Haunted Hearts

4

Rufus grinned.

Whatever he'd been expecting or dreading to hear, it sure hadn't been that blunt morsel.

Further proof Lady Melphia Matson was Roderick's sister—as though their identical deep brown eyes weren't enough. Roderick had complained for a month how she'd mercilessly teased him that they resembled the color of cow manure.

Rufus had been honor-bound as best friend to vehemently deny it—though, in truth, he silently agreed they were an exact match to the steamy pile of fresh cow manure they'd seen in the field that morning.

However, staring at Lady Melphia's eyes—Elphi, Roderick called her—he'd never be foolish enough to make such an erroneous comparison.

Rufus may have brown eyes the color of animal dung, but Elphi's beautiful eyes reminded Rufus of decadent dark chocolate sprinkled with gold leaf near the pupil.

"Were you never taught it isn't polite to stare, Lord Treadway?"

"Sounds vaguely familiar," he murmured with a lopsided grin curling his normally frowning lips. "But to be fair, I don't give much credence to the rules of polite society anymore."

"You don't?"

Rufus shook his head, "I've come to learn that what one chap declares polite another deems barbaric."

"That's a very modern point of view."

"Roderick mentioned me?"

Elphi blinked like an owl and looked thoroughly confused.

Rufus couldn't fault her. It was quite the leap in conversational topics, but he couldn't stop himself from asking any longer. There was too much he wanted to know—needed to know—however, from a purely practical standpoint, he silently argued.

One question rattled within his mind, begging for its freedom. What information had Roderick divulged about him to his little sister? Was it enough where, coupled with what she'd witnessed and heard tonight, she would give him a wide berth, thus making the job Roderick had asked him to undertake more difficult?

"Yes," she said with a slow nod. Her eyes narrowed as she silently deliberated how much to disclose before saying, "You attended Eton and Cambridge together, if I'm not mistaken, and have been the best of friends ever since."

Rufus nodded as he flicked a covert glance around the parlor and noticed he and Elphi were the only two left in the room except for a few straggling spirits, including Elphi's three ghostly escorts.

Lady Sanham stood in the foyer, just outside the pocket doors playing the gracious hostess, making it more than plain the evening's activity was over.

The other guests were in various stages of being ushered toward the front doors or handed their winter cloaks.

"Is that all?" He asked quietly, standing and offering her his hand.

Elphi accepted without hesitating and stood to face him, wishing she'd given the matter a little thought before acting.

Two things became instantly clear. One, Rufus was much taller than she'd expected, easily matching Roderick's mountainous height; she was sure of it. And two, Rufus's nearness was making it exceedingly difficult to breathe.

She would have liked to blame it on her corset, but she'd been breathing just fine until now, so she knew it was purely Lord Treadway's proximity, blast the man, which, unfortunately, meant one thing. She was attracted to him.

It was the worst possible outcome that could have transpired tonight.

Barring being set upon by highwaymen or murdered by a ghost, Elphi silently corrected herself—if spirits were even capable of such malevolent deeds without a physical form.