“I would have sent you a missive, but I wanted to tell you face-to-face.” Well, not this way precisely. He had intended to call upon her. As it was, he had to hope no one had seen her arrival or would witness her departure.
“Thank you, Shelbourne. I did enjoy my time with you, and I am so very sorry about the dowager.”
He nodded, tamping down a surge of emotion at the mention of his grandmother. “Thank you.”
“I will take my leave,” she said, dipping into a curtsy and offering him one last, sad smile.
She whisked past him, exiting the chamber, and Sidney belatedly realized he had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had neglected to give Alice the parting gift he’d had the prescience to purchase some months earlier. A pearl necklace.
He owed her that, after the manner in which he had hurt her, albeit unintentionally. Sidney hastened to fetch the damned thing, hoping he had enough time to reach Alice before she departed, for he had no wish for them to cross paths so intimately again.
When he reached Wentworth, his butler informed him Lady Richards had already departed. Without taking the time to contemplate the wisdom of his actions, Sidney rushed from Cagney House, the necklace nestled safely in a box he carried. Alice was in her carriage, but he reached her before she could depart.
“Halt!” he ordered her coachman, who obligingly reined in the matched pair pulling Alice’s barouche.
She rose from her seat, coming to the edge of the open-topped conveyance as Sidney stood on the step. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
“I loved you, you know,” she said softly.
Christ.
He had not expected tender feelings from her. Mantel clock manipulations, yes. Love proclamations? Decidedly not.
“I am sorry I cannot return your feelings,” he said, offering Alice the box. “My heart belongs to another. A parting gift for you.”
She startled him by taking the box and then cupping his cheek and pressing her mouth to his, there on the street in full view of any passersby. He took her wrist in a gentle grasp and ended the contact.
“Goodbye, Shelbourne,” she said sadly.
He stepped down. For a few moments, they stared at each other. And then her barouche swept into motion. He watched her go, an unsettled, ill feeling unfurling within him.
Chapter 18
Present
Today, I discovered the man I have spent the last few years loving, the man to whom I entrusted myself and my heart in every way, is not the man I thought him to be. What a fool I was. Words are insufficient to reflect my utter despair.
~from the journal of Lady Julianna Somerset, 1883
Shelbourne had defeated her at two games of billiards, but Julianna had bested him twice as well. The hour was late, she was weary, and the unexpected camaraderie they shared this evening had her on edge. She did not trust it. Did not trust him.
He was being…
Sweet.
Tender.
He had asked her an exhaustive amount of questions about her cold cream, her business, New York City, Emily, and the Lady’s Suffrage Society. Whilst they played, he worked an endless amount of information out of her. And she had given it willingly, because he was different tonight.
It was almost as if he was once more back to the man she had thought she had known, before…No.She would not think about that awful day now, when she had seen him kissing his mistress in her barouche on the street for anyone to see. Nor would she recall her heartbreak, the day and night she had spent sobbing in her chamber and feigning an illness so Father would not expect to see her.
Julianna clutched her cue before her as if it were a shield. “The hour is undoubtedly late, and we should get our rest. Thank you for the distraction this evening. It has been most pleasant.”
“It has indeed been pleasant.” The grin he sent her made her belly tighten. “I enjoy spending time with you, Julianna. It greatly pleased me to learn more about your business prospects.”
“Thank you.” Heat rushed to her cheeks.
