Mayhem in Bath Read Online Free PDF Page B

I was seeking the residence of Lord Benjamin Beddem, where my uncle is staying, but I’ve come to the wrong house. If you’ll excuse me ...” She turned to leave, but he spoke again.
    “If we have not met, you seem strangely familiar, Miss Peach.”
    “Well, you may have noticed me earlier today,” she confessed, facing him again.
    “Indeed?”
    “Yes, when you drove through Horditall.”
    His expression cooled. “Ah, yes, the gardening goddess who could so easily have spared me the ignominy of the pig farm.”
    Her eyes flashed at that. “And you, sir, could quite easily have omitted to be so disdainful when you passed.”
    “So I deserved to be covered in filth and rooked by that villain. Is that what you’re saying?” he answered stiffly.
    She didn’t reply, but her expression spoke volumes.
    He was stung into an accusation he knew had to be unjust. “I can only presume you are the ruffian’s accomplice?”
    She bridled indignantly. “I certainly am not, sir!”
    His glance was filled with the disdain of which she’d accused him a moment before. “I’m relieved to hear it. Well, madam, unhelpful you may have been, but I will not stoop to that level. Since you reside in Horditall, I can only imagine your uncle to be Mr. Hordwell Horditall. Am I correct?”
    “Yes, sir, you are.”
    “Then in a manner of speaking you have the correct address after all. Lord Benjamin is indeed the leaseholder here, but he has temporarily rented the property to me.”
    She was taken aback. “Then please, sir, can you inform me where I may find my uncle?”
    “Lord Benjamin’s father, the Duke of Lawless, has taken 1 Royal Crescent in readiness for the Christmas season, although he himself will not take up residence until nearer that time. Lord Benjamin decided he preferred the extra grandeur of that property to this, so he moved there a week ago, and naturally your uncle went with him.”
    Polly had noticed that the crescent’s end houses were very regal indeed. How prudent of Lord Benjamin to go there, and let someone else take up the lease here. Not only did he not have to pay a penny for the larger property, but could further impress Uncle Hordwell. She wondered about Nutmeg. Was the brownie here, or had Lord Benjamin taken her to 1 Royal Crescent? Momentarily she pondered asking Dominic, but then discarded the notion, for not only did he seem the sort of man who would dismiss any suggestion of brownies even existing, but she could also see his luggage in the hallway, signifying he hadn’t merely been in the Horditall area for a day’s excursion out of Bath, but had come by that route on his way here. He was therefore unlikely to know about any of the staff, let alone an invisible brownie! She made herself look at him again. “Thank you for your assistance, sir.” But as she turned away once more, he stepped quickly after her.
    “Allow me to attend you to your carriage, Miss Peach.”
    “There is no need. Sir Dominic,” she replied, not wishing to be in his debt for even so small a service.
    “There is every need. Miss Peach, for in spite of your prejudgment, I am a gentleman.”
    “I did not question that, sir. I merely found fault with your conduct.”
    “As I in turn found fault with yours, so I believe we are even, Miss Peach,” he said, taking her hand and drawing it firmly over his sleeve.
    Polly said nothing as he escorted her across the pavement to the waiting carriage. He handed her inside, then bowed coolly before closing the door. He turned to instruct the coachman to turn around at the far end of the crescent in order to return to the first house on the comer with Brock Street. He remained on the pavement as the carriage drew away from the curb, but had gone inside by the time it drove past again. Polly felt that not only had she been somehow bested, but also that in spite of everything, she still found him diabolically attractive. Oh, how very vexing! She wanted to loathe every inch of him;