Sophia
It was short, but it was to the point. Spencer’s pulse quickened, wondering just what had to be so important that she could not tell him then and there. Something had to be terribly wrong.
He paced furiously, knowing that his legal situation was truly too precarious for him to leave at that moment, but knowing he could not put her at risk either. He raked his hand through his hair, groaning in frustration. He knew what he had to do.
He had to leave.
CHAPTER 20
“You did not take much convincing!” Maria said in a voice that was louder than polite society deemed pleasant.
The ladies were laughing uproariously at Anna when she told them of her antics, but it was all in good fun. They were pleased for her, especially Maria, who was smiling widely at it all.
“I tried to keep my defenses up,” Anna protested, “but I could not help myself. He has been so good as a husband, and he has been opening up to me.”
“So you are opening up to him?” Maria joked, and Anna threw a cushion at her.
“I shall be most unwell if this continues,” Theodora huffed. “You are all catching this terrible disease of enjoying the company of men, and I cannot stomach it.”
“I certainly can,” Maria retorted. “I think it is lovely that Anna is happy. If anything, it means that I can enjoy my own marriage without feeling guilty for doing so. I want this for all of us, as you know.”
“I do not quite have what you do,” Anna said quickly. “It is only very early, and we have not done too much together, but it is enjoyable. I like where it is going, too, and I believe that he feels the same way.”
“Is that to say that he will not be leaving this time?” Evelina asked. “I rather like the sound of that.”
Anna bit her lip, her grip on her book tightening. She knew that he did not intend to stay forever, but it would at least be easier than before. This time, at least, she knew something about where he was going.
“He has to continue to separate his time between here and the north,” she said carefully. “You must all keep this information in this room, of course, but he has family there, and his presence is required for their sake.”
“So there is no mistress?”
“He has told me that there is not, and I am inclined to believe him. He spoke with conviction, and I like to believe that I would know if he was lying to me.”
“Then we will believe him,” Maria nodded.
“You are only saying that because you want to like him,” Theodora snapped.
Anna blinked. Theodora had defended Spencer before, and she seemed to like him, but that day she had arrived and was acting as though she loathed him entirely. Anna wondered what had changed, but it would have to wait. They had too much to discuss in terms of the book, and though she was interested in what was troubling her friend, it was apparent that Theodora did not want to talk about it.
Her friend’s temper only seemed to worsen as they read. There were many lurid scenes, where the lady was thrown onto the bed and ravished with great furor or draped over a settee and taken gently in the middle of the night. As Spencer had hoped, Anna was very much inspired by it all, but she watched as Theodora’s lip curled more and more.
When the meeting was coming to an end, Anna motioned to Maria and Evelina to wait outside for a moment, which they did. Theodora had slammed her book closed and was sitting still, furious.
“What is it?” Anna asked, sitting beside her. “I know that something is troubling you.”
“It is nothing.”
“No? Then why have you scowled throughout the meeting?”
Theodora did not move, nor did her face change at all. Anna sighed, laughing softly.
“Theodora, I know that this is not what you expected, and I am aware that I have changed very suddenly, but I am still myself. Nothing has changed about our club.”
“But it has,” Theodora huffed. “It was one thing to have an older sister who had been married, who was afforded all of the benefits of being a wife with the freedoms of a widow. And I could accept having a sister who had gotten what she needed as well as a friend who had fallen helplessly in love with a wonderful man.”
“I know how that felt.”
“Precisely, but what you do not understand is that nowyouhave joined them. The two of them are perfectly happy, and you and I had that desire for the same in common. We were the unfortunate two who had not gotten what we wanted, and that meant that I was not alone. Now that His Grace has decided to be a husband to you, it is as though all is forgotten and all is well.”
