Lord Harbury rose to his feet. "That is a serious accusation, Your Grace," he said. "And I don't believe I have done anything to warrant it. The duchess had an empty glass, and I offered to fill it out of courtesy. Had she declined, I would have respected that. What I cannot respect is the way you are speaking to me now."
"I have no need of your respect," James said. "My only wish is that you stay away from the duchess. If you can manage that, then you and I have no quarrel."
Victoria felt deeply embarrassed. "What are you doing, James?" she demanded. "I was having a perfectly civil conversation with Lord Harbury. Why did you feel the need to involve yourself in that?"
"It is my duty to look after you," James said stiffly. "You ought to know by now that I take that very seriously."
"Well, if part of your responsibilities involve finding her a husband, you may as well know that you are unlikely to meet with success if you continue to treat anyone who speaks to her as if they are a criminal," Lord Harbury said, his voice tight and bitter. He turned to Victoria. "Forgive me, Your Grace. I have been enjoying our conversation, but I have no wish to be spoken to as if I was some sort of rake."
Victoria quite understood, but she had no idea what to say to him. She could do nothing but watch Lord Harbury walked away.
When he had gone, she whirled around to face James. "What were you thinking?" she demanded. "Why would you speak to him that way when you know perfectly well that he did nothing wrong?"
"I told you, I cannot be sure of what his intentions may have been."
"If you had questions about his intentions, you could have asked him. Or you could have stayed with the two of us to chaperone. You don't need to run off every person who speaks to me. How do you expect me to marry under those conditions? You say that I can choose a husband for myself, but if you're never going to let me have a complete conversation with anyone, that isn't going to be possible."
"Were you going to marry him? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"Of course I'm not saying that. This was the very first time he and I had ever spoken. How could I possibly have made such a decision? But I'll never come to a place of wanting to marry someone if I'm never allowed to finish a conversation with them. That was the problem between me and your late cousin. We hardly knew one another, so I didn't know what kind of man he was until it was too late to back out of our engagement."
James let out a sigh and raked a hand through his hair. "Don't you understand that's what I'm trying to prevent?" he demanded. "I don't want to see you end up with someone who is unworthy of you again."
"But I will never know if someone is worthy or not if I'm hardly allowed to speak with him," Victoria exclaimed, her frustration taking her over.
People were starting to notice their conversation. Heads were turning in their direction.
"We ought to take this outside," James said quietly. "We don't need people listening in on this."
Victoria pressed her lips together. "Are you actually going to listen to me?" she asked. "Is it going to be a real conversation if I go outside with you?"
"Don't I always listen to you?"
Victoria scoffed. "Hardly."
She saw James grit his teeth. "Whatever you have to say to me, this is no place for it," he said. "If you want to talk, I will require that we step outside. People are starting to look at us."
"Very well. Follow me, then."
Victoria strode past him, knowing that he wouldn't like that she had taken the lead. He would have wanted to remain in charge of the situation — he'd have liked her to follow him outside. It was a small thing, but it was a way for her to regain control of the situation, and she needed that right now.
She didn't even look over her shoulder to see whether he was following her. She was confident that he was. And if he chose not to… well then, that would answer any questions she had remaining about him. That would let her know that he had never intended this to be a serious conversation that took her point of view into account. If he couldn't bring himself to follow her outside, that would mean that the only thing he had ever cared about was reprimanding her. Victoria had no interest in that.
Her heart raced as she walked through the empty ballroom to the doors that would lead them out into the garden. Though she and James were often alone together by virtue of sharing the same house, there was something different about seeking a quiet space in the middle of the dinner party. There was something intentional about it that couldn't be ignored.
And Victoria couldn't help wondering what it might mean.
CHAPTER 26
"You're being utterlyridiculous," Victoria snapped the moment they'd come to a place of solitude. "Are you truly unable to see how foolish you're being? Do you genuinely not know?"
"You can't speak to me that way." James curled his hands into fists by his sides. He hadn't anticipated that he could feel this angry with Victoria—but then, perhaps he should have. She seemed to have a gift for provoking him. "You must show me more respect than that. While we're in public, if at no other time, I insist upon it."
Victoria looked as if she might lash out at him. She folded her arms tightly across her chest. "You humiliated me in there," she informed him. "You made me look like an utter fool. And now you're telling me that I haven't shownyouenough respect? You jest, James. I don't know how you can say such a thing to me at the moment, when you and I both know that if it hadn't been for your involvement, I would be inside right now having a perfectly appropriate and respectful conversation with a gentleman whowas nothing but kind to me. I don't see how that can be anything other than what you want."
"I told you that you could choose for yourself what gentlemen you were involved with?—"
"That's right, you did!"
