a matter of fact I don’t—just honest, in this case. Do they all ask you to marry them?’ he enquired guilelessly.
Arizona was saved having to reply as there was a knock at the door. It was Cloris, looking pink and determined, which didn’t happen often, but when it did she was as tenacious as a miniature bulldog with faded blonde curls. She had with her a trolley with an array of drinks and a plate of snacks, and she stood in the doorway staring beseechingly at her boss. Arizona closed her eyes then said in a goaded sort of voice, ‘Bring it in, Cloris, bring it in.’
And so Cloris spent a few fluttering minutes deploying her trolley and departed finally in an even worse flutter after a few kind words from Declan Holmes.
Who said to Arizona once the door was closed again, ‘Routed, I’m afraid, Arizona—are you going to take it in good grace? In other words, may I pour you a drink and myself one and may we then sit down and discuss—things more comfortably?’ But there was a gleam of mockery in his blue eyes.
Arizona breathed deeply, shrugged and sat down. ‘Thanks, a brandy and dry,’ she said briefly.
He poured two of the same, handed her hers then sat down opposite her. ‘Cheers. Well, here’s to the fact that I’m here to ask you to marry me as I promised I would twelve months ago—to the day,’ he said gently, sipped his drink then placed it beside him.
‘And you haven’t, in the intervening twelve months, reflected that if nothing else it was pure bad taste to ask me that on the day of my husband’s funeral?’ she retorted.
‘On the contrary, I think advising you of my intentions but allowing a whole year to pass before I acted on them was observing all the proprieties. Particularly in view of the fact that your last marriage was a marriage of convenience, Arizona.’
‘How dare you?’ She stared at him coldly.
‘Let’s examine the facts then,’ he replied smoothly, ‘and don’t forget I knew Pete well. But you came here to Scawfell as a penniless governess, didn’t you, Arizona? To look after the four motherless children of a man twice your age. Less than a year later you married him, and all this—’ he gestured, taking in the elegant room and somehow more, the whole beautiful estate of Scawfell ‘—became yours.’
‘No, it didn’t,’ Arizona contradicted through lips pale with anger. ‘It’s held in trust for his children, as you very well know, Declan. After all, you’re the trustee.’
‘All the same, you have the use of it guaranteed until you remarry, Arizona,’ he said coolly, ‘and the means so that you can continue to use it in the manner to which you’ve become accustomed.’ His eyes lingered on the smooth skin of her bare arms then drifted down the exquisitely tailored black dress.
‘I didn’t want that, I didn’t know it was in his will,’ she said steadily. ‘Nor have I done anything in the manner to which I had become accustomed, quote unquote, since Pete died, other than look after his children and—’
‘How are they?’ he broke in.
‘Fine,’ Arizona said briskly. ‘Why don’t you ask them how I rate as a stepmother, incidentally?’
‘I’ve never accused you of not being a good stepmother, Arizona,’ he returned mildly.
‘Only a fortune huntress,’ she said with soft mockery.
‘Well, why did you do it?’ he countered.
‘Marry Pete?’ she said with hauteur. ‘That’s my business, Declan, and I’m afraid you’re, destined to remain in ignorance.’
‘Even when you’re married to me?’
She took this without a blink and said thoughtfully, ‘Tell me something—considering what good friends you were, didn’t you think it was in incredibly bad taste to be eyeing your friend’s wife across the fence, as you put it yourself, Declan, if nothing else?’
‘Unfortunately one can’t help one’s—instinctive reactions. And as I did nothing but look on the odd occasion, no, I don’t.’
‘And what would have happened if Pete hadn’t died?’ she asked caustically.
He shrugged wryly. ‘Who knows? I might have got tired of looking, although I’m not sure about that. Or you might have got tired of Pete.’ He grimaced.
Arizona ignored this and said, ‘But, and this does puzzle me, you now want to marry me, despite the fact that you think I only married Pete with an eye to the main chance. That doesn’t altogether make sense, if you’ll forgive me.’
‘I think it makes perfect sense,’ he responded. ‘I have a much larger fortune than Peter ever had, which makes me an excellent candidate for your hand—provided, of course, you reserve that lovely, sexy—’ he looked her up and down ‘—body for my exclusive use,’ he finished, looking into her eyes with a gleam of pure insolence in his.
‘That’s incredbly—that’s diabolical,’ Arizona said with an effort, an effort to stay calm. ‘You’re talking about trade, nothing else—’
‘I rather thought you understood about trade all too well, Arizona,’ he broke in.
‘Contrary to what you think, Declan, I was extremely fond of Pete,’ she said, and stood up restlessly.
‘But you weren’t in love with him?’ he said after a moment as he sat with his arm along the back of the settee and watched her thoughtfully.
‘I...’ She stopped then looked directly into his blue eyes. ‘It wasn’t a grand passion, if they exist.’ She shrugged. ‘But yes, I loved him in a way. A warm, committed way that I can’t imagine ever loving you.’ And her grey eyes were suddenly challenging.
‘Would it surprise you to find yourself loving me in a different way?’
‘Are you talking about love or lust?’ she asked with an insolent glint of her own.
‘They’re not always easy to separate, Arizona,’ he drawled.
‘Oh, I think they would be in this case.’
A faint smile twisted his lips, then he sat forward, picked up his drink and regarded its depths for a moment before he said, ‘Well, my dear, this may be the moment to talk turkey then. Pete’s rather complicated estate has finally cleared probate, and unfortunately, the outlook is not good at all.’
Arizona frowned at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You may not have realized this, but Scawfell is heavily mortgaged and was, to an extent, mortgaged against Peter’s future income, which should have payed it off—he was one of the most famous, soughtafter architects in the country. What he neglected to do, however, was take out any insurance against, well, the unknown happening such as did happen.’
Arizona sat down rather suddenly. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying,’ he said levelly, ‘that although he was the finest architect, he wasn’t much of a businessman. He was also very secretive so that not even I knew how complicated his affairs were or how unwise some of his investments. What it boils down to is that Scawfell will have to be sold to save anything of his estate for his children, let alone the provisions he made for you, but in the real estate climate of the moment, it’s debatable if there will be anything left for any of you.’
‘But I don’t understand,’ Arizona whispered, paling as his words sank in. ‘He never said a word to me about all this, not—’ she stopped then continued ‘—not that I ever asked him. But he didn’t seem to have any worries about finances.’
‘He wouldn’t have had if he hadn’t died so unexpectedly.’
‘But...’ She stood up again, uncaring that he was watching her like a hawk now. ‘This is terrible! It was bad enough for them to lose their father like that, in a car accident, after losing their