“What does that mean?”
“That I’m going to find Mr. Corbyn and make him regret what he did.”
“What?” Hannah’s heart kicked into a panicked tempo. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “But it wasmyfault. I kissed him.”
She’d presumed that if she took the full blame upon herself, there would be no need for any of the theatrics of male pride. Dueling was for gentlemen anyway, and Mr. Corbyn was only a disgraced midshipman-turned-dealer. It wasn’t fair for Eli to challenge him.
“He should have known better than to get himself in a room alone with you. A man doesn’t do something like that unless he’s up to no good.”
“Youfound yourself alone with a lady!” Hannah pointed out.“Twice! With two different ladies.” What a selective memory her brother had.
“That was different.”
“Different how?”
“I proposed both times, for a start.” Eli glared at her furiously. “Whereas Mr. Corbyn isn’t in a position to propose to you.”
“So it’s acceptable to kiss a lady as long as you have a bit of money, is that it?”
“That’s not what I said. But there are some lines you can’t cross without a reckoning.” On this ominous note, her brother turned and left the room.
“Wait!” Hannah scrambled to set her breakfast tray aside, push off her bedspread, and rush after him, heedless of her appearance. “Does that mean you know where he lives?Whereare you going, exactly?”
But he didn’t answer her, and the carriage left before Hannah could get herself properly dressed to follow him. Just her luck.
Though she wasn’t truly frightened for Mr. Corbyn—Eli didn’t have it in him to murder anybody, even if recent events had put him in a foul mood—Hannah did feel more than a little guilty for causing so much trouble. Any reckoning should be hers alone.
After that, the house seemed to become a spinning carousel of visitors and lamentations. First Della arrived, half-sobbing, and then Jane’s cousin joined the call, sounding appropriately scandalized if a touch too curious. Hannah didn’t have the courage to face either of them, but she eavesdropped shamelessly from her perch on the upper landing. From the snippets that wafted up to her, she gathered they were all very concerned about her future and couldn’t imagine what had possessed her. Hannah was itching to know where her winnings from last night had got to, but it didn’t seem like the best time to ask.
Why must everyone overreact so? After all, it wasn’t as though she’d murdered someone! All she’d done was kiss a man. She hadn’t even had time to properly enjoy it before it was over.
Not that she would have enjoyed it in other circumstances. Yes, the solid heat of Mr. Corbyn’s body beneath her hands had been oddly satisfying, particularly when he’d slipped his hand down the small of her back. (She hadn’t been expecting that part.) And yes, he’d tasted nice, and he smelled of fresh linen. And there had been a very intriguing shift in his reaction, when he moved from shock to, well, she wasn’t exactly sure what had replaced the shock, but there had been a moment where he seemed to be doing something encouraging with his lips. She hadn’t gotten the chance to find out what it was before she’d been wrenched away.
It was the only time she’d ever kissed a man. She would’ve liked a little more time to figure out what she was doing.
Never mind any of that. Hannah would be glad when all this fuss was over with and they sent her back to Devonshire. That was the point of the thing.
She waited upstairs for what felt like ages for both callers to leave. When the house returned to a peaceful silence, she tiptoed down to face her sister-in-law. There was no sense in postponing the inevitable, and she needed to find some way to reclaim her winnings if she was to pay Mr. Corbyn.
“Come in,” Jane said, spying Hannah where she lingered in the doorway. She sounded exceptionally tired, but not as angry as Mama and Eli. “How are you?”
“I’m sorry about upsetting everyone,” Hannah began. It couldn’t hurt to open on a conciliatory note. “I hope it won’t cause too much trouble.”
“I just don’t understand what possessed you to do such a thing. Did he frighten you? Put any sort of pressure on you?”
“No. It was my decision, I promise.”
“But you don’t evenknowthe man.”
In the chaos of her return to the town house last night, no one had been particularly interested in letting Hannah explain herself. Not that she’d thought far enough ahead to formulate a script.
Might they consider that she wasn’t truly ruined if they knew it had been planned?
Safer to play the part of a fallen woman as best she could. “He’s very handsome.” This had the benefit of being true, at least. “I simply couldn’t resist him when we found ourselves alone in the office. In fact, I–Iaskedhim to meet me there.” Though Hannah felt a bit nervous stretching the truth like this, it made for a very damning confession.
Jane certainly appeared horrified by it. “Don’t you see how dangerous this is? Your entire future is ruined over one kiss. You can’t believe it was worth it.”
“It was.” Hannah raised her chin proudly. This, too, was true. Despite the fuss everyone was making, she felt at peace for the first time in years. It had been so awful living in constant fear that the next caller would be the one that finally trapped her. At least now it was over. She’d taken the portrait they’d painted of her future and smashed it into kindling.
