Free Mesalliance by Stella Riley

as it is.’
    ‘Are you
indeed?’
    ‘Lord, yes! No
effort too great, no opportunity neglected,’ said Harry cheerfully.
‘She’s trying to put me in my place, you see.’
    ‘I can’t help
wondering why. However … what precisely are you doing?’
    ‘Turning the
tables.’ His grin was the epitome of winsome innocence. ‘I knew
you’d understand. After all, you take a similar line yourself,
don’t you?’
     
~ * * *
~

 
SIX
     
    ‘I wish,’ said
Nell in somewhat nettled accents, ‘that I could see what’s so
fascinating about Diana’s cousin. It’s not as though she’s anything
above the ordinary, after all … and that dreadful mulberry brocade
she wore last night made her look at least forty.’
    Rockliffe
raised his eyes from the book he’d been reading and surveyed his
sister without noticeable pleasure. It was the day before the ball
and, in deference to the fine weather – not to mention the amount
of work still to be accomplished inside the house – Lady Miriam had
decreed that her guests should enjoy an al fresco luncheon
in the park. Shuddering inwardly, his Grace had immediately escaped
to Sir Roland’s book-room for a brief period of restorative peace –
to which Nell, charmingly attired in pale pink tiffany and with
time on her hands, had presently followed him. She had thought to
make use of a few minutes of rare privacy … but, meeting the
coolness in his gaze, she wondered if she had not perhaps made a
mistake.
    ‘Well?’ she
demanded when he still did not speak. ‘Haven’t you anything to
say?’
    ‘ Yes. You
sound like Diana ,’ he thought. And then, closing his book,
‘Several, in fact. And I’ll begin by observing that you are fast
becoming a mannerless and ill-natured coquette. Also, I have heard
you use that particular tone with Harry and can only marvel at his
forbearance. You will not, however, be well advised to use it with
me.’
    Colour flooded
Nell's cheeks and she said protestingly, ‘Wh-what do you mean? I’m
not a coquette – and I wasn’t r-rude!’
    ‘No? I am
beginning to wonder if you still have the ability to
discriminate.’
    ‘That’s not
fair!’
    ‘Unfortunately,’ said Rockliffe, coming smoothly to his feet, ‘it
is. Your behaviour over the last few days has been both arrogant
and vain. And I have not, I regret to say, been proud of you.’
    The fact that
he had never before – no matter what scrapes she had got into –
spoken to her like that gave Nell pause. Looking stricken, she
said, ‘Do you really mean it?’
    ‘Yes. I do. As
for your unnecessary remark about Mistress Kendrick’s gown – it
must be plain to an even meaner intelligence than your own that she
is wearing cast-offs. And if you, my dear, had ever been forced to
wear Lucilla’s or Aunt Augusta’s mistakes, you might perhaps be a
little more tolerant.’
    There was a
long silence while Nell stared down at the beribboned straw hat in
her hands. Finally, she said, ‘You’re right, of course. I hadn’t
thought.’
    ‘Obviously
not.’
    ‘And I’m sorry.
For all of it. But all I really meant,’ she went on, ‘is that I
don’t understand why Mr Garfield is suddenly so taken with her and
why even Ha- Lord Harry has started seeking her out. It doesn’t
make sense.’
    ‘Jealous,
Nell?’
    ‘Certainly not!
As far as I’m concerned, they’re both equally obnoxious.’
    ‘Ah.’
    She eyed him
suspiciously for a moment and then decided that the best method of
defence was attack. ‘And it’s not just them, is it? I’ve seen you
talking to her yourself.’
    ‘Have you?’
    ‘You know I
have. Are you in love with her?’
    His brows
soared. ‘My dear! Is it likely?’
    ‘No,’ said Nell
frankly. ‘What’s likely is that you’re either doing it out of
devilment or to make Diana jealous.’
    ‘And which does
your instinct suggest?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
She hesitated and then said abruptly, ‘The truth is that I’d hoped
you might consider marrying