She nodded. “Yes, but I did not at all like it at first, only when she threatened to get Eliza Matcham to go if I would not I consented.” She glanced up at him fleetingly, but dared not keep her eyes on his. “You need not think, my lord, that you can seduce Sophia so easily. She led you on finely, did she not? But when she found you’d no thought of marriage, she determined to teach you a lesson!”
“Marriage!” he said, and threw back his head and laughed. “Marriage! By God, that’s rich!”
Her cheeks were stained crimson. His laughter had a jeering, wicked ring; he looked like a devil, she thought. He let her go all at once, and cast himself down in a chair by the table. The murderous look had left his face, but in his half-closed eyes was a gleam that alarmed her more. The man meant mischief. His glance stripped her naked. Her cheeks grew hotter, and she saw that an ugly smile had curled his thin lips. His very attitude, while she still stood, was an insult. He lounged at his ease, one leg stretched out before him, a hand driven deep into his breeches pocket.
“You’ll forgive my amusement,” he drawled. “I suppose the truth is that Miss Sophia has found some other fool who offered more than I did, eh?”
She shrugged carelessly. “Oh, I tell no secrets, sir!”
The door opened and the landlord came in, followed by a serving-man with a tray. Miss Challoner walked over to the window while the cloth was laid. When they were alone again my lord said: “Your coffee — have I ever heard your name? Mary, isn’t it?”
She forgot her role, and said coldly: “I have not given you the right to use it, sir.”
Again he laughed. “My good girl, you’ve given me whatever rights I choose to claim. Sit down.”
She remained where she was, eyeing him.
“Obstinate, eh? Ill tame you,” Vidal said, and got up.