The Rakehell Regency(16)

He sat up straight. "Now Vanessa, I never meant--"



She waved his apology away with an impatient flutter of her hand. "So unless the two of you are here to woo for my cousin Paul by proxy, I suggest we sit here and discuss the weather and other innocuous subjects."



Peter looked thunderstruck.



Vanessa had to suppress a smile. She was sure no woman had ever dared speak to him thus before.



When her eldest cousin finally found his tongue, he asked, "Am I to take it then that you would entertain a proposal from my youngest brother?"



Vanessa refrained from rolling her eyes in exasperation, and shrugged nonchalantly. "He was always pleasant enough to me when we were children. I don't know how much he's changed in the last few years since I last saw him. I would need to have time to judge for myself. But rest assured, gentleman, I'm not in a hurry to marry anyone. I'm an heiress now, and have far more choices than to be a simple dependent in my aunt's home."



"If Clifford Stone presses his suit, you may not have any choice," Toby pointed out.



Vanessa regarded him calmly. "I always have a choice. I refuse to be browbeaten or coaxed into going contrary to my inclination. I'm in mourning for my aunt Agatha. She's hardly cold in the ground. Until such time as I've been able to do my duty to her memory to my own satisfaction, I shall have no beaux.



"Since I began to move in wider social circles, I have met no man yet who is sufficient temptation for me to change my mind upon the subject of matrimony. It's very kind of you, quite flattering, to be the object of your admiration. However, I must respectfully decline to receive either of you as anything other than my relatives."



"But Vanessa--"



She gave Peter a sharp look. "The weather is proving quite mild for this time of year, is it not?"



"You will not be able to fob off Gerald with empty pleasantries," he growled.



"I'm well aware of that," she said, regarding him steadily, even though inside she was in turmoil. "Perhaps if you were to speak to him as strongly as you have to me we might be able to persuade him that last night was a bad business. I shall pay Clifford back once my inheritance from my aunt is fully mine. Then we shall try to do something about my half-brother's dissolute lifestyle."



Peter clinked down his cup next to hers and rose from his seat with a bow. "Indeed, I shall go speak with him this very moment. Failing that, I shall attempt to get Clifford Stone to see reason."



Vanessa bristled. "I would prefer to speak with Mr. Stone myself."



"Out of the question, Vanessa. A man like that--"



"You can most certainly escort me as well, but Gerald has agreed to attend upon me, so that all the parties involved can reach a settlement that much more quickly."



Peter strode for the door with an even more determined look upon his face.



Vanessa let him go, gritting her teeth to keep from saying anything hasty she would most assuredly regret. If only he had been so assiduous in protecting her reputation last night. The card game made everything so much worse, and Clifford winning deuced awkward for all concerned.



"I must say, Cousin, you're looking awfully well. It's been too long," Toby said with a look which Vanessa would have described as a leer.



"Yes, indeed. But I was so busy with my studies, and the running of the estate near Lyme, I didn't come up very often. And of course thus old house just isn't the same without Pa."



"Aye, and haunted into the bargain. Not the type of place a sprightly young lady like yourself would wish to pass the time. You must come to visit for a few days, even if you don't move out of here entirely."



"Thank you so much, Toby, but I have no fear of ghosts. The dead hold no terrors for a good Christian. I always think it is the living with their unruly passions that we have to fear most."



Toby had the grace to blush.



"In any event, I've never heard the house was haunted," Vanessa added dismissively.



"Then it must have been a very bad case of brain fever as a girl, for you were always imagining you were seeing things after your mother died."



Vanessa stiffened. "Really? I have no recollection," she said in clipped tones. "They were no doubt the mere fancies of a child who read far too many lurid tales."



"Er, yes, quite," Toby said in a tone which suggested that he didn't believe her assertion any more than she did. "But after all that happened, I can't really blame you--"



Vanessa rose abruptly, almost kicking over the tea table in her haste to be rid of him. "Well, it's always pleasant to see you. It brings to mind some of my happier times here, before poor Mama--"