Read Online Silver Splendor by Olivia Drake - Free Book Online

she’d flung in his face.
    “My daughter is too talented to work as your servant,” Owen snapped. “She’s a wonderful artist who’s managed to flourish without your patronage.”
    “Indeed?” Lord Nicholas mused. “So you’ll let her remain here and risk another accident? I wonder at your lack of concern.”
    Owen’s face paled. An intense look passed between the two men, a look Elizabeth couldn’t fathom. Her father opened his mouth, then tightened it to a thin line.
    “How dare you imply my father isn’t concerned,” she snapped.
    Owen’s shoulders slumped. “It’s all right, Libby.” To the earl, he added stiffly, “All right, then, you have my consent. Libby will move into your household.”
    Flabbergasted, Elizabeth stared at her father, her fingers frozen on the clay. “I will?”
    He came closer and put his hands on her shoulders. “I must do what’s best for you, Libby.” Expelling a heavy sigh, he added, “The earl is right. You aren’t safe here.”
    The deep lines of suffering on his face tore at her heart. “Papa, what happened today didn’t threaten my life. The thief ran off the moment he heard us returning.”
    “What about the man who tried to throttle you?”
    She shuddered. Recalling Lord Nicholas’s protection, she sought his eyes. The memory of that terror retained the power to tighten her throat and hasten her heartbeat.
    Looking back at her father, she said, “That incident was a misfortune, Papa, a coincidence. It could have happened to anyone.”
    “It’s settled, Libby.” Releasing her, he faced the earl. “I mean to come with her.”
    Picking up a drawing, Lord Nicholas gave a careless shrug. “As you wish. I’m sure your daughter would be more comfortable with you near.”
    “You’ll pay her a suitable wage, I trust. I’ll not live on your charity, either. I’m planning to find a post as a teacher.”
    “Perhaps I could be of assistance.”
    “I’ll do well enough on my own.” Owen narrowed his hazel eyes. “And you’ll treat my Libby like the decent girl she is.”
    The earl set aside the paper and his chilly gray gaze came to rest on Elizabeth. “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”
    His voice iced over with distaste. Her fingers clenched the clay; her cheeks went hot. Her father couldn’t know just how easy a promise that was for the earl to make.
    “Just one moment, both of you,” she said. “I haven’t yet agreed to anything.”
    “Will you force me to remove my sister from temptation altogether?” Lord Nicholas said. “If you won’t consent to my conditions, I shall send her to the country.”
    The steel in his tone told Elizabeth he meant every word… he would banish his vivacious sister. Resentfully Elizabeth knew he was playing upon her sympathies and her friendship with Cicely.
    “It’s not that I object to teaching your sister. You’re asking me to give up the freedom I have here, the freedom to do my own work.”
    “The freedom to lay yourself open to attack?” Lord Nicholas said dryly. “I rather doubt Cicely would take up all your time. The span of her attention tends to be rather short. You’ll have ample time to pursue your own artistic endeavors.”
    Elizabeth longed to make him her artistic endeavor. Each time she looked at the earl she caught some fascinating detail she hadn’t noticed before… the indomitable set of his shoulders or the softening of his granite gray eyes when he spoke of his sister. She recalled the tender pressure of his hand when he had given her the ring; his skin was not calloused like a common laborer’s, but smooth and strong. Her nimble fingers worked at capturing in clay the essence of his energy.
    Weakening, she said, “I’d need a studio and space to store all my tools and materials.”
    “You may use my conservatory. And I will, of course, purchase whatever supplies you and Cicely should need.” In the deepening dusk the earl’s eyes were dark as graphite. ,; My primary