The Heiress Bride - Catherine Coulter [17]
“She what?”
Sinjun only smiled at her brother. “It’s true, Douglas. I knew he needed a wife with money, and so I told him I was perfect for him. Groats and toothsomeness all in one female person. To make it even grander, he catches all the other Sherbrookes in the family net as well as me.”
Alex laughed, she couldn’t help it. “I hope, Colin, that you can control this minx. She tackled me once in the immense entranceway of Northcliffe Hall, in front of everyone, and held me down until Douglas could be released from the room I’d locked him in. You must be careful, for she’s really quite determined once she sets her course.”
She went into peals of laughter, and Sinjun grinned. Douglas looked wooden as a church pew, and Colin looked as if he were indeed in Bedlam and the inmates were ganging up on him.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Sinjun said, and lightly patted his biscuit-colored coat sleeve. She made the mistake of looking at his face and felt her own color rise at her very interesting thoughts.
“Stop it, Joan,” he said low, through his teeth. “You’re a danger to yourself. Just stop it. Do you want your brother to attack me again?”
“Listen, all of you just cease and desist for a minute.” Douglas rose and began pacing the drawing room. He was also carrying his teacup and sloshed tea onto his hand. He grimaced, set the cup down, and resumed his pacing. “You saw him for the first time five days ago, Sinjun. Five days! You can’t possibly know that you’d be content with this man—he’s a bloody stranger.”
“He said he wouldn’t beat me. He said he was kind and felt responsible for his dependents. When it’s really cold he lets his cats sleep with him. What else should I know, Douglas?”
“You might want to know if he cares for anything other than your money, my girl!”
“If he doesn’t now, he will come to care for me. I’m not a bad person, Douglas. You like me.”
Colin rose to stand his full height. “Joan, you will cease to answer for me as if I were a half-wit and not even here.”
“Very well,” Sinjun said, and primly folded her hands in her lap.
“Damnation, my lord, I don’t have a bloody word to say to you! This isn’t . . .” Words failed Douglas. He stomped to the door and turned to say over his shoulder, “I will speak to you again, Colin Kinross, this time next week. Seven days! Seven additional days, do you understand me? You’re to keep away from my sister. One week, mind, no sooner. And keep your damned hands off my sister before you leave her in ten minutes!”
He slammed the door shut behind him. Alex rose then and grinned at them. “I fancy I will anoint his troubled brow with rosewater. It will soothe him.” She giggled and followed her husband from the salon. She said at the door, not turning, “Keep your hands off him, Sinjun, do you hear me? Men have no tolerance in matters of affection. You mustn’t drive him over the brink. Even in only ten minutes, gentlemen can forget every proper behavior they ever learned.”
Were all the Sherbrookes—even those not born Sherbrookes—quite mad?
“I am pleased to have accorded your sister-in-law so much amusement,” Colin said, and there was more irritation in his voice than there was tea in his cup. “If you want me to keep my hands off you, then stop staring at my mouth.”
“I can’t help it. You’re so very beautiful. Oh dear, all we have are ten minutes.”
Colin jumped to his feet, and he took up Douglas’s pacing. “This is all immensely unlikely, Joan,” he said, pivoting to walk toward the marble fireplace. “And in the future I will speak for myself.” And just what would he say? Damnation. He paused, looking down into the empty grate. It was pale pink Italian marble, expensive and fashioned by masters. Then he pictured in his mind the huge blackened fireplace in the great hall of Vere Castle that could hold an entire cow. Old and filthy, the bricks cracking, the mortar falling out in chunks. Jesus, even the magnificent painting of a pastoral scene over the Italian marble mantel was old and reeked of solid wealth and an acceptance of great privilege. Wealth and privilege