“No.” Instinctively, she reached out to lay a hand on his arm. When he glanced down, she snatched her hand away. “That is, I would rather they didn’t. After the incident tonight . . . If my mother hears about the situation, she will . . .”
Percy knew exactly what she would do.
Her mother was a widowed viscountess, and she delighted—with, what he felt, could only be sadistic pleasure—in making the people around her as miserable as possible. If she knew there were issues in their marriage—one which she had arranged with such eagerness, securing for herself a fat settlement in the process, then she would be sure to descend. And yes, he could refuse her entry into his house, but she outranked him, and she could cause all sorts of unpleasantness he would rather avoid.
Even so, he disliked this halfway house. It would be difficult to avoid her in the same house—but what better way to protect his maimed heart than to steer clear from the thing that continued to break it? He could not continue to withstand the pain of her rejection; it was beyond endurance. If there had been any other way forward that he could see . . . But he could not. Shortof forcing her, which he would and could not do, little else remained to be done.
“Very well,” he said. “I will continue to live here. But our lives are to be separate. Do you understand?”
Her nostrils flared, and he thought she would argue. A not insignificant part of himwishedshe would argue, fighting for the marriage she had never asked for. Instead, she merely said, “Do you have anything else to say to me, or may I retire to bed now?”
He didn’t know why he’d bothered to hope.
“Goodnight, Cecily.” He bowed, as though she were a stranger he was meeting for the first time, and retired from her bedchamber into his own. There, he did his best to feel as though the night had been a victory.
Chapter Two
Cecily slipped her arm through that of her best friend, Mrs Arabella Sandhurst. They’d met during Cecily’s first season, and had both married at similar times. Arabella to the penniless second son of an earl, whom she loved, and Cecily to her baronet, whom she didn’t.
They didn’t always promenade in Hyde Park, but Arabella had insisted, dragging Cecily out in her best walking dress. And instead of the grey pelisse Cecily had reached for, Arabella had insisted on a deep emerald one, delicately laced.
“It brings out your eyes,” she’d said.
Cecily, all too happy to look her best, had tied the buttons with a smile. Now Percy had effectively relinquished his claim on her, she had a sense of freedom. Now, more than ever, she could do as she wished. More than that—hewantedher to.
He had asked to be separate. Finally, after four years of wishing, he had given in. And so Cecily had chosen her most fetching bonnet. Perhaps she would find a new beau to flirt with.
Arabella certainly seemed to think she would.
“What is this surprise you have for me?” she asked now, tilting her head so her bonnet shielded her face from the sun. The very last thing she needed was to encouragemorefreckles across her nose.
Arabella laughed, her plump face glowing. “That defeats the object of the surprise.”
“Whom are we to meet? I presume that’s why you brought me here.”
“You should not be so observant.”
Seizing her opening, Cecily mentioned how observant she had been at the opera—what she had seen, and what the outcome of that had been.
“How cruel he was to humiliate you!” Arabella said, indignant in a way that spoke of her own love for her husband, who would never have stooped to such tricks. Then again,shewould never have flirted with Lord Featherstone as a form of revenge.
After consideration, perhaps she and Percy were both as bad as one another.
Regardless, it was better they no longer lived as husband and wife.
“It’s not so bad,” Cecily said, patting Arabella’s hand. “Of course, he should not have done it so publicly, but I don’t think he will do so again, and it’s hardly as though I sought his affection. Why should I care if he bestows it on another?”
“Odd that I never heard of Caroline Spenser’s name being linked to his. I’d have thought, if they were openly seeing one another, I would have heard something.”
“You do not haveallthe gossip.”
“I assure you, if I don’t know it, it is not worth knowing. I have the ear of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, and she is a formidable creature. She confides in me. The rest, my husband gleans from his fellow officers. So, you see, I know everything. I could tell you all the names of Caroline Spenser’s former lovers.”
Cecily waved a hand; she had no desire to know anything further about Caroline Spenser. “My point is, he will no longer be attempting to win me over, and I have the freedom to live my life as I wish without having to endure his attentions.”
“Do you intend to find a lover?” Arabella asked curiously.
“No! At least, I don’t know. I don’t think so.” She touched the ring on her finger, concealed by her glove. When Percy made his announcement, she’d considered taking it off. Not all ladies wore rings—and most gentlemen did not. More bound them together than a sliver of gold. Still, she kept it on, and she rubbed it as she spoke. “I’m not interested in finding anyone else.”
