He cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “There is nothing to be thankful for. Harmonia has been thanking me repeatedly for the last half hour, and I must say it is getting tiresome. There is no need to repeat what is not worth mentioning.”
“Well.” She swallowed. He was certainly in a mood, wasn’t he? Best to address the elephant in the room. “Are you still cross about me spying on you?”
His face darkened. “Cross? This is beyond mere annoyance, Lena.”
“I assure you; it is really quite harmless. I am not stupid. It would never occur to me to pass on information that is really important.”
“That is certainly to be hoped,” he replied coolly.
“If all things fail, I could tell them about your kite excursion with the boys and how you got stuck in the tree. Les told me all about it.” A corner of her mouth quirked upwards. “I’m certain Metternich will enjoy hearing about that.”
“Is this all a game to you, madam?” His voice was tight. “Let me assure you, this is neither amusing nor a game. I do not appreciate being the object of scrutiny, my every move and word weighed and judged. I have gone through great pains to purge my household of potential spies and have prided myself on being quite successful, only to find my own wife at the epicentre, hired by Metternich himself.” He blew out his nostrils in indignation.
“When I first took the job,” she countered, her voice surprisingly steady, “I had no inkling of who you were or that we were even vaguely related. It meant nothing to me, so why on earth should I not do this?” She threw up her arms. “I needed the income. I have to feed my children somehow. Why not like this?”
He stared. “By Jove. I’d forgotten what it was like.”
“What?”
“To have a wife.”
Ice-cold heat rushed through her veins. She took a sharp intake of breath. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Someone who needs constant care and protection, someone to think about all the time, someone with a mind and a will of her own, someone—” His voice trailed off.
“Who is a burden and a millstone around yourneck.” She had no idea where that had come from, but there it was.
Their eyes locked. A flicker of something—sadness? pain?—passed through his eyes before they darted away. “This is…absurd,” he said, a moment too late.
But the seed of doubt had been planted in her heart.
Maybe he wasn’t really that delighted to have her back. Perhaps he had been content as a widower. He must have led a jolly life, not tied down to anyone all these years.
Maybe all he needed was his son and heir, but not her, the unwanted, unloved wife.
He had a mistress, after all. Didn’t he?
Maybe it was all a mistake and she should have stayed dead.
She forced a stiff smile. “Why did you never marry again?”
He opened and closed his mouth several times, his face a mask of conflicting emotions. It was strange to watch, almost as if he were struggling for air.
After what seemed to her an eternity, he replied curtly, “I simply preferred not to.” Then he turned and stalked back to his room, leaving Lena in the corridor, staring at the closed door in confusion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Julius paced his room,wishing himself to Jericho.
What had that been all about, and why the deuce had he said all those things he didn’t mean? He was supposed to be wooing her, not fighting her.
Someone who was a burden and a millstone around your neck.
By Jove.
How could she just say something like that so carelessly?
He collapsed in his chair with a groan, burying his head in his trembling hands.
