The Earl's Irresistible Challenge. Lara Temple

which room is more disturbing, this parlour or your spider’s lair of a study. The study by a narrow margin, I think,’ he commented behind her.

      ‘Why is that?’

      ‘Because this is clearly for show, that room is in earnest.’

      She shrugged. Votive candles. Bergamot oil. Present.

      ‘Did the otherworldly Mrs Volgatskaya inspire this decor? What are these scarves for? Do you perform a dance?’

      ‘No, I bind unwary visitors and sacrifice them to the dark lords.’

      ‘No, thank you. I’ve never had to resort to binding anyone to get what I want, certainly not women.’

      She looked up from her list, her mouth curving into a smile despite her attempts to keep it prim.

      ‘You are rather vain, aren’t you, Lord Sinclair?’

      He slid a scarf through his hands, his fingers skimming the shimmering fabric absently and his smile answering hers.

      ‘Am I? I wouldn’t call it vanity, precisely.’

       Don’t pander to him, Olivia.

      ‘What would you call it, then? And don’t say “experience”, that would merely confirm my point.’

      ‘I won’t call it anything at all, then. So, what happens next?’

      ‘Next you leave.’

      He pulled a chair from the table and sat down in clear disregard for conventions of politeness, still tugging the scarf idly between his hands. The hiss of silk as it slipped through his fingers tingled upwards from her feet, travelling like smoke over her skin. She could feel the warmth it picked up in the friction against his flesh, mirroring on the softness between her own fingers, a faint burning, spreading to her palms like the singe of acid. She held herself back from snatching the scarf away from him.

      ‘Do you really want me to leave, Olivia?’

      Her name sounded like smoke and silk as well and she had to breathe in before she could speak. She was losing her footing again which was probably precisely what he wanted. The object of that subterranean rumble of heat was no doubt to soften her, make her pliable to his manipulations. That was all.

      ‘Miss Silverdale,’ she amended. The scarf paused for a moment before resuming its tormenting progress.

      ‘So. Do you want me to leave, Miss Olivia Silverdale?’

      ‘If you are here to help me, you may stay. But I don’t need you here if all you plan to do is poke fun at me,’ she said and he tossed the scarf on to the table. The sultry warmth was gone, confirming her suspicions, but she felt no victory at withstanding his charm.

      ‘I don’t find obsessions particularly amusing, Miss Silverdale. I am not here to help you, but to ensure you don’t do damage to my concerns with your rather colourful methods. My family name has been dragged through enough mud and we don’t need any help from outsiders in adding to our infamy.’

      ‘You said you weren’t here to prevent my meeting.’

      ‘I’m not. I am here to...oversee. I will be in the next room, listening as you do your occultist’s best to extract gold from Marcia Pendle, so keep that in mind as you delve. When you are done I want you to make it clear to her that her spectral friend will be taking an extended trip on the other side and will no longer be available to your summons. So have her make her tearful farewells and send her back to Catte Street. Permanently.’

      ‘I believe I told you I don’t enjoy being threatened, Lord Sinclair.’

      ‘I sympathise. I’m not fond of the feeling myself. So now we understand each other.’

      ‘I am not threatening you, I am merely trying to uncover—’

      ‘Yes, I understood you the first time, Miss Silverdale. You should consider it a serious concession that I am allowing even this meeting to take place. You take another step down this path without my knowledge and I move from threats to actions. Am I clear?’

      ‘To be fair, I did inform you of this step.’

      ‘Don’t split hairs.’

      ‘Out of curiosity, what actions are you contemplating?’

      Some of the severity faded from his eyes.

      ‘You want me to show you my cards, Miss Silverdale? I’m insulted you think me such a soft touch.’

      ‘Not at all. I think you understand me well enough to know I am more likely to respond to a believable threat than to bombastic words.’

      ‘Very well then. My first action will be to send word to your brother, Guy Silverdale, as to your whereabouts and actions. As the head of your family he might object to his only sister leasing a house in a shabby-genteel part of London and arranging rendezvous with notorious rakes. Is that sufficient to start with?’

      ‘How did you know my brother’s name is Guy?’

      ‘I consulted my spectral spirit friends and they had a word with their Yorkshire connections by way of the ghost of Catherine the Great and Julius Caesar. Well, Olivia?’

      Perhaps it was the way he said her name again, or perhaps it was merely his presence there and the fact he mentioned Guy’s name, as if knowing that would reach her above all else. She ought not to be worried; if he was completely serious about his threat he would have acted on it already. Which meant he was willing to make a concession, even if it was only out of curiosity. All she had to do was ensure he remained curious. It would mean coaxing him along, inch by inch.

      She sat and extended her hand.

      ‘Very well, Lord Sinclair. After this evening dear departed George will take a long cruise down the River Styx until we agree otherwise.’

      The hand might have been a mistake. Her nerve endings hadn’t calmed in the least from his scarf-toying and they leapt to attention as the warmth of his hand closed over hers, revelling in the contact. Her other hand twitched, as if envious, and she pulled away and hurried towards the door.

      ‘Marcia will be here soon so I must dress. I will be down directly.’

      She didn’t wait for him to respond and, as she rushed upstairs, she didn’t know if she hoped he would still be there when she returned.

       Chapter Five

      Marcia Pendle’s cloying perfume rose like smoke from under the door and Lucas resisted the urge to move away. He did not want to miss any of the entertainment in the other room. Miss Olivia Silverdale might not know what a Bulgarian madame sounded like, but her version of a spirit-possessed fortune-teller would do well in a Drury Lane farce.

      He had begun his vigil of her little masquerade annoyed as hell, but after half an hour of her antics he was having a hard time resisting the urge to laugh out loud. He couldn’t believe Marcia Pendle was taking her so seriously.

      To give Miss Silverdale her due she paced her theatrical nonsense well. Just when Marcia Pendle was on the verge of extracting a promise of eternal fidelity from the deceased, who sounded like fidelity had not been his strong point during his corporeal state, Miss Silverdale sent him scurrying at the interruption of a host of avenging angels accusing Marcia of assisting in the perpetration of a heinous sin.

      ‘You must reveal all!’ Madame Bulgari intoned, her voice quivering with baritone outrage. ‘Only then will the Lords of the Gates be appeased and allow you to unite with George! The wife of the man you maligned has powerful spirits working for her. They can bar your way for ever!’

      ‘No! Please, Madame Bulgari, I only did what this man told me. I swear! He said it was to help someone from ruin. He weren’t no flash cove, nor sharp—why, he was nervous as a virgin