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

make amends with Mr. Cavendish when you two
are alone,” she suggested. “It might be easier to discuss your
differences without Mrs. Cavendish and me listening in.”
    Lord Fordingham cocked his head to the
side in a manner that reminded her very much of a curious pup, as
though he was trying to examine her from a different angle. “I do
believe it is safer for all parties involved if my brother and I
are not alone together—at least not at this juncture.”
    Good heavens! Calista had, on numerous
occasions throughout her two-and-twenty years, wished very much to
cosh her siblings, each of them in turn, over the head with a
wooden post—but she never would have actually done so. Would Lord
Fordingham? Or perhaps the more pertinent question in this
situation was would Mr. Cavendish? Either way, this was beginning
to sound as though they had more than just a minor sibling squabble
separating them.
    She snapped her jaw closed and forced
her eyes to stop bulging from her head at his pronouncement. Had he
brought her to his home as a means to prevent a physical
altercation with his brother?
    Just as she was preparing to ask him
what, specifically, had come between him and his brother, the
wheels of the carriage ran over a rut in the road. The force of it
knocked her backward slightly. It jostled Lord Fordingham in a
similar manner, and he reached out his hands to prevent himself
from falling into her—but in the process, one of his hands landed
upon her ankle.
    His hand was warm in the chilled
air—almost hot, even—in direct contrast to the demeanor he
presented to the world. And it was rather large. It rested upon her
far longer than either of them required in order to resituate
themselves upon their respective benches. Lord Fordingham looked
down at where his hand lay over her ankle, and his breathing
increased to the point that she could see his chest rising and
falling. And then, in painstaking fashion, he lifted his hand
away.
    The simple touch had been enough to
send her heartbeat fluttering, much as his kiss last night had
done. Calista took a moment to calm herself, trying to slow her
breathing and settle her thoughts. “Is there any way I might assist
you? Perhaps I could speak with Mr. Cavendish—”
    “ My brother is not the
cause of our problems,” Lord Fordingham interrupted forcefully.
“Far from it, actually. I am the problem.”
    His tone held a note of finality, but
his words only caused Calista’s curiosity to grow. How had he
caused such an insurmountable chasm between himself and his
brother? And why? If one doesn’t have family, what does one truly
have in the end? No amount of money or possessions could ever
replace love.
    She braced herself to push through
with her questions no matter how much resistance he put up against
her. “Isn’t there someone within your family who could help to ease
your way with Mr. Cavendish?”
    His eyes turned near black and glassy,
and his lips pressed together in an icy line before he turned away
from her to look out the window. “We have no other
family.”
    Calista refused to be deterred. “A
good friend, then? Someone who cares about you both.”
    “ You seek the impossible,
Miss Bartlett.”
    “ It doesn’t have to be
impossible.”
    And then, for what must be the first
time in their brief acquaintance, he let out a mirthless laugh.
Even that bit of levity felt unnatural coming from him. “I can
assure you, it is more impossible than the sun rising in the west
and setting in the east.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Why?” Lord Fordingham
faced her again. He seemed genuinely perplexed by her question,
with a line creasing between his brows where they’d furrowed
earlier, and his eyes softening just slightly.
    A strange desire to reach across the
empty space between them in the carriage and touch his face pulled
at her. It was a near miracle that she resisted. “Why are you so
certain no one can help to repair the rift between you and your
brother?”
    Then