Tallie's Knight. Anne Gracie

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СКАЧАТЬ Tallie. I’ll go straight away, and before you know it you’ll be reunited once more with Your Beloved.’ She sailed from the room.

      Tallie giggled. Her Beloved? She giggled again, trying to imagine The Icicle involved in anything so human as a romantic assignation. It was simply not possible.

      Having told the irritatingly coy maidservant he would meet Miss Robinson in the summerhouse in twenty minutes, Magnus found himself wondering why the girl wanted to speak to him so urgently. Something to do with her wedding finery, no doubt. He allowed himself a faint, cynical smile and felt in his pocket for the long oblong package. He was well ahead of her.

      Magnus had ridden away from his last interview with his bride-to-be in a white-hot rage. He was still angry, but his rage had cooled to an icy implacability. Thalia Robinson would have to learn her place. If she wanted to be treated as a bride would wish to be treated she had better tread very lightly around him until she’d earned his forgiveness. He frowned and felt the package. He must make his motives for this gift very clear to her. He would not wish her to misunderstand him.

      It had occurred to him a week before that she would very likely not possess any adequate jewellery. It was unthinkable that his bride wear cheap or shoddy jewellery at her wedding, so Magnus had looked through his late mother’s jewel case until he had found a very pretty rope of matched pearls, earrings, and a bracelet—just right for a young bride. Simple enough to look modest and maidenly, yet the rope was very long and the pearls priceless. They were the perfect betrothal gift—and would be bound to go with whatever she had decided to wear.

      From the little he had seen of her clothing, Miss Robinson preferred an odd style of garment, but Laetitia’s taste was exquisite, and she would have ensured that his bride would not wear anything outrageous. And after they were married he’d supervise her wardrobe himself. The rest of his mother’s jewels he would present to her as and when she deserved it.

      ‘Lord d’Arenville?’

      Magnus rose and turned quickly. He bowed slightly. ‘Miss Robinson.’ His eyes were cold, his patrician features impassive.

      Tallie closed the door to the summerhouse behind her. Her heart was pounding as if she had been running and her hands felt clammy. She curtsied automatically, trying not to stare. Gracious, she’d forgotten how very handsome he was. It made it so much harder to remember how cold he was.

      ‘I was under the impression that you wished to converse with me, but perhaps you merely wished to see for yourself that I had returned.’ His tone was blighting.

      ‘Oh, no,’ Tallie responded instantly. ‘I believed Lucy when she told me you’d arrived. Lucy is a very truthful girl.’

      He missed her irony. ‘Lucy?’

      ‘The maid.’ Tallie seated herself on a bench beside a wall.

      Lord d’Arenville folded his arms, leaned against the wall and regarded her sardonically. He was looming again, Tallie thought resentfully, and obviously had no intention of making this any easier.

      ‘I wished to see you in private because there are things we need to have clear before the wedding,’ she said in a rush.

      Have clear? His eyes narrowed. ‘Are there indeed?’

      ‘Yes. You left so suddenly I had no chance to talk to you about them.’

      ‘Well, I am here now,’ Magnus drawled.

      ‘Th…they are very important to me, and I could not agree to marry you unless we do so.’

      ‘I was under the impression that you had already agreed to marry me, madam,’ he said silkily.

      ‘Well, I did, yes, but we had not finished our discussion when you rushed out, and I only discovered later that you had gone to d’Arn…d’Anvil…’ She stumbled over the word in her nervousness.

      ‘D’Arenville Hall, madam. You had best learn the name, as it will be your home for the rest of your life.’

      This veiled allusion to the rural imprisonment he planned for her threw Tallie into a temper. He did not know she had overheard him in the library that night, telling his cousin his plans for a bride and an heir. She recognised his threat.

      ‘It is not my home yet.’ Tallie bared her teeth in what she hoped would look like a smile. ‘And there are issues to resolve before I agree to make it so—several conditions, in fact.’

      Conditions! Magnus was outraged. The chit was trying to blackmail him. Threatening to jilt him unless he agreed to her demands. The day before the wedding, when guests would be arriving at any moment. By God she had a cheek!

      With difficulty he held onto his temper, kept his face impassive. He would wait until he had heard her ‘conditions’—then he’d show her who was master here! He’d march her to the church and marry her out of hand, and then set about teaching Miss Thalia Robinson a lesson she’d never forget! Gritting his teeth, he coolly inclined his head, inviting her to continue.

      Tallie regarded him nervously. He was leaning casually against the wall, seemingly relaxed and at ease, but his jaw was clenched tight, and there was a most disturbing look in his eyes. She should not have spoken of conditions, should have put it more tactfully. He was annoyed. Still, this was her only opportunity to ensure that not all her dreams ended in the dust. A betrothed female still had some power—a wife had none.

      ‘There are a number of cond—matters that we need to agree on. The first concerns children.’

      He stared at her and his frown darkened. ‘Go on.’

      ‘I…I know you want children…but I must tell you that I will not…’ Tallie gulped at the black look on his face, but forced herself to continue. ‘I will not allow you to send them away to school.’

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