“There is nothing to end. That is as much a part of me as the man you’ve come to know these past weeks. Enough of trying to change something you do not understand.”
“Then help me understand it!”
“I will not!” His voice rose, teetering on the edge of a shout, as his frustration slowly began morphing into anger. “What could you possibly do to help me? You are nothing but a young chit who has shackled herself to my side and that is all there is to it.”
He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. It wasn’t true. Somehow, Amelia had become something more to him, something he hadn’t really considered before. But the pain on her face was already transforming into anger.
“How could I forget?” she spat. “You are nothing but a monster who tramples all over the lives of others, not caring about whom you’ve hurt along your way.”
Gideon reached for her. “Don’t cause a scene—”
“Don’t touch me!” She recoiled from him, eyes alight with fury and accusation. It paralyzed him to the spot, unable to do anything as she marched away from him.
Only after she had gone did he realize that the dark emotion had vanished, leaving a void within him that lingered throughout the rest of the night.
CHAPTER 13
Gideon could not concentrate—no matter how hard he tried. Two days. For two days he had been trying to pen a correspondence to his steward in Bath but had not been able to focus at all. All because of the brown-haired, blue-eyed lady who had been weighing on his mind ever since the night of the Duke of Gendway’s soiree.
“Damn it all!” Gideon flung the quill pen back into the pot with such force that it nearly toppled the whole thing over. He ran his hands over his face, trying to banish her from his mind and failing miserably. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why she was so upset with him. Yes, perhaps he should not have been so sharp with her when she’d almost exposed him as the Masked Rogue in the middle of a crowded ballroom—but how else had she expected him to react? And for some reason, Gideon had a tingling feeling that there was something else at the base of her anger, something rooted deep within her.
And it had been two full days since he’d last seen her.
Amelia was rather adept at locking herself away in her bedchamber. And on the rare occasions she did venture out, which he only found out after grilling Thomas, her time was spent either in the garden or the east wing’s library. Once, Gideon had been tempted enough to go in search of her and demand to know why she was so upset with him. But he’d managed to restrain himself just in time. He shouldn’t care. He didn’t. She was just a slight hindrance in the grand scheme of things, which was his revenge. Gideon reminded himself he shouldn’t forget that.
If she is so upset with me, then she should just get the marriage annulled and over with, he thought glumly.
With a frustrated grunt, Gideon rang for Thomas. The butler arrived in only a few minutes, slipping into the room and bowing deeply with his usual formality.
“You summoned me, Your Grace?”
“Yes, it is about my wife,” Gideon grumbled, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. “Have you managed to find out anything about her?”
“I have not, Your Grace,” Thomas confessed. “At least, what Ihavefound is nothing interesting.”
“Let me hear it. At this point, anything could be useful.”
“Well, before relocating to London with her aunt and uncle, the Viscount and Viscountess of Hendale, Her Grace lived in Brighton. She has a sister who, along with her husband, the Earl of Talley, still resides there.”
Gideon waited a moment for Thomas to continue but the butler said nothing more. “Is that it?”
“Erm, yes, Your Grace.”
“You’re right.” Frustrated, Gideon ran his fingers through his hair. “That isn’t anything useful at all.”
“Forgive me, Your Grace. I will try to find more that will suit your needs.”
“Thank you, Thomas. You’re dismissed.”
Thomas bowed again and slipped silently out the door, leaving Gideon to his thoughts once more. He stood and began to pace, grappling with how to proceed. He needed to find a way to get Amelia to annul the marriage as soon as possible. But would she do that if she was still upset with him? What if she chose to stay married to him out of pure spite? She didn’t strike him as the vindictive type, but Gideon wanted to err on the side of caution.
But what could he do to make it up to her? Apologize? He did not even knowwhatto apologize for!
A nice meal might be able to do the trick, he thought.She seems rather simple. Perhaps if we dined together and I—
The door opening cut into his train of thought. “Not now, Thomas. Unless there is more you can tell me.”
“I’m afraid your butler is off being busy elsewhere,” came Lewis’ easy drawl. He made his way over to the sideboard to fix himself a drink.
