No Man's Mistress Read Online Free PDF Page B

make one thing very clear to you, Lord Ferdinand,” she said. “This is my home. You are a trespasser here and an unwelcome one, despite… well, despite yesterday. I understand clearly now that you are a gamer and an opportunist. I had evidence of those weaknesses yesterday but did not realize they were habitual. I do not doubt that you are also any number of other unsavory things. You will leave immediately. I will be going nowhere. I am already at home. Good day to you.”
    He gazed at her with those almost black eyes, which were quite unfathomable. “I will be taking up residenceas soon as you have had time to pack up your belongings and remove yourself, ma'am,” he said. “I would advise you not to delay too long. You would certainly not wish to be forced to spend any night beneath the roof of a single gentleman who is also a gamer and an opportunist, among other unsavory vices.”
    And she had danced about the maypole with this cold, unfeeling, obstinate man the night before and thought it surely the most glorious experience of her life? She had kissed him and thought she would warm herself with the memory for the rest of her life?
    “I will simply not allow you to do this,” she said. “How dare you expose me to public attention yesterday by wagering on my—my
daisies!
How dare you haul me onto the green to dance about the
maypole!
How dare you maul my person and
k-kiss
me as if I were a common milkmaid!”
    His brows snapped together and she
realized
with some satisfaction that she had finally rattled him. “Yesterday?” he barked at her.
“Yesterday?
You accuse me of common assault when you
flirted
with me from the moment your eyes first alighted on me?”
    “And how
dare
you have the audacity to come here today to invade my home and privacy, you…you Bond Street fop! You conscienceless rake! You callous, dissolute gamer!” She had lost control of both the situation and herself, she knew, but she did not care. “I know your sort, and I will
not
allow you to ignore my very existence. Get out of here!” She pointed toward the door. “Go back to London and your own kind, where you belong. We do not need you here.”
    He raised his eyebrows haughtily—and then lifted one hand and ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed out loud.
    “Perhaps, ma'am,” he suggested, “we should discuss this matter like civilized beings instead of scrapping like a couple of ill-bred children. Your presence here has taken me by surprise. You know, it was unpardonable of Bamber not to have informed you that the property is no longer his. You of all people should have been the first to know. But—I beg your pardon—does he
know
you are living here? I mean… well, he did not
say
anything about you.”
    She regarded him scornfully. There was nothing to discuss, civilly or otherwise. “It is quite immaterial to me whether he knows or not,” she said.
    “Well,” he said, “he should have informed both you and me, and so I shall tell him when I see him. It is a dashed awkward thing that I have descended on you like this without warning of any kind. Accept my apologies, ma'am. Is he a close relative of yours? Are you fond of him?”
    “My affections would be sadly misplaced if I were,” Viola said. “A man of
honor
surely does not pledge at a card game what does not belong to him.”
    He took one step closer to her. “Why do you claim that Pinewood is yours?” he asked. “You said it was willed to you?”
    “When the Earl of Bamber died,” she said. “This man's father.”
    “Were you there for the reading of the will?” he asked. “Or were you informed of the bequest by letter?”
    “I had the earl's promise,” she said.
    “The old earl?” He was frowning. “He promised to leave you Pinewood? But you have no proof that he kept his promise? You were not there for the reading? You received no letter from his solicitor?” He shook his head slowly. “You have been hoaxed, I am afraid, ma'am.”
    Her