“Indeed,” Steven murmured. What he knew was that the family estate was near Leeds, and by staying close, Nigel could easily drop in on Edward whenever he needed some extra coin. He crossed to the bell pull and rang for a maid to bring some more coffee and a clean cup for Nigel. Inviting him to visit had been a mistake that would now interfere with his plan to romance Miss Faulkner while putting Steven on constant edge.
“So how shall we spend the day?” Nigel asked once coffee had been served.
Steven opened his mouth, prepared to answer, when another knock sounded. This time, it was the lady who’d captured his heart. She entered the room, her gaze seeking his with sparkling appreciativeness when he stood in greeting. A coil of heat tightened inside him, rekindling the intimacy he’d experienced with her last night at Vauxhall.
Nigel cleared his throat, effectively breaking the spell by drawing Miss Faulkner’s attention. Her eyes widened with surprise, affording her with an owlish sort of look Steven found both adorable and enticing. It suggested she’d been too absorbed with him to notice the extra person in the room.
“My brother,” Steven said with a wave of his hand in Nigel’s direction. “Mr. Nigel Donahue.”
“Oh.” Miss Faulkner stared at Nigel as though he were an unwanted inconvenience.
Steven’s lips twitched. “Nigel, I present to you Miss Jane Smith of New York. She’s a guest here until Thursday when she returns home.”
“What a shame,” Nigel murmured, laying on his signature charm so thickly Steven instinctively rolled his eyes. “England will surely be worse off without your beauty, Miss Smith.”
To Steven’s frustration, Miss Faulkner’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. A bashful smile graced her lips. “Thank you, Mr. Donahue.”
Steven frowned. She could not possibly be drawn in by such transparent flattery, could she? Unease slithered through him as he realized he did not want her batting her eyelashes at other men. Last night had been bad enough with Grafton making advances, though not quite as bad as this since Miss Faulkner’s disinterest had been made clear from the start.
Grafton had not posed a threat, but Nigel…
Lord help him but the last thing Steven wanted right now was to enter into another competitive altercation with a brother who hated losing so much he’d happily resort to cheating.
Don’t be daft. Miss Faulkner just met him.
No need for concern just yet.
“I came in response to your note,” she said, her focus once more on Steven.
“Good. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I thought perhaps…” She cast Nigel an uncertain look.
“We’ll breakfast together then,” Steven informed her. To Nigel he said, “Unfortunately, I’ve promised Miss Faulkner the day. If you recall, I wasn’t expecting you to arrive until next week.”
“No need to worry on my account,” Nigel said. “I’m happy to join you.”
The devil he would. Steven tried what he hoped would be an agreeable smile instead of an off-putting grimace. “You’d hate every minute of it.”
“But—”
“Nigel never cared for museums,” Steven informed Miss Faulkner.
“I’m sure I could make an exception, if I were allowed to visit them with a lady as lovely as you,” Nigel told Miss Faulkner.
“No sense in torturing you with such things,” Steven said, “when I can give you a carriage along with some spending money.”
“Trying to buy me off yet again?” Nigel’s tone was teasing though not without a sharp alertness that instantly told Steven he’d made a serious error in judgment by trying to lure him with money.
It was the one thing Nigel always seemed to want since coin did tend to vanish from his pockets faster than water could disappear from a leaky bucket. But what Steven hadn’t considered was that Nigel might be more interested in what Steven wanted, which was time spent in Miss Faulkner’s company.
“Lending you money does not equal buying you off,” Steven said with no small amount of aggravation. “And let’s not forget you’ve yet to repay the last loan I made you.”
“To be sure, we can’t all be as lucky as you,” Nigel said.
As lucky? Steven hadn’t been especially lucky. He’d worked incredibly hard both day and night in order to get where he was today. He shook his head. If he argued, he would sound petty, perhaps even callous and cruel. So he forced himself to ignore Nigel’s comment in favor of changing the subject. “Let us proceed to the dining room then so we can eat before heading out.”
22
Initially, Calista was taken in by Mr. Donahue’s brother. He came across as an easy going charmer with a positive outlook on life – a direct opposite to the serious disposition Mr. Donahue tended toward. But since she trusted Mr. Donahue and knew he and his brother had a strained relationship, she did her best to avoid getting drawn in by Nigel’s compliments and endless smiles.
And as the day drew on, she started seeing cracks in his otherwise charismatic façade. For starters, he managed to criticize everything pertaining to the Imperial, though he did so politely. For example, he praised the breakfast, stating how perfect it was upon which he noted that it could have been even better if there were a wider selection of ham and cheese.
The same happened when he remarked on the restaurant’s interior, which he declared to be in good taste though he preferred French rococo to Grecian inspired design. And then there was the carriage on the way to the Hunterian. Apparently the benches were unnecessarily well upholstered.
Calista knit her brow and kept her gaze firmly on the view of passing buildings. It wasn’t her place to comment, but she was beginning to understand why Mr. Donahue struggled to get along with his brother. The man was clearly bothered by Mr. Donahue’s success and did his best to find fault with it at every turn.
Which irritated her to no end.
And yet, he laughed and smiled while telling jokes, conveying a sense of ease about him that stood in contrast to the underlying thread of jealousy he revealed. It made him a hard person to dislike. Still, the tension she could feel radiating off Mr. Donahue when he handed her down from the carriage a short while later made her wish his brother had not arrived when he had.
They entered the building and paid for their admission. Calista deliberately kept close to Mr. Donahue’s side, showing him without the use of words that this was still their outing, even if Nigel tagged along.
“I must apologize to you,” he murmured, his hand gently touching her elbow as they strolled. “He arrived without warning.”
“He’s your brother,” she said. “There’s no need for apology.”
Regret lingered about his eyes all the same, but the appreciation in his tone could not be missed when he thanked her. They paused in front of a glass case filled with colorful butterflies and when his hand brushed hers, she did not pull away though the contact did jolt her heart and create a frantic stir in her stomach.
Taking a breath, she glanced at his reflection in the glass, meeting his gaze there while letting her fingers twine briefly with his. An electric charge swept up her arm, leaving gooseflesh in its wake.