The room radiated with tension, and Jack frowned with concern. “What is it?” he asked.
Devons leaned back in his chair and said, “Your brother is accusing me of making his wife my lover. I am not sure why.”
Jack spun around and looked at Mercy with narrowed eyes. Even under her mask, she blushed, giving away her involvement. “What did you do, Mercy?”
Mercy took her mask off and shrugged. “Addie may have sent Sam a letter stating Devons was going to make Clara his lover.”
Devons chuckled and shook his head.
Sam looked at her shocked. “Why would you do that?”
His sister-in-law placed her hands on her hips. “Because you and Clara are both being ridiculous. Your wife wants you to be with her, but she is too stubborn to tell you. I think you want the same thing but are too stubborn to admit it.”
Jack chuckled. “Is that why you wanted to attend the ball?”
She blushed and grinned. “Addie sent a letter to Sam informing him Clara was attending the ball, but he didn’t respond the way we expected. So, we thought if we exaggerated a little, then it might prompt him into action. To show he cares.”
Sam scowled. “Of course, I care about her, she is my wife, but I bloody forced her to marry me. I wanted her to have some time to herself, time to decide if marrying me was the right choice.”
“By abandoning her?” Mercy questioned.
“I did not abandon her. I gave her space,” he bit out.
Devons had lost interest in their conversation and was looking out the windows at the gardens. He turned back and nodded towards the windows. “Well, I think the space you gave her opened the door for a bevy of lovers.”
Sam stalked over to the window and looked at the grounds below. His wife stood surrounded by gentlemen. He could only see the top of her head but even with a damn mask on he knew it was her.
“Stay out of my marriage,” Sam snapped at Mercy.
“Watch it brother,” Jack warned.
He didn’t respond but left Jack, Mercy, and Devons staring after him while he stalked down the hallway. He rounded the corner and made it to the stairs when he heard a familiar laugh that caused him to wince. In the foyer, he found Addie dressed as a Grecian goddess. He pushed his way through the men surrounding her and said, “A word, please.”
Her eyes rounded in shock and a gentleman attempted to nudge him out of the way. “The goddess was speaking with me, Kincaide. Where is your bloody mask?”
Sam glared at him, and the man backed away. Escorting Addie over to a corner, Sam asked, “Why did you tell me that Devons and Clara were to be lovers?”
She smiled and said, “I must have been confused.”
“Addie.”
She sighed. “Clara is wonderful. She needs you. I am not sure what you are doing up in Liverpool with a mistress when you have a perfectly suitable wife here.”
“That is not your concern,” he said harshly.
Her eyes narrowed, and she thumped him on the chest with her finger. “You made it my concern when you asked me to befriend her. But if you really don’t care, go back to Liverpool, she has plenty of gentlemen looking to see to her needs.”
“I never said I didn’t care,” he growled.
Addie laughed and wiggled her eyebrows. “Well, why are you talking to me? You better hope she hasn’t disappeared to one of those little cottages with one of her many suitors.”
He glared at her one last time and pushed his way through the crowd watching a comedic dance as he made his way to the terrace doors.
~
Clara was glad she attended the ball but looked around for a way to leave the gentlemen who currently surrounded her. As much as flirting and laughing had been enjoyable, she was not ready to go beyond that. Even though she had known he wouldn’t show, part of her secretly hoped that Sam would have proved her wrong. She pursed her lips, wondering why with a bevy of interested men surrounding her she could only think about a man who saw her as nothing more than a friend or a mate. A man calling himself the Green Pirate with an exaggerated hat that seemed to be covered in an exuberant amount of peacock feathers, interrupted her thoughts and asked, “May I get you something to drink, Red Angel?”
She smiled and said, “I—”
