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“Mrs Sanders ,” Arabella said dismissively “But what happens on Greystone’s land is none of our affair If the devil started the blaze, what’s stopping hi mayhem?”
“Lord Greystone did not burn down his own barn” Lydia stamped her foot in frustration
“How do you know? The an”
“Mr Gilligan stolehabit I iine I would beat him, too, under the circumstances”
Arabella raised her chin “Cecil said Mr Gilligana half-hearted confession One cannot bla poppycock when he feels his life is threatened And Rudolph agrees”
All hail Rudolph Randall
Lydia stared incredulously They were so convinced of Greystone’s duplicity that nothing would change their biased opinion Guilt surfaced She was the reason everyone thought so little of the viscount She had branded him a devil, cursed him back to the fiery pits of hell more times than she could count
“Lord Greystone is not the rogue I believed hientleman” And a sinfully handsome one to boot
“I knew it” Arabella narrowed her gaze until her eyes were sain”
“Him?”
“You know damn ho I mean Greystone” Arabella snorted with contempt “He’s unbalanced, you know He takes after his mother I’m told that’s why his father left Why else would a man abandon his ancestral home if not to be free of her?”
“Every man has his torments” And Lydia would be damned before she’d listen to any round and yet it didn’t see elsethis conversation on the doorstep Unless I’ve been evicted from the attic and must take shelter in the stables”
Arabella was about to spit poison when Lord Randall appeared at the open front door He leant languidly against the jarin “Ah, I see the wanderer returns Where on earth have you been, Miss Lovell? Refilling the tenants’ troughs? Mucking out the cottages?” A weary sigh left his lips “It’s a sad day indeed when a lady of your standing would rather parle with the peasants What does it say about your character, I wonder?”
Cecil muttered and said, “I think that’s a lo, Rudolph The chit has a large heart that’s all”
“That’s all? That’s all!” Arabella coirl will be the downfall of this faer “Now, you will promise your brother you’ll stay away from Lord Greystone”