Silence is Golden

13. Pink Letter Lady

My dear Lords, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I proudly present to you (drumroll...) the SPECIAL EXTRA INSTALLMENT of "Silence is Golden" - intended as a small "thank you" from me, Sir Rob, to every single one of you, my fabulous fans, for all your spiffing encouragement and support throughout the Wattys 2016. By voting without fail during the whole voting period, you have paved the path to Victory for Lilly and Mr Ambrose, and made it possible for this book to emerge triumphant from the Wattys for two years in a row! :-)

Yours Truly

Sir Rob

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A baronet! She had actually managed to find a blasted baronet! And as if baronets weren't rare enough in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, she had found one who apparently wanted to marry me! And even worse: an hour spent in my company had not been enough to change the man's mind!

What the bloody hell was I going to do? Aunt Brank had been eager enough for me to get married before, but now? When there was a noble title involved? She would move heaven, earth and hell to pull this wedding off. If need be, she would drag me to the altar by my hair. The only way I would be able to escape was if I fled England!

'Good morning, Mr Linton,' Mr Stone greeted me cheerfully as I stomped down the hallway on my way to my office.

Then he caught sight of my face.

I threw him a glare. 'Who said anything about good?'

'Um...' He swallowed. 'My mistake. Mr Ambrose is waiting for you.'

I bet he is! But right now, that doesn't matter! I have to think up a way to get out of town, a way to get away from my aunt. I don't have time for Mr High and Mighty Ambro–

My thoughts cut off abruptly as an idea struck me. It wasn't gentle about striking me, either. It gave me a hefty wallop in the head.

Mr Ambrose! That was it. The last two times I had left England – the only two times, in fact – it had been in the company of Mr Ambrose, to take care of problems presented by the many and varied business interests that he possessed all over the globe. The two of us had invaded the secret headquarters of Lord Dalgliesh, had sailed to France, traversed the deserts of Egypt and fought robbers and hired killers together! Surely he could come up with some more robbers to kill in some desolate corner of the earth, preferably more than five hundred miles away from my dear aunt?

'Mr Linton, I can hear you breathing out there!' a familiar cold voice cut through the door of Mr Ambrose's office. 'Get in here! You are already twenty-seven seconds late.'

'Work calls,' I informed Mr Stone and, pushing the door open, sauntered into the office with a broad smile on my face. 'Good morning, Sir! It is a wonderful morning, is it not?'

Cold silence greeted me.

I don't know whether you've ever been greeted by cold silence before. In case you haven't, let me tell you – it doesn't make for a great welcome party.

'The perfect weather for a walk in the park,' I added, trying to keep the bright smile on my face. 'Or a trip to the country. Or maybe, I don't know...even a longer journey?'

A pair of dark, sea-coloured eyes found my face. 'Get the balance sheets, Mr Linton!'

Not a very promising start, I had to admit to myself as I hurried to do his bidding. I would have preferred 'Of course, Mr Linton! Let's go to Honolulu!' But if Mr Ambrose ever made things easy, he wouldn't be Mr Ambrose – or would have stopped breathing. Though, on second thought, I wouldn't put it past his corpse to try and order me around.