Read Online The Lady In Question by Victoria Alexander - Free Book Online

chair.
    “It, my lady?”
    “As near as I can tell.” She rubbed her hand across her forehead in a decidedly tired manner. “We have managed to sort out Charles’s assets from his debts and all the odds and ends that entails. The accounts are in order, outstanding bills paid, investments and property identified. All in all, yes, I’d say that’s it.” She smiled wearily. “I could not have done it without your help, Gordon. I am most appreciative.”
    “It has been my pleasure, ma’am.” As soon as he said the words, he realized how true they were. He had quite enjoyed these long hours in her company. Tony had always preferred women who could think over those who merely fluttered and simpered. Clever women were a challenge that fired his blood. If they were pretty as well, so much the better.
    The rare woman who could engage his mind as well as his body was precisely the type of woman he would one day marry.
    Pity this one was unavailable and unsuitable. The acknowledgment brought an odd, disquieting sensation to the pit of his stomach.
    “I cannot believe how exhausting this has all been.” She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck, her head dropping forward, her blond hair tousled.
    He resisted the urge to reach out and let the silken strands run through his fingers.
    “I feel as if I have walked from Great-Aunt Cecily’s to the village and back,” she murmured. “Over and over again.”
    Caress the warm flesh of her porcelain neck.
    “Still, it’s not as if we’ve done any real physical labor, after all.”
    Feel the muscles of her shoulders relax under the gentle pressure of his hands.
    “And what of you, Gordon?”
    “Me?” The word was more a startled squeak than anything else. He cleared his throat and hoped she hadn’t noticed. “What do you mean, ma’am?”
    She lifted her head and cast him a fatigued smile. “Are you tired as well?”
    “Not at all.”
    She raised a brow. “You have an amazing amount of stamina for a man your age, Gordon. Do you attribute it to anything in particular?”
    He said the first thing that popped into his mind. “An honorable life, my lady.”
    “An honorable life? How very interesting.” She fell silent, a thoughtful expression on her face. Abruptly her gaze met his. “Gordon, do you know if there is anything approximating a good brandy in the house? I daresay Lord Wilmont would have had some kind of spirits around and there is an impressive selection of wine in the cellars, but I have not yet had the opportunity to peruse every nook and cranny of this place and I was wondering if you had stumbled across anything of interest.” She blew a long breath.
    “As tired as I am, I am rather too restless to retire. I feel not unlike a tightly wound spring. Brandy has always helped me sleep and I have not slept at all well of late.”
    “Permit me, my lady.” He rose to his feet, crossed the narrow library and opened one of the small cabinets that ran in a row encircling the room and divided the upper bookshelves from the lower. He grabbed a decanter with one hand and a glass with the other.
    “Well done.” She cast him an admiring look. “And do join me. This is as much your accomplishment as mine.”
    “As you wish, ma’am.” A second glass awkwardly joined the first and he returned to place brandy and glasses on the desk. She glanced at them and bit back a smile. Damnation. A proper butler would have used a tray. Thank God she attributed his incompetence to advanced age and not simply to, well, incompetence. And thank God as well she didn’t question how he knew precisely where to find the brandy. He had shared many bottles with Wilmont in this very room.
    He carefully filled both glasses, then resumed his seat.
    She took a sip and sighed. “Excellent, but then I knew it would be. If I knew nothing else about my husband, I knew his taste in fine liquor would be exceptional.” For a long moment she stared at the amber liquid in the glass