Read Online Jacquie D'Alessandro - [Regency Historical 04] by Not Quite A Gentleman - Free Book Online Page B

about?”
    She glanced heavenward. “I thought you’d said you were finished with games. Is my meaning not obvious?”
    He erased the distance between them in one long stride then clasped her upper arms. “This is no game. Are you saying that your room was searched earlier today?”
    The heat from his hands seemed to burn her through the thin material of her gown. Victoria jerked herself free from his grasp then took a step back. “Yes, that is what I am saying, as if you didn’t know.” Her anger almost made her forget the heated sensation of his hands on her. Almost. “Tell me, do you impose upon all your guests in this unseemly manner, or am I the only fortunate one?”
    “How do you know your room was searched?” he asked, ignoring her sarcasm as well as her question.
    “It is my habit to be very precise about how and where I place my possessions. ’Twas obvious my things had been disturbed, and my abigail Winifred was not responsible. I’d assumed a Creston Manor maid was to blame—until I caught you red-handed.”
    “If you suspected a Creston Manor maid, why did you not report the incident?”
    “Because nothing was missing. I saw no reason to instigate an inquiry that would most certainly end in disciplinary action against someone who was merely curious.”
    Although his expression didn’t change, she sensed his surprise at her words. Determined to make the most of that small advantage, she lifted her chin. “I’ve answered your questions and I demand the same courtesy of you—although I suspect that the word ‘courtesy’ is lost upon you.”
    “You haven’t begun to answer my questions.” He jerked his head toward the wardrobe. “That portmanteau—is it the only one you own?”
    “Certainly not. I’ve half a dozen.”
    “Where are they?”
    Pretending to give the matter serious consideration, she tapped her chin and frowned. “Two are at the London town house, and three at Wexhall Manor. Or are there three in London and only two in the country—”
    He made a low noise that sounded like a growl. “ Here . Do you have any others with you here in Cornwall?”
    Victoria barely suppressed a smile at his frustration and made her eyes go round with innocence. “Oh. No. That is the only one I brought to Cornwall.”
    Without shifting his gaze from her, he reached down and behind him. Holding the open case against his chest, he pointed to the ripped lining. “How did this happen?”
    “Surely you should be the one explaining that to me.”
    He advanced a step and Victoria had to fight the urge to back up. His eyes glittered in the firelight and a muscle jerked in his cheek.
    “Lady Victoria,” he said in a deceptively soft, silky voice, “you are severely testing my patience.”
    “Excellent. I would hate to think I was alone in being irritated.”
    He pressed his lips together and she could almost hear him counting to ten. “When I arrived, this lining had already been ripped, then very sloppily repaired.” He said the words slowly, pronouncing each syllable very precisely, as if he were speaking to a child—a fact that raised her hackles even further. “Do you know anything about how that came about?”
    “As a matter of fact I do.”
    Nathan stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate, his patience, normally so even and reliable, straining dangerously close to the end of its tenuous tether. She stood before him, chin raised, brows hoisted up, lips pursed, looking as impatient as he felt, which of course was impossible, as he would have laid odds that at this moment he was the most impatient individual in the entire bloody country. Which further served to annoy him, as he was not an impatient man, in any facet of his life. But something about this woman brought out the worst in him.
    After taking a slow, deep breath, Nathan said in a perfectly calm voice, “Tell me what you know.”
    “I’m afraid I do not respond well to imperious orders, Dr. Oliver,” she replied in a