with Imogen,’ George replied in her straightforward manner, taking the wind out of his sails.
‘If we think you deserve help that is,’ Victoria added waspishly, echoing George’s earlier pronouncement.
Gabriel shot her a scathing glance and turned his attention back to George. ‘And what makes you think I want your help? Or need help for that matter?’ he asked, doing his best imitation of his cousin when she was trying to be condescending.
Both women stared at him, eyes slightly enlarged with surprise, and then burst into raucous, unladylike laughter. George laughed until she cried, tears streaming down her face, which did nothing to improve his mood.
‘Don’t be stupid, Gabriel. I’ve never seen a man in need of help so badly,’ she asserted wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
‘Except perhaps your poor husband when he was courting you,’ he snapped, his colour mounting as he got angrier and angrier.
‘Exactly,’ George responded with enthusiasm, her eyes sparking.
Trapped by her sudden twisting of his taunt, Gabriel shifted uncomfortably in his chair, glowering at them both. He didn’t want or need their help. Imogen would come around on her own, he was sure of it. He just had to keep working on her. He’d be damned if he won her consent because of any strong arming from these two.
That would be unbearable.
‘Poor Ivo didn’t have the slightest idea how to handle me. Any more than you have about my poor Imogen.’
‘If you’re implying that I’m as clueless as your befuddled earl, I’ll—I’ll—I’ll—’ He gritted his teeth, unable to think of anything awful enough to threaten her with.
‘Ivo is not befuddled.’ George glared at him, eyes snapping with a very familiar anger.
If he could push her further she’d lose her temper entirely. ‘Confounded? Clueless?’ Gabriel offered, his tone taunting. ‘What about lackwit?’
‘We’re not here to talk about George and her husband,’ Victoria interrupted them. ‘We’re here out of concern for you.’ She held up a hand when he started to protest. ‘You can’t go on the way you are now. And you can’t continue to carry-on with Miss Mowbray in such a brash, obvious fashion. Her reputation won’t stand it. And quite frankly, neither will yours.’
‘Why are you pursuing her?’ George blinked at him innocently, as though he couldn’t smell a trap.
‘Yes, why can’t you simply leave her alone?’ his cousin asked, looking at him almost mockingly. ‘She doesn’t seem to want you.’ She jabbed the final prompt in, her expectant gaze flicking momentarily to George.
Exasperated, Gabriel hooked one hand under the low table between them, sending it flying. The tea things scattered and smashed against the fireplace, the table crashing with a loud thump against the marble façade.
‘Because I want her.’ He leaned forward in his chair, staring both women down. ‘It’s that simple, I want her.’
Gabriel’s butler burst into the room, followed by his housekeeper, the first footman, and two of
