𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒

Chapter 10

"I ASSURE YOU, THE SURPRISE is all mine, Lady Beaumont," Lord Edward Buxton responded, as, with a flick of his hand, he dismissed all the other gentlemen present in the office.

His voice was the same smooth baritone, and this time it had a hint of amusement lacings its blunt corners. Observing his facial expression, amidst all the hustle of men gathering their papers up and exiting the office—each of them dipping their hats to her briefly in turn—Diana could tell that the gentleman really was surprised, even with his stoic and stern demeanor.

He did not seem to care about being disturbed in the middle of his meeting, but rather, he seemed curious and intrigued, as though a pleasant sort of welcomed surprise had chanced upon him.

Lady Diana Beaumont had, come to a swift conclusion then, and was curious as to the response she was going to receive from such a devious man upon confrontation. He had succeeded in making a fool of her, putting up an entirely different show and getting her to respect him, all the while secretly harboring a completely blood thirsty outlook of life and business, an outlook in which he had her only uncle by the reins.

As she waited for every other man present in the room to leave, Lord Buxton, who for some reason felt no propriety in waiting, spoke up, "What brings you to Portsmouth, Lady Beaumont? Or rather, to my mill?"

In his tone danced a hint of sarcasm, or perhaps, mockery—or perhaps, the amusement she had sensed earlier had deepened to such a response. He seemed to slightly taunt Diana for appearing in the very particular part of Hampshire that she had previously, openly disagreed upon. But then again, perhaps the lady was imagining such an insult, given the fact that she never really criticized Portsmouth in front of Lord Buxton.

"I choose to answer the second part of your question, Lord Buxton, as the first part hardly concerns you," Diana's tone was abrupt—vicious.

The latter raised his brows a little at the lady's sudden coldness. Instantly regretting his decision of phrasing his question so. He hadn't expected to see her until his next visit to Southampton, which, because of business, was not possible anytime soon. Watching her enter his office had been an entirely different kind of experience. The room seemed to light up by her mere presence, and at that moment he could not hear a word of what his assistant was dictating to him. It seemed too good to be true and he had a sudden urge to shake himself awake, even though he wasn't really asleep.

Observing his silence at the remark, Lady Diana Beaumont coldly stated her business.

"I am here for my uncle, who happens to be, much to my shocking surprise, one of your employees."

"Your uncle?" Lord Buxton questioned, his brows furrowing a little in confusion.

"Yes, Mr Arthur Fleming," Came the confident statement, "He, is my uncle."

Processing the given name in his head, Edward tried to ponder if he was familiar with it. He had more than six hundred employees in this mill alone, and even more than that in his other mill a few miles away where his friend and business partner, Isaac Algernon, was positioned. Observing the lady's expression, he could tell that she was hurt and disappointed, but at what, he could not understand.

He hadn't met her uncle in Southampton, though he faintly seemed to remember the mention of one from Adam Seymour's mouth—a feat he couldn't exactly be sure of since there had been some—or rather one in particular—distraction for him at that fair. But then again, if Adam Seymour had properly mentioned an uncle who worked for one of the mills, Edward would've remembered such a fact. Still, some of the mills he had only had recently purchased, and Seymour sure as hell was not aware of which ones.