She submerged again and again until well rinsed, then relaxed back on the pillow of folded linen once more.Not a killing shotkept running through her mind. She stared at the islands of bubbles bobbing across the water’s surface. “God in heaven, help me. I still love him.” A pained groan worked itself free of her at the admission, and she thumped a fist against her chest. Yes, damn his eyes, she loved him. What power on earth had made it impossible for hernotto love Nash Bromley? It had to be a curse of some sort—definitely a curse, because she had fallen under his spell since first setting eyes on him all those years ago.
A sad laugh hissed free of her. Loving him was the easy part. Trusting him was the impossibility. How could she ever trust him? Did wives justignoretheir husband’s questionable deeds and hope for the best?
“I cannot possibly do that,” she informed the bubbles as she wiggled her toes through them and scattered them across the water. Of course, she wasn’t perfect herself, and Nash hadignoredher temper and opinionated ways on several occasions. “But that is entirely different from the matter of trust and fidelity,” she said aloud. Yes, she had a terrible temper, was annoyingly stubborn, and often had a very difficult time looking at things from any perspective other than her own. But none of those things compared to the deadly sin of unfaithfulness or lying.
“My lady! Your hair!”
“I thought it might help me feel better,” Sophie said, unable to keep the defeat from her tone.
“Come along, then.” Marie’s exasperation was obvious as she held out a drying towel. “Wrap this one around you, since I warmed it by the fire. I’ll fetch another for your hair.”
With the toasty linen gathered around her, Sophie went over to the hearth and perched on a plump hassock, so Marie might have an easier time drying her hair. “I think I shall dine in my dressing room tonight,” she mused as the maid squeezed the water out of her long mane. “I simply do not have the energy to deal with anything other than a quiet meal and solitude.”
Marie hung the soaked drying towel on a rack by the fire, shook out another, and continued her efforts to dry Sophie’s hair. “Then you have a decision to make about the folks waiting for you in your sitting room.”
“Whatfolks?” Sophie frowned, then flinched as Marie scrubbed her head harder.
“Lord Rydleshire, a Mr. Burns, I believe he said, and Miss Hampshire are waiting to speak with you.” The maid tossed the wet linen onto the rack with the other and gently nudged Sophie to stand. “I told them I was not about to be rushing your soak, not after the day you’d had. They said they didn’t mind waiting. Especially Lord Rydleshire. He said he wasn’t about to leave until they spoke with you.”
“Lovely.” Still clutching the linen to her chest, Sophie turned and glared at the sitting room door, debating whether to lock it and let her uninvited guests sit in there until they rotted. She closed her eyes and let her shoulders sag. No, that would not do because, as much as she hated to admit it, Nash’s stubbornness and tenacity rivaled her own. Hewouldsit out there forever.
“Dress me for battle, Marie,” she said with a weary shake of her head.
The maid eyed her with a thoughtful look. “Mourning or not mourning?”
“Stunning victory and relentless control.”
Marie gave a curt nod and headed for the wardrobe.
Chapter Sixteen
“What makes youthink she will even agree to see me?” Miss Hampshire wrinkled her nose at the sober gown of light gray with dark blue trim that she pulled from the trunk. “Even if she does, she’ll think you just paid me to say whatever I tell her.”
While Nash wasn’t foolish enough to disagree, he still held out hope. He would never give up, never relent in convincing Sophie that he had not been unfaithful to her. He fully admitted he should have included her in his plans and told her everything. Avoiding an unpleasant confrontation with his wife was his sin—not adultery. His precious swan had to be swayed to forgive him for his cowardice. “Burns brought the letter from your father. That will help.”
With a moue of distaste, the lady eyed the pair of sedate black boots before placing them in the wardrobe’s bottom. “The lady will claim it a forgery.” She arched a brow at him. “I know wives, colonel. Lady Rydleshire is not the first to oust her husband after he sought a bit of fun outside the marriage bed.”
“I soughtnothingoutside my marriage bed—nor will I ever.” Nash yanked open the door to the small room assigned to Miss Hampshire for the length of her training. “How many times must I demand that this door be left open? Understood?”
With a wicked gleam in her eye, the girl waved a corset and a pair of shockingly pink stockings like flags of surrender. “No privacy for my intimates, colonel? Shame on you.”
“Burns!” Nash stuck his head out into the hallway, grabbed the man leaning against the wall, and dragged him inside the room. “Stay in here with us.”
“Need a chaperone, do you, colonel?” Burns grinned. “Addy trying to take advantage of you again?”
Nash shoved the man against the wall. “If not for the general, I’d send you both back to the hell where I found you. Thisfavor, which neither of you appears to appreciate, has cost me the only woman I have ever loved.”
Miss Hampshire snorted and waved away his words. “You are an earl. You’re supposed to have mistresses.”
“I do not want a mistress!” he bellowed. “I want my wife!”
Both Burns and Miss Hampshire glanced at each other and edged as far away from him as the small room allowed.
“Meant no harm, colonel.” Burns lifted both hands while pressing back tighter against the wall. “We’ll make this right with your woman so she’ll know you didn’t do nothing untoward with Addy or none of her girls. General wants us to make amends too. He was none too happy when I told him ’bout what went on and how things soured on you.”
“You got me out of debt with Mr. Forbes,” the somewhat meeker Miss Hampshire said. She hung another sedate gown into the wardrobe while offering Nash a slight nod. “I owe you, colonel, and I appreciate all you did. Truly, I do.” She frowned at the items left in the trunk. “I sure miss my fancy clothes, though.”
“Both of you report to the manor as soon as this room is set in order.” Nash glared at them, wishing he had never gotten involved in the sorry matter. While he respected the general and considered him a friend, Miss Hampshire’s lukewarm gratitude and heady regret about giving up certain particulars of her past had set his nerves on edge. That woman had cost him entirelytoo much. He charged out of the dormitory and stormed across the campus on foot in the driving rain.
