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time
Penelope leaves the house she will be at risk.’
    Penny felt too sick to speak. She
could see no way out of the impasse. She raised her head to find herself pinned
by the penetrating green gaze of Lord Weston.
    ‘There’s a way out of this, Miss
Coombs, but you will have to trust me.’
    ‘Tell us at once, Lord Weston, if
you please,’ Aunt Lucy demanded.
    He nodded. ‘You must agree to
marry me, Miss Coombs. Then I shall have the right to keep you safe.’

 

 
 
 
 
     
    Chapter Four

 
 
    ‘Have you run mad? That is an outrageous
suggestion.’ Penny wished her answer unspoken the moment it had left her lips.
    To her astonishment Lord Weston
threw back his head and laughed. She exchanged worried glances with her aunt,
both convinced the poor man had taken leave of his senses. After several noisy
moments he removed his handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his streaming
eyes.
    ‘I apologize, Miss Coombs.
Obviously I was not suggesting a genuine betrothal; merely a ruse to allow me
to investigate who was behind the attack this morning without anyone
questioning my motives.’
    Not sure if she was mollified or
offended by his explanation she found herself in a quandary. ‘And I beg your pardon, my lord. How stupid of me
to not to guess that your offer was false.’
    ‘Will you allow me to explain
what I have in mind?’ Both ladies nodded, but offered no comment. Emboldened by
their acquiescence he began to explain the plan he had formulated. ‘We shall
announce our engagement at dinner tonight. It will hardly come as a surprise to
many of the guests. Everyone knows that we spent a deal of time together when
you were in town last year. This will enable you to stay here until I have the
villains apprehended.’
    He was waiting for her to speak,
to agree that his proposal was not only an excellent idea, but also a kind and
thoughtful one. The words would not come. They were stuck somewhere behind her
teeth and she was mute. How could he be so heartless? In the long, miserable
months following her beloved father’s sudden death she had rehearsed the answer
she would give when Lord Weston appeared to make his offer.
    He had never come. He had not
loved her as she had loved him. His particular attention, his appearance to
escort her to picnics and parties, had been a hollow sham. At the time she had
believed he felt the same way, but with hindsight she had come to realize a man
in love would not have been content to keep his distance. He would have stolen
a kiss from her. At no time did he overstep the bounds of propriety and put
himself in the position of being compromised by his actions.
    ‘Miss Coombs?’ His enquiry was
spoken softly and the kindness in his voice released her tongue.
    She raised her head. ‘I agree,
Lord Weston, I’m in no position to do otherwise. I thank you for your offer of
protection and gratefully accept. However, I wish it to be clearly understood
that this charade ends the moment I’m safe.’
    Something she didn’t understand
flashed in his eyes and was gone. Could it have been triumph? What kind of game
was he playing with her? She rose gracefully to her feet and bent to offer her
arm to her aunt.
    ‘I believe that I’m hungry again,
Aunt Lucy. Shall we repair to the dining room and see if our fellow guests have
left us anything to eat?’
    He bowed. ‘There are still one or
two matters we have to settle before this evening, Miss Coombs. I should like
to continue this conversation later, if you have no objection.’
    She had no intention of being
closeted alone with him. ‘Lady Dalrymple will be unavailable to chaperone me
this afternoon, my lord. Perhaps we could meet here before dinner?’
    ‘I am at your disposal. Shall we
say six o’clock?’

 
    Not until mid-afternoon was Penny
able to find solitude in the rose garden and have time to mull over the
extraordinary events of the day. She had been ambushed, injured her arm, cast
up her accounts in front