The Defiant Debutante. Helen Dickson

permission.’

      As he rested his hands on his hips and looking down into her stormy eyes, Alex’s own were so cold that Angelina was sure they could annihilate a man.

      ‘My uncle is the finest, most generous man I have ever known, Miss Hamilton. What my opinions are concerning you has no bearing on the case, but because he and your mother were once close, and, as you correctly pointed out earlier, he is your next of kin, he will take his responsibilities where you are concerned seriously. If you hurt him in any way, I will personally make your life hell. Do you understand me?’

      The look that passed between them crackled with hidden fire. Just for a moment Alex saw something savage and raw stir in the depths of Angelina’s eyes, before they blazed with outrage.

      ‘Perfectly,’ she replied. With her fists clenched and her chin raised, she faced Alex like a raging hurricane, while he took a step back before the onslaught of her fury. ‘Allow me to tell you a little about my background, Lord Montgomery. In Boston I was living with my mother in a two-roomed shack. Everything I owned I sold to pay for the doctor and her medicine. We had no money and the food we ate I provided. I do all manner of things a young lady ought not to do. I shoot, I fish, and I skin and gut whatever I kill. I dare say the properly reared young ladies of your acquaintance would be horrified and fall into a swoon at such behaviour and liken me to the savage you obviously think I am. I may seem gauche to you and lacking in social graces, but I am not ashamed of the way we lived.

      ‘When your uncle came to Boston he was courtesy and kindness itself—and I give you my word that I shall not abuse his kindness. When my mother died it was a great comfort to me having him there. In the short time we have been together I have come to love him dearly and would sooner end my life than cause him pain. Despite what you believe, I haven’t asked him for anything and I do not expect anything. I am simply grateful for a roof over my head wherever that happens to be. For this and his support at a time when I had nothing, I owe him much—much more than I can repay. Your uncle knows this and now you know it too, so if it’s not a problem for him it needn’t be a problem for you.’

      Alex stared at the proud, tempestuous young woman in silent, icy composure. Her words reverberated round the room, ricocheting off the walls and hitting him with all the brutal impact of a battering ram, but it failed to pierce the armour of his wrath and not a flicker of emotion registered on his impassive features.

      ‘That, Miss Hamilton, was quite an outburst. Have you finished?’

      Pausing to take an infuriated breath, Angelina finally said, ‘Far from it. You may have been born with blue blood in your veins and all the advantages that come with it, but you have a lot to learn. It isn’t where a person comes from that matters. It’s what a person is that counts. You are being vindictive without just cause, but if you want to carry on hating me then please do so. It does not matter one jot to me.’

      Their minds and their eyes clashed in a battle of wills.

      ‘I do not hate you.’

      ‘No? Well, I hate you,’ she told him, glaring at him wrathfully.

      ‘I know you do,’ he replied quietly. Not only had he heard, but also he sensed it. Cool and remote, Alex studied her for a moment, as though trying to discern something, and then crossed towards the door and went out.

      Angelina stood looking blindly at the closed door for a long time, her heart palpitating with a raging fury. A whole array of confusing emotions washed over her—anger, humiliation, and a piercing, agonizing loneliness she had not felt since she was fifteen years old in Ohio.

      Chapter Three

      Henry and Alex were partaking of a glass of wine while they waited for Angelina to join them. Whenever Henry looked at his nephew, he was overwhelmed with pride.

      At best, Alex was a fiercely private man, guarded and solitary, accountable to no one. At worst, he was a man with a wide streak of ruthlessness and an iron control that was almost chilling. To those who knew him he was clever, with an almost mystical ability to see what motivated others. To his business partners it was a gift beyond value, because it provided insight into the guarded ambitions of his adversaries. He could be cold, calculating and unemotional, which was how his rivals saw him.

      ‘Angelina’s a lovely young thing, don’t you agree, Alex?’

      Alex’s look darkened. ‘Lovely? She’s certainly out of the ordinary. The girl’s a hoyden. Good Lord, Uncle, what can you be thinking of? I’ve never seen you so taken with anyone as you are with this American girl.’

      ‘You’re quite right, but then I’ve never had a ward before, and so far I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience. Angelina’s a delight. She’s a thoroughly charming and engaging young woman with a remarkable intelligence. In the short time I’ve known her, I vow she’s lopped ten years off my life.’

      Alex’s reply was a sardonic lift of his dark brows. ‘You may find her charming, Uncle, but it is not the kind that passes for charm in the ladies of my acquaintance. Miss Hamilton’s charm is more sinister and elusive than that. It is the kind that weaves spells and puts curses on people.’

      An inexplicable smile traced its way across Henry’s face. ‘If that be the case, then take care she doesn’t put a spell on you, dear boy.’

      ‘I’m immune,’ Alex said, bestowing the kind of lazy smile on his uncle that turned female hearts to water. ‘Whatever she is, you’re going to have your hands full.’

      ‘Try and be more understanding towards her, Alex. Until she marries I am committed to her—and, as you know, I am not a man to shirk my duty. I’ve told you everything that I know of what happened to her in America—and the reasons why her grandmother’s existence must be kept from her, so you will bear with her, won’t you? I know how difficult you can be.’

      Alex gave him a narrow look, deflecting his uncle’s question by answering it with another. ‘Did you tell her about me—listing all my transgressions?’

      Henry chuckled, encouraged by his nephew’s lack of argument. ‘I did. I considered it wise to have her well prepared in every aspect of what her life would be like in England.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘When I told her I had all but despaired of seeing you suitably married, she asked me—with all the candid innocence of her youth—what was wrong with you.’

      ‘Really.’ Alex gave his uncle a mildly sardonic look. ‘Evidently she regarded me as being way past the age of eligibility for marriage at twenty-eight.’

      ‘No. I think she probably thought you were some fire-breathing monster with two horns and a tail. And when I told her you dealt with practically all my business affairs—’

      ‘Let me guess,’ Alex interrupted drolly. ‘Did she by any chance ask if you trusted me?’

      ‘She did.’

      ‘I see,’ he said drily, swearing that he’d not be bested by the dark-eyed witch.

      ‘So you will try to curb your temper when you are together and be gentle with her, won’t you?’ Henry asked, casting his nephew an anxious look of appeal.

      Alex hesitated for an endless moment and then nodded, a reluctant smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. ‘Since I have no intention of laying a finger on her or being in her company for longer than I have to, I assure you, Uncle, that she will be perfectly safe from me. However, I feel I should warn you that I have already had a run-in with your ward; if that encounter is anything to go by, I cannot promise to be charm and graciousness personified where she is concerned. We may very well need a referee to keep us from murdering each other—which is where you will come in.’

      Angelina swept into the dining room, intending to make a determined effort to be pleasant and agreeable to Lord Montgomery for Uncle Henry’s sake. A chandelier suspended above the table filled the room with flickering light, reflecting on the large, ornate silver pieces set on the