It was all Archie could do not to clench his fists at his sides.
“La Contessa,” he said. He’d be damned if he offered Ravensworth her real name.
“Do you know if she’s in need of a patronage?” asked Ravensworth. Either he hadn’t noticed Archie’s increasingly foul mood, or he’d noticed and simply didn’t give a toss. Ravensworth could be very much a duke in that way.
“She’s a contessa,” said Archie, digging in. “Why would she need your patronage?”
Ravensworth scoffed. “Come off it. She’s no more a contessa than you are a stonemason.”
It would be pointless to try to convince Ravensworth otherwise. The man was too astute for that—and he knew Archie too well.
He dug into his breast pocket, his hand emerging with a white slip of paper. “Give this to her.” He extended a calling card toward Archie. “My door is always open for talent such as hers.”
A tidal wave of jealousy washed over Archie. There was simply no stopping it. “I’m sure it’s her talent you noticed,” henearly growled.
Ravensworth’s light amber eyes narrowed, and he went cold in that way particular to him. “You insult her talent, Arch.” He inclined his head. “I’ll bid you a good night.”
Archie decided it wasn’t in him to make small talk with Tristan and Amelia. It was time to leave.
He took the front steps leading onto Grosvenor Square down two at a time. Only when he was a good half mile away did his racing mind begin to slow and form a few clear thoughts.
He’d revealed something of his feelings about Valentina to Ravensworth—feelings he hadn’t quite sorted through himself.
But that wasn’t what irritated him most about the interaction. The man had been correct. Hehadinsulted Valentina’s talent. The truth was the patronage of the Duke of Ravensworth would ensure an illustrious career for her. Archie should turn around and give her the calling card this instant.
Instead, he slipped it into his breast pocket.
Tomorrow…tomorrow.
He needed to gather all the frayed edges of himself together and regain control before tomorrow. Tomorrow, he had a job to do for Valentina. It was imperative that he not fail her or her family.
Even if success ensured he would never see her again.
So be it.
He would see her future secured.
Even if that future wasn’t with him.
Good deeds brought their own sort of punishment.
It was a fact.
Chapter Fifteen
Next day
The outskirts of London rolling past the carriage window, Valentina stroked a nervous palm along Miss Hiss’s fuzzy gray fur. The kitten had finally settled and curled into a tiny ball on Valentina’s lap, her sharp claws serenely kneading worn wool skirts.
She didn’t mind, for she was dressed in her own clothes.
She’d insisted on it.
After the coming events of the next hour, she would be moving on with her own life—not the Windermere life she’d been leading these last several days.
Archie rode into view. He’d chosen to ride alongside the carriage to Epsom, leaving her alone with the kitten in the carriage.
Alone with thoughts that kept circling her mind like a whirligig.
