That was the reason why he had agreed to listen to Lady Julianna Somerset. Why she was accompanying him into his home. Why she was near enough he could be vexed by her luscious scent.
She was dressed quite well today, wearing a purple gown that made her eyes ludicrously bright. He wished she had been wearing something brown and ill-fitting instead. And veils.
Hell, a sack would have been preferable.
Not seeing her at all would have been optimum.
They made their way inside through the rear entrance. Within, there was not a hint of Wentworth anywhere, which was just as well. Fewer eyes to witness Sidney parading the same female who had been haunting his halls last night up the main stairs.
“Where are we going?” she dared to ask.
“I need to change,” he clipped.
“I cannot go to your chamber, Shelbourne.”
She sounded scandalized. And ever-so-slightly American.
And he was feeling as beastly as ever. Devil-may-care, too.
“Why not?” he threw over his shoulder. “No need to act the frightened virgin. We both know you are not one.”
Her swift inhalation reached him. And affected him. He would be lying if he claimed it did not.
“You are being cruel,” she accused softly.
And correctly.
Hewasbeing cruel. What had she expected? A bouquet and an embrace? For him to fall on his knees before her with unending gratitude that she had returned and wanted to marry him, two years after he had asked and she had rejected him?
If so, she could not be more wrong.
“Iamcruel,” he said flippantly. “But no one told you to seek me out, did they? The choice was yours,chérie. And if you want to speak with me, you have to play the game by my rules.”
For some reason, his stupid, sadistic mind had decided she must join him in his chamber. While he disrobed.
He would like to believe he was calling her bluff instead of acting recklessly. Instead of stupidly giving in to his lingering desire for her.
“I do notwantto speak with you,” she told him, trailing him to the top of the stairs and down the hall. “It is imperative that I do, however.”
“More of this marriage nonsense?” He cast a glance toward her, which proved another mistake in a long series where she was concerned.
She was strikingly lovely, and she was worrying the bow of her upper lip in the way he recalled. The way that wassoJulianna. The lust coursing through him was instant and irritating.
He quashed it and reached his bedchamber door, throwing it open with so much force, it crashed against the wall.
“It is not nonsense, my lord. If you will but give me a few moments of your time, I am quite convinced you will be persuaded to understand the import of what I am about to suggest.”
That was it.
Sidney spun on his heel, finding her hovering at the threshold as if she were a meek, frightened virgin. He knew she was no virgin. Because he had taken her maidenhead. Instantly, he wondered how many others had shared her bed since. And he hated himself for the venom spewing through his veins at the notion.
“I have already given you more of my time than you deserve, Lady Julianna,” he snapped. “There is nothing you can say that will change my mind.”
“I will make it quick,” she said, her blue eyes vivid on his. “I could not speak with you about something of such great import when you were in your cups.”
“Darling, I amalwaysin my cups,” he said with a sneer. “Say what you must and go.”
That was not entirely true, but he had been turning to the bottle for comfort far more frequently in the years of her absence.
