The diamond was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He ground his teeth together in fury, before taking a deep breath. The only thing left to him now was revenge.
∞∞∞
Max felt hollow, scoured out. If this was what love did to a man, mayhap he was better off without it. He laughed mirthlessly. How the hell had he fallen for the chit? Grimacing, he shook his head. It was madness. Now he had the diamond back, he would discreetly seek its sale and get his house back in order. Then he would choose asuitablewife, not one who ran through the streets barefoot with her shoes tucked into her damned bodice.
Determinedly, he rose from the breakfast table. Tomorrow he would return to London to begin the process now there was no longer any reason for him to stay. And while he did not believe Bamford would dare confront him, Max thought it prudent to leave Bath as soon as possible.
As he strode from the conservatory, seeking to inform the butler of his decision, his thoughts inexorably returned to Patience Shackleford. He could not regret their association, for all that it had ended badly. Indeed, without her aid, he would now be looking to sell all his possessions. He owed her everything.
But it was so much more than that. When she’d crashed into his life, she’d brought with her a breath of fresh air that he didn’t realise was lacking. Determinedly, he forced his thoughts away from the memory of Patience flushed and wanton in his arms.
She’d helped save his family from disgrace, but in truth he’d have given up everything simply to have her remain in his life.
∞∞∞
‘Did you notice that Patience was particularly quiet at the breakfast table this morning?’ Grace remarked as she sat in the nursery with her sister and their children.
Temperance pursed her lips, then nodded. ‘Given that she’s got her way and is returning to Blackmore in the morning, I’d have expected to see her in high spirits.’
‘Her leaving is not a moment too soon,’ Grace commented tartly, shuddering at the frosty reception they’d received at the ball the previous evening. ‘Indeed, if Nicholas and Adam had not insisted we remain, I’d have left the Assembly Rooms with my tail between my legs about five minutes after we arrived.’ She handed Peter an apple and kissed the top of the little boy’s head as he promptly snuggled into her lap to eat it.
Temperance laughed ruefully. ‘It was truly awful, wasn’t it?’ She shook her head. ‘I think the snobbery in the provinces is worse than in London, though I suspect that Adam will suggest we repair to Ravenstone for the summer.’
‘Nicholas has already announced his intention to retire to Blackmore until the scandal blows over,’ chuckled Grace. She sighed. ‘It’s all such a load of poppycock.’
‘Indeed it is,’ agreed Temperance, lifting baby Jamie onto her shoulder to check for wind. ‘In truth, we did Patience a great wrong by forcing her down a path she did not choose.’
‘Well neither of us were given many options as I remember,’ retorted Grace.
‘That’s as may be.’ Temperance rose to her feet and laid her son gently in his crib before looking over at her sister. ‘But we should have handled the whole situation so much better given that we’d both been through such turmoil. And in truth, Patience was correct when she said she is not like us.’ She paused, attempting to gather her thoughts before continuing. ‘Patience does not see things in the same way as the rest of us,’ she mused. ‘She has no idea how to dissemble and will say what she thinks regardless of the consequences.’
Grace nodded in agreement. ‘And she’ll refuse to do anything she does not wish to, no matter how much she is persuaded it’s the right thing to do.’
Temperance winced, then gave a small chuckle. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure where we’d have found a man either courageous or beef-witted enough to take her on, and certainly not in a genteel provincial town like Bath.’
∞∞∞
‘Daughters!’ Reverend Shackleford cried as he plonked himself on the seat next to Percy in the garden. ‘What on earth could I possibly have done to offend the Almighty that he would seek to punish me so?’
The curate hoped it was a rhetorical question as he had no idea where to start.
‘How could such an uncontrollable female have possibly issued from my loins?’ Augustus Shackleford insisted. Percy repressed a cringe, having no wish to consider the Reverend’s loins in any context whatsoever.
‘Has one of them offended you perchance, Sir?’ the curate questioned carefully, offering his superior some lemonade.
‘The thing is Percy,’ Reverend Shackleford continued without answering the question, ‘I know you are constantly telling me I’m too generous a soul for my own good…’ The curate frowned. He couldn’t remember saying anything of the sort. Ever.
‘… and entirely too considerate ...’ Percy blinked.
‘… But my good nature has been stretched to breaking point …’ He looked down at his lemonade frowning. ‘Is there any rum in this?’ Percy merely shook his head, and the Reverend reached into his cassock and pulled out a small flask. ‘Purely medicinal, you understand,’ he explained to Percy while adding a generous measure to his glass.
They sat in silence for a while, Percy perfectly content to continue in ignorance of whatever Patience had done now to upset her father. Unfortunately, he did not remain in blissful ignorance for nearly long enough.
‘The truth is Percy,’ Reverend Shackleford added heavily at length, ‘I think this time Patience has truly gone beyond the pale.’ He uttered a small moan and emptied the rest of the flask’s contents into his lemonade. Taking a sizeable mouthful, he leaned closer to the curate. ‘I think Patience … has indulged in …’ he took another despairing gulp before finishing in an agonised whisper, ‘…fornication.’
Chapter Eighteen
Evidently, the scullery maid had spied Patience in the back garden in an extremely compromising position with the Marquess of Guildford. Shocked, the maid had lost no time informing the housemaid, who’d lost no time in informing the footman, who’d very obviously lost no time in informing the butler.
