Read Cavendish Brothers 02 - To Enchant an Icy Earl for Free Online

drenched
all the way through. “My brother’s home is only on Curzon Street.
It’s not all that far. I’m sure this will be fine for such a brief
amount of time.” She gave him a shy smile, hoping he would respond
favorably to it.
    Lord Fordingham nodded curtly, dashing
her hopes that he might soften a bit. He rapped a hand on the roof,
and the conveyance lurched into motion as the steady rhythm of rain
beat down overhead.
    For a few moments, the two of them sat
together in silence. For that matter, much of their supper had been
spent in silence, aside from those tense moments between Lord
Fordingham and his brother. She’d tried, after Mr. and Mrs.
Cavendish left, to bring a bit of levity into the room, but she
wasn’t entirely certain the earl had found her remarks even
remotely humorous.
    Lord Fordingham was proving to be a
very difficult man to understand. His expression rarely changed, he
did not seem to find amusement in anything, and she never had the
slightest inkling as to what he was thinking.
    It was bewildering, all things
considered, to be in his presence. Not quite unpleasant—but she
never knew what to expect. Despite his thoroughly predictable
demeanor, she thought he might very well be the most unpredictable
man she’d ever known.
    A constant stream of water dripped
from his Hessians onto the floor of the carriage, the soft sound of
it in direct counterpoint to the barrage overhead. After a moment,
he looked down. “Your slippers will be ruined. Lift your feet and
rest them on my bench.” Even as he said it, he shifted to the side
to make room for her to do so.
    Denying him was the furthest thing
from Calista’s mind. She lifted her head to meet his gaze as she
brought her feet up like he’d instructed. He stared at her so
intently, so resolutely, it left her breathless. When at last his
gaze broke, her eyes dropped to the hands resting beside him. They
clenched and released, clenched and released.
    Much as her lungs seemed to be doing
within the limited confines of her chest.
    But still, he said nothing. It seemed
that if he wasn’t issuing her an order—as Mr. Cavendish had pointed
out at supper—he didn’t know what to do or say. For whatever
reason, Calista couldn’t force herself to mind about his
heavy-handed manner. When he told her to do something, there seemed
to be great care behind it. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to
care for her. Perhaps, in time, he could learn to do so without
taking on such a despotic air.
    In the meanwhile, she supposed it
would be her responsibility to engender conversation.
    Discussing his family ought to be a
good starting point, since he’d thought to introduce her to his
brother straightaway. “Have you always been close with your
brother, my lord?”
    Lord Fordingham gave her the most
curious look then, some queer combination of confusion and abject
horror. Perhaps asking him about his family was not the best tack
she could have taken.
    She fought not to blush yet found it
exceedingly difficult, as his gaze never so much as
wavered.
    “ I do not believe I
am… close , as you
say…with him even now,” he said at great length. Then he fell
silent again.
    “ Oh,” Calista murmured when
he didn’t go on. It was difficult for her to fathom two siblings
not being close. Certainly there were always times when one sibling
might wish to cosh another over the head with a wooden post, but
those moments were the minority. Weren’t they?
    “ I’d hoped to remedy that
situation tonight,” he said, straightening his spine even more than
it normally was, until he looked painfully erect. His shoulders
moved back, and the muscles beneath his coat tensed to the point
she could see them bunching but not releasing, similar to what his
fists had done moments before.
    He wanted to repair his relationship
with his brother, and yet he’d invited Calista along as well? That
didn’t really make much sense.
    “ Perhaps it might be best
for you to attempt to