Greyley sighed. “Look, Thraxton, I didn’t mean to set your back up in my dealings with Allencott. If you’re worried that he might noise it about that you are untrustworthy because you’re reneging on your agreement, don’t bother. As compensation for his loss, I invited him to hunt at Greyley this fall. He’s always wanted to come, but frankly, I’ve never been able to stand his company. He very happily agreed to the exchange.”

Anna stiffened. “You traded me for a week of hunting?”

“I wouldn’t say it like that.”

“How would you say it?”

He shifted, the floor beneath his feet creaking. “It doesn’t matter how I’d say it—I was attempting to protect your interests and—”

“I don’t need your protection. Not now, not ever.”

Anthony almost winced at the frigid tones that fell from Thraxton’s lips. Crystalline clear, each word clinked onto his ears like icicles. Perhaps he had overstepped his bounds a bit, though it hadn’t seemed like it at the time.

Indeed, Thraxton should have been thanking him, not regarding him as if he were some sort of aberration to humanity. But then she’d always had a tendency to see the worst in everything he did, he decided. It was just like her to make a huge fuss over nothing. He’d conveniently forgotten that part of her personality in his zeal to obtain her services. “You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”

A proper woman would have taken offense, but not Thraxton. She curtsied. “Thank you, kind sir.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” he answered bluntly. She was unlike any woman he knew, full of health and vigor. From her height to her incredible coloring, there was nothing ladylike about her. Take her gown, for instance. Even though the cut of the garment was modest—almost severe in detail—on Anna Thraxton it became a siren’s gown. The thin material draped over her perfect figure, molding to the contours of her full, round breasts, and clinging in a most disconcerting way to her slender waist and hips. Even the color, a soft innocuous blue, did nothing to blend her into her surroundings. Instead, the color contrasted with the creamy hues of her skin and enhanced the rich auburn of her hair. Anthony found himself comparing her coloring to Charlotte’s gentle prettiness and decided that surely such vivid looks might tire a man. Still…it was hard to find fault with Thraxton’s looks. If it weren’t for her nose, she would be stunningly beautiful.

Anthony tried to focus on that proud nose, but his gaze kept drifting down to her mouth where her lovely lips parted in a cool smile, revealing even white teeth.

“Lord Greyley, you may be able to waltz into half the households in London and get your way with such high-handed tactics, but this isn’t one of them. You have reminded me what a fool I would be to even attempt to work for you. I have changed my mind—you will have to find someone else to serve as governess to your wards.” She turned and walked to the door.