Free Emma Jensen - Entwined by User

gentleman. He certainly did not match Isobel's notion of a man set on dastardly conquest.
    When she did not answer his unorthodox welcome, he continued, "Miss MacLeod will be staying for a time, Milch. Take whatever she has brought with her to the Blue Room."
    There came a grunt from behind Isobel. It might have been some new variation of "yes, milord" or, just as likely, the aged butler's bones protesting a sudden move. She handed over her valise, not particularly concerned with burdening the man. He had done nothing to make her welcome and besides, there was little in the bag. Packing, she had found in the past few years, was a rather simple process when one possessed naught.
    She waited for the door to close before speaking. "You've a fair pair of ears, Lord Oriel."
    It was hardly more proper a greeting than his, but Isobel, never at her best when nervous, spoke without thinking.
    "Why, thank you, Miss MacLeod. I've always thought them overlarge, myself."
    She blinked at him. Coming from another man, it might have sounded like a jest. "I meant, my lord, that your hearing is to be commended."
    "Yes, Miss MacLeod, I assumed that was what you meant." He raised an eyebrow. "I am not certain, however, why you said it."
    "I—well, I thought..." Curse her tongue for floundering now. "Since you cannot—I assumed you did not—er—see me. You seemed to have detected my step."
    "Ah. Now I comprehend." He appeared to ponder the matter for a moment. "No. I am afraid my hearing is no more acute than it ever was."
    "Then, how..."
    "Sorcery, Miss MacLeod. Would you care to sit down?"
    She noticed he was gripping the handle of a walking stick tightly and realized his leg must be paining him. Sitting did seem like a good idea, since her own legs were not quite steady. She chose the nearest chair.
    "I—this is all..."
    He lowered himself slowly into his seat behind the desk. "Ah, the stammering again. Is this to characterize all our encounters? I assure you, our discourses will go much more smoothly should you complete your thoughts."
    "This is madness, my lord. Why in God's name would you make such a bargain?" There, no stammering.
    "Very good. Two sentences." Oriel rested his stick against the desk, then leaning forward, steepled his hands in front of his face. "Tell me this. Did you come of your own free will?"
    "Aye, of course."
    "Your father did not force you?"
    "Nay—he would not..."
    "A telling pause there, Miss MacLeod. He would not demand such sacrifice from you, but he offered no alternative? There must have been an alternative. You will recall that I am well acquainted with your father."
    Isobel sighed. "He thought to challenge you to a duel, my lord."
    "Did he really?" Oriel chuckled, but Isobel did not find it a heartening sound. "Perhaps you ought to have let him. I daresay, even two sheets to the wind, he could put a bullet in me. My aim, I am afraid, is not what it once was. Ah, but I have not answered your question. I expect you are interested in hearing what I am planning to do with you now that I have you in my clutches."
    Interested did not even begin to describe her feelings at the moment. Eager would have been better, frantic quite apt. Isobel could not quash the sensation that her awkward step through the front door had somehow transported her into a place far removed from whatever reality existed elsewhere.
    The marquess's disquieting calm was doing nothing to help. His words were polite, even easy, but something behind the genteel facade frightened her now, just as it had the night before. Letting one's guard down around a courteous Lord Oriel was, she found herself thinking, rather like trusting a purring cat. A pounce was sure to follow.
    "I would make the most unsuitable of mistresses, my lord!" she blurted.
    Lord Oriel was clearly not amused. Nor did he appear shocked. In fact, his expression did not change a whit. "Is that what you think I want of you?"
    Humiliated, helpless, Isobel bit her lip. "I do not