Emily Greenwood Read Free Page B

probably not a very welcome one. But still, fair was fair.
    “Miss Wilcox,” he finally said, “I’m sure you are well aware that the property belonged freehold to your uncle. I saw the deed myself.”
    “Yes,” she said. “My uncle has acted reprehensibly in this affair. I am speaking of to whom the estate belongs morally, setting aside such things as wills and deeds. How can the turn of a card be allowed to change the fortunes of an entire family? I know you see what is right, not as a matter of law but as a matter of justice and honor.”
    His eyes flashed with a fiery light that startled her, though when he spoke his tone was icy. “I do not care for your insinuations. Your uncle wagered the Tethering estate to me and lost it, Miss Wilcox. The circumstances are regrettable. We have both been misled by your uncle. But the facts are indisputable. The estate now belongs to me. There is nothing else to say on the subject.”
    The unyielding quality of his voice shocked her. She’d been so certain that this man who had rescued her by the stream with lighthearted chivalry and even gathered her watercress would agree with her. How could he possibly be meaning to behave in such a heartless, unfair manner?
    “Surely you jest.”
    “Surely I don’t.”
    He was very, very serious.
    She couldn’t have been more disappointed in him. She had believed in him so much for a few foolish minutes.
    But that was all over now. She straightened her shoulders.
    “There certainly is more to say, Mr. Collington. You know that very well as a gentleman, regardless of whether the deed was properly emended.” Her gaze flicked over his fine clothes. “Tethering is not even very large. You wouldn’t like it. It won’t be approaching the grandeur to which you are no doubt accustomed.”
    His hard eyes were unreadable. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “I like it already.”
    He regarded her steadily with an expression that told her he would be as moveable as a mountain. “If I might have the key?”
    His eyes flicked behind her then, and she heard a shuffling noise, her father coming along the corridor. He came to stand next to her in the doorway.
    “Good afternoon,” he said to their visitor with polite interest.
    Her father seemed not to notice the tense atmosphere prevailing in the doorway but looked cheerfully untroubled, and unaware, too, of the bizarre look of his clothing. Mr. Collington’s eyes briefly widened at the sight of him.
    “Good afternoon, Mr. Wilcox,” their visitor said before Felicity could speak. “I am James Collington. You have received a letter from my lawyer.”
    “Ah. Well, then,” her father said with a rueful smile, “we must welcome you to Tethering.”
    “Thank you,” Mr. Collington said, ignoring Felicity’s intense look. “Most kind of you, sir. I was just about to have the key from your daughter.”
    “Oh, yes, of course,” Mr. Wilcox said, casting a glance at Felicity, who had not moved. He nudged her slightly with his arm. “Felicity, we must not keep Mr. Collington waiting.”
    Her face flaming with anger and frustration, she stood there for several tense moments as both men looked at her, waiting. Finally, teeth clenched, she dug in the pocket of her gown for the key that she had kept with her every day like a talisman since leaving Tethering and placed it in Mr. Collington’s outstretched hand.
    “Thank you.” He dipped his head in farewell and went over to his white horse. He swung himself deftly onto its back and set off for the manor house, which lay uphill from them, several hundred yards away. His carriage was just arriving, and it followed him up the hill.
    Felicity’s father turned toward her with a heavy sigh. “Well, that’s that, my dear. But at least we can be grateful that our new neighbor seems a good sort, considering the kind of people with whom your uncle sometimes consorted.”
    “A good sort!”
    She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised if her father