On her way upstairs to change for dinner, Sir John caught her in the hall.
“Miss Rogers, might I have a word with you in my study?”
Her breath hitched. “Of course, Sir John.”
Swallowing hard, she followed him across the hall and into the masculine chamber.
“Leave the door open, if you please.” He gestured her toward the chairs at his desk. Quietly, he said, “Less chance of gossip if we leave the door open. And I shall be able to see if anyone nears the door while we talk.”
Was gossip all he was hoping to avoid? Was further temptation to be avoided as well? Or did he find her revolting now that she was ruined?
She sat, clasped her hands, and waited, pulse pounding.
He sat as well, looking down at his desk as if gathering his thoughts, his fingers rolling and unrolling a scrap of paper. “I hope you will not be offended,” he began, then looked up at her. “I have taken the liberty of finding another situation for you.”
She stared at him in surprise.
“A friend of mine, Mr. Perrin, has a widowed mother in need of a companion. She is an old dear, and I have spent many a happy hour in her company. I would not have arranged it, if I did not think the two of you would suit one another. I honestly think you would enjoy the post. It will be far less ... complicated.”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep tears at bay.Irrational creature, she inwardly chastised herself. For it felt like a rejection.
His eyebrows tented in apology. “Please know I am not dismissing you. Not in that sense. Not for anything you’ve done.” He glanced toward the door. “Rather for what I fear I might do should you remain.”
The mantel clock ticked and ticked again. He did not find her revolting after all. It was small comfort.
Her throat tight, she managed, “I understand.”
“I hope Bath will be a new start for Marianna and me. What sort of a hypocrite would I be if I did not forgive her indiscretions and offer her a second, third, hundredth chance?”
She forced a stiff nod.
“I hope putting a little distance between her and a certain man will help, yes. I also plan to make full use of the Bath season, and escort her to all the entertainments, all the pleasures of youth she has no doubt missed in my quiet company. I don’t know if it will help, but I must try.”
Again she nodded, heart aching, the words she longed to say fading away. After all, he was a married man. She had already refused his money, and really, what else could he offer her? He and Marianna had enough problems as it was. She wouldn’t drive another wedge between them.
“She is my wife,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I took vows. For better, for worse.”
Unable to speak over her burning throat, Hannah rose, bobbed a shaky curtsy, and slipped from the room.
After dinner that evening, Sir John remained in the dining room over a glass of port, while the two women withdrew to the drawing room.
Marianna glared at her. “Sir John says you have no wish to go with us to Bath. Is that true?”
She delivered her prepared explanation. “It is not that I don’t want to go with you, but that my father is here.”My father is here ...Hannah thought,the very reason I should leave!Before he realizes and it breaks his heart. For though little more than a month had passed, Hannah already suspected the truth of her situation.
Marianna’s lip curled. “Nothing says you have to remain near your father. I never wanted to see mine again once I moved out, I can tell you. Come, Hannah. Whomever shall I find to replace you? I need you. You cannot be so disloyal.”
“It isn’t a lack of loyalty, my lady, I assure you. But Sir John has found a suitable situation for me here—very kind of him, really—so I might stay. You won’t need me—you shall have awhole new set of friends and so many dances and concerts, you won’t even miss me.”
“Of course I will. Why don’t you want to come—really?”
“My lady, if your husband thinks it best that just the two of you go together, then we must bow to his wisdom and preference in this matter. Perhaps he wants to keep you for himself, to have more time with just the two of you. It is quite romantic, really.”
“Keep me to himself, yes. Romantic, no.”
Sir John walked past the drawing room at that moment.
Lady Mayfield tilted her head and waved her hand. “John! Hannah thinks you don’t want her anymore and are casting her off.”
