“But how can I know it’s you?” Lord Loughton pressed. “Tell me something only you would know.”
“You were a lusty boy as a child. Strong legs and a way with the lasses. I remember how you kissed them lassies, full on the mouth before ye—”
“Oh my!” interrupted the woman who had his back to him. “I don’t think we need to hear that.”
Aaron straightened of the wall, his heart thumping hard in his chest. He knew that voice. It sounded like Lilah Rees, but it couldn’t possibly be true. There was no reason for her to be in his dining room. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was really her. Unfortunately, she spoke no more as Lord Loughton cut in.
“Tell me something else, Nana.”
“Ye were in the Vauxhall Gardens last week. I saw ye from the heavens and heard your plans, you naughty boy.”
Really? Now that was sounding more interesting. Apparently, Lord Loughton thought the same.
“What plans, Nana?”
“Aieeee! Oooooh!”
The woman let out a bloodcurdling scream that was echoed by the women in the room. He was sure the table rattled again too, though it was hard to tell as even the footman gasped out, “Blimey!”
“Nana,” Lord Loughton asked. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s wrong, bonny boy! She’s all wrong for you! You canna marry her!”
“Who? Who mustn’t I marry?”
There was definitely a tremor of laughter beneath the questions, but the hooded woman went on as if everyone was terrified.
“Lady Clara is no’ fer you! Doom! Toil! Blood! Boil!”
Was she trying to quote Macbeth?
“Me?” cried his sister in what was clearly a staged voice. “He can’t marry me?”
“No! It will be the end of everything if he does! Aaiiiieeeee! Ooooooo!” The woman continued wailing as she thrashed in her seat. The table jumped and bounced until Aaron feared for the floor. But it wasn’t until a knife sailed through the air to land with a heavy thunk on his table that Aaron had enough. Lord Loughton, too, as it landed right in front of him.
The man leaped back with a gasp and no wonder. Someone could have lost a hand! A cleaver was now embedded several inches deep into the table.
“That is enough!” Aaron shouted as he stepped into the room.
The reaction was instantaneous. His sister leaped to her feet with a gasp as did the maid and footman. The other lady—the one he didn’t want to face yet—pressed her hands to her mouth in a squeak of alarm.
He went past them to the far windows which he hauled open. He wanted that horrible smoke out of the room. Unfortunately, the hooded lady was trying to hold on to her performance. She was still moaning and thrashing in her seat.
“Ye can’t marry! No’ her!” she cried.
“I shouldn’t think he’d want to,” Aaron snapped as he grabbed the brazier and tossed the contents out the window.Bloody hell, that was hot.Thankfully, he’d used his handkerchief to shield his fingers, but even so, he dropped the thing back on the table as soon as possible.
“Binner!” he snapped at his butler. “Bring in some good candles. And who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to throw knives in my dining room?”
“You mustn’t blame them,” his sister cried. “It was the spirit of his lordship’s grandmother who did that.”
“Oh yes,” Lord Loughton said with a chuckle. “My Nana was most adamant on that, I can see.” He touched the shaft of the cleaver and pulled it out of the table with a quick yank. “It’s most like her to throw cleavers, too,” he said.
“Really?” Clara said with a pleased gasp.
“Oh quite. She was always throwing them at people’s head. Carried a satchel of them with her everywhere she went.”
And when everyone just stared at him, he burst out laughing.