Free Edith Layton by The Chance

until Eric could be seen by a good physician.”
    “‘Rafe’?” Annabelle asked, her little nose going up as she tried to look down it at Brenna.
    Brenna’s face flushed. Her chin went up too. “He insisted I call him that, as my brother does. But you’re quite right. ‘Lord Dalton,’ I should say.”
    “So you should,” Annabelle said, “but that at least rings true. He’s very careless with his name.”
    “I’m not,” Brenna said, her voice firmer, because she was done playing cat and mouse with this woman. She had something to say; she’d say it and be gone. “Nor am I careless in any other way with him. I’ve come to tell you that. I’ve got no reason to lie. We’ll be gone from his house, and London, by week’s end. It would be a pity if a simple mistake on my part ended your relationship with him.”
    Brenna looked down at her hands in her lap. “Yes, I certainly ought to have remembered I needed a chaperon if we were going to stay in a bachelor’s house with him. I shouldn’t have answered the door in my dishabille either. But I didn’t even consider it.” She glanced up at Annabelle again, and a rueful smile touched her lips. “I thought I’d open the door and dash upstairs again. That’s how seductive I felt I looked. I’d taken a bath. I thought it was him at the door needing to be let in. Foolish and careless, I know. But that’s all it was, and it was only because I was so preoccupied with my brother’s health that I didn’t think.”
    Annabelle saw how her visitor’s face lit from within when she smiled. Anyone could see how a man might be attracted—but her story rang true. She tapped a fingernail on the arm of her settee. “As I said, can you prove it?”
    Brenna laughed, startling her hostess. It was a full, throaty laugh, as earthy as it was genuine. “My dear lady,” she said, “no, of course not. But consider the facts. I’d never met him before. I’ve been in India for the past four months. We arrived in London the day before. Do you think Lord Dalton is so irresistible that I landed on his doorstep and went straight to his bed? With my own brother in the house? Lord Dalton is attractive, but I’m not mad.”
    Annabelle studied Brenna, watching her eyes. The woman was calm, but she couldn’t conceal the fires that sprang up in those dark sloe eyes of hers. “Is he attractive then, do you think?” Annabelle asked honestly, unable to stop herself. “Odd, I like him wellenough, but I’d not thought it. Or is red hair a new passion in the East?”
    Brenna sobered. “I’m not from the East. Or that far east, at least. We’re from Shropshire. But I do think he’s attractive. And it means nothing, because I’ve no relationship with him whatsoever. My feeling for him is gratitude for his kindness to Eric. And you may believe that or not, my lady. I’m going home in days and will likely never see him again. I just thought it would be a pity if you did the same, since he has a care for you, it seems.” But her voice clearly implied she couldn’t understand that.
    She rose to her feet again. “Thank you for your time. I hope you consider what I said. I’d feel guilty if I were the cause of any grief for Lord Dalton, after he did such a good turn for us. Good day.”
    Annabelle didn’t get up. It was another studied insult. Brenna went to the door, her hands gripped tightly on her recticule.
    “It will take some time and talking to make my mama see the light,” Annabelle said. “If, indeed, it turns out to be light and not just a will-o’-the-wisp. But I find myself believing you, and so she may come round—in time.”
    “So it will be forgotten?” Brenna asked eagerly.
    “If you leave, and if it’s true,” Annabelle answered thoughtfully. “I tend to think it is. It’s unlikely you two were secret lovers. Or that you were his mistress. It’s doubtful that such is your usual occupation either, as mama insists. But you can see the problem, can’t