Lord Harry by Catherine Coulter

“Julien doesn’t bite, but he does make me very nervous sometimes. It’s just the way he is. He looks down his nose at you and you turn red, but he isn’t bad. He and my sister, Kate, have just returned from St. Clair. Since he hasn’t seen me for a good while, I expect he’ll be pleased enough to see me. Time away from me does make him more tolerant I’ve found. Come along, my boy.”

Sir Harry grasped Lord Harry’s arm and pulled him up the front steps. Hetty wasn’t certain why she felt so uneasy about making the acquaintance of the powerful earl of March. But the die was cast. She really couldn’t afford to draw back now. It was imperative that she become a member of White’s, a regular habitus of that famous club, the club where Jason Cavander, Lord Oberlon, spent a good deal of his time.

But an instant after Harry rapped the large brass knocker, the door was opened by one of the most distinguished-looking men Hetty had ever seen.

“Good morning, George,” Sir Harry said, grinning at the butler. “It’s me. It’s been a long time, you know. His lordship should be delighted to see me. What do you think, George?”

“Certainly your sister will be delighted, sir.” George stepped quickly aside for them to enter. “As for his lordship, I just heard him laughing. He should welcome you pleasantly enough. Ah, you’ve brought a friend. Do come in, both of you.”

“My sister well, George?”

“Quite fit, Sir Harry, quite fit.” George shifted his kind gaze to Lord Harry and lifted an elegant gray brow inquiringly.

Sir Harry said with a wide grin, “This gentleman is another Harry, George Lord Harry Monteith. He’s from up north where there’s nothing but cows and moors and byres. No society whatever, poor chap, but that’s changing now. I’ve taken him in hand.”

“An interesting thought. Ah, a pleasure my lord.” George bowed and unobtrusively snapped his fingers. A footman appeared in practically the same instant, and assisted the gentlemen out of their greatcoats.

“Kate never was a lazy sort. Is she up and about?”

George looked a trifle discomfited, Hetty thought, before he answered smoothly enough, “Yes, of course, Sir Harry. Her ladyship and lordship are in the library.”

“Excellent. You said you heard his lordship laugh? That’s good. Now, come on, Lord Harry, we don’t want to dawdle about all day. My brother-in-law doesn’t like it when I dawdle. He says it makes his bile rise.”

An embarrassed frown passed over George’s face. He called, “Don’t you want me to announce you, Sir Harry?”

“Don’t trouble yourself, George. I know my way well enough.”

The footman, Mackles, was grinning behind his white-gloved hand. George rounded on him. “Enough of your wicked loose-lipped grins, my lad. Off with you, his lordship wants this coat taken to Weston’s this very morning.”

“Damned elegant house, ain’t it?” Sir Harry asked, as they made their way down a long corridor. Hetty had no time to reply, for as they neared the library, they drew up in unison at the sound of angry voices.

“Damn you, Kate, I should thrash you to an inch of your life, then lock you in a convent. You little idiot, why didn’t you deign to tell me that”

“Don’t be stupid, Julien,” came an angry lady’s voice clearly through the closed door. “I’m some sort of fragile little miss who will fall apart just because of a little sport. You’re being altogether ridiculous acting just like a man and I won’t have it.”

“Damn you, I am a man.”

Sir Harry grinned at Lord Harry. “That’s my sister, you know. Quite a way with words, she has. She always has just the proper insults to drive Julien quite mad. She’s always making him furious, so furious in fact that he’s always kissing her and touching her. Odd that, and they’re married. Come on, let’s pull them apart.”

Hetty felt her unease grow and grabbed at Sir Harry’s sleeve. “Surely, Harry, this isn’t the time to broach the subject of my membership to his lordship. He sounds ready to kill.”

But Harry had already turned the knob to the library door and swung it open. Hetty stood rooted in the open doorway, blinking rapidly at the scene before her eyes.

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