Had she truly felt overlooked among the Knickerbockers?
“Nobody in New York cared what I thought about labor unions,” she said, “but I’m a married woman and get to have opinions now.”
He cared about her opinions. He sat up, clutching the linens to his chest, for he didn’t want to frighten her with his nakedness. “Do you feel thatIdon’t listen to you?”
Louisa crossed her arms over her breasts, debating how honest to be with him. “I think you have secrets, my lord, and you’d prefer it if I knew absolutely nothing about you.”
His perceptive wife certainly had him pegged.
Giles sighed. He’d only ever hoped to protect her. Keeping her safe was more important now than ever before, yet he hated hurting her. They were supposed to be allies. “I’m sorry for not telling you about my mother,” he said. “The truth is, we’re not close, but we are cordial. I couldn’t explain that in front of the others.”
She nodded, believing she understood. How could a pampered child fathom being forgotten at school and forced to rely on friends for accommodations during holidays? There were years when he’d scrimped together the funds for a train ticket back to Granborough, only to spend Christmas alone. Louisa imagined herself unheard or unseen, yet she had no idea what it felt like to truly be ignored.
“Since we are being honest,” she admitted, “you should know that I’ve followed you.”
“When?”Not last night, surely.
“The evening of our betrothal dinner. I wanted to know what men did in the smoking room, so I followed you, Pappa, and the others.”
He had no idea why she’d bothered to snoop when she might’ve simply asked someone, but perhaps an inquisitive, unmarried girl would never find the answers she sought. It was a man’s world, after all, and gentlemen guarded their secrets closely. “Was your curiosity rewarded?”
Louisa shrugged. “I saw nothing more than smoking, drinking, and billiards playing.”
Some fellows talked business, while others argued politics. As inCampania’ssmoking room, card games might be organized, but nothing fascinating happened between those walls. It was merely an excuse to relax outside the presence of ladies.
His wife took two steps toward him, and then stopped. After last night, Giles wagered she didn’t wish to get too close. “Lord Granborough, there was something else—”
“Yes?” he asked.
“That night, you looked angry, devastated…” She struggled for the right word. “Cheated, maybe. I’ve always believed my father to be generous, but if you’ve found fault with our marriage settlement or with me…”
“No, Louisa, your father is a good man, though I suspect he doesn’t like me much.”
It was no surprise that Mr. Thurston Reid did not like him, for Giles was a fraudster and a sponger. Any fool could see that his intentions toward Louisa had been mercenary from the very start.
“Our contract dealings were perfectly agreeable.” He offered his hand to her, palm up. “As for you, dear, I think you’reexquisitelyagreeable.” Louisa placed her fingers in his, and he brought her knuckles to his lips.
He longed to be truthful with her. “I was angry that night, I recall, but not at you. I was devastated only because I’d found myself in circumstances that no decent man ought to ever be.”
He’d been cheated by fate, forced to pledge his hand to a girl he barely knew to save himself from debts he didn’t run up, and all the while his mother and his mistress goaded him on. No one had cared if he’d hurt Louisa Thurston Reid in the process.
Giles could see the outline of her figure in her silken wrapper. She was a warm, soft, sincere woman. Holding her, he began to question whether he’d been cheated at all—or whether fate had dealt him a better hand.
A knock sounded at the door of their suite. Louisa spun toward the sound as though they’d been caught doing something naughty. She slipped her hand from his. “That’s the cabin steward with breakfast.”
“So it is,” said he, letting his empty palm drop to the mattress. “Go and eat.”
“Would you care for anything? Tea, toast?”
He shook his head. “Close the bedroom door. I think I’ll lay abed a while longer.”
She left him to break her fast in their sitting room, and Giles sank back onto Louisa-scented sheets. He heard her speaking and moving about next door, managing the stewards with ease. He lay there for a long time, wanting her, and waiting for her, yet she never returned.
When, at last, Giles impatiently threw open the door, Louisa’s scandalized maid informed him that Her Ladyship had dressed and gone out for the day.
His bride had bolted.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
