“And you never once thought about using my grandmother to ruin me?”
Bridget had not been moving at all, but she somehow seemed to grow still before him. “No.”
Lewis leaned forward until his knees touched hers. Bridget’s jaw clenched, but she did not pull away from him.
“You did,” Lewis said. “I can tell from your face. What did you plan?”
Bridget looked askance. “Nothing.”
“No?” he asked. “You cannot fault me for distrusting you when you will not even admit to your own wrongdoing.”
“I thought you were being cruel to her,” Bridget said. “I wanted to know the truth.”
“For entirely selfless reasons, I am certain.”
Bridget wrinkled her nose. Her face was still flushed with color, but some of the anger in her eyes seemed to abate. “Fine. My motivations were not entirely selfless. If you were abusing the Dowager Duchess, I intended to tell thetonof your misdeeds with the aim of ruining your reputation, if not justifying an annulment.”
Lewis sucked in a sharp breath. Perhaps he ought to be offended by that, but?—
But how could he blame her? Bridget had made it abundantly clear that she bore him no real affection. She married him only because she had no other options.
With a start, Lewis realized that she was rather like himself. After rescuing her from the lake, he had decided at once to marry her out of convenience. He was as cunning as she was.
“We are quite alike. Both dishonest and sly and…” He trailed off. “Seeking every advantage that we can, scrambling for control in a world that refuses to be put into neat order.”
“Yes.” Bridget’s body remained tense. “Yes, I suppose we are.”
The carriage came to an abrupt stop, and they stared at one another. Although his wife’s face was no longer angry, Lewis found himself unable to interpret the exact expression on her face.
After a heartbeat, she laughed. “I have deceived you, and you have deceived me. What happens next?”
“Maybe we make amends,” he said.
“I suppose you want me to apologize,” Bridget said.
“Not necessarily.” Lewis’s heart pounded so violently that his chest ached. “I was thinking of another manner of reconciliation.”
“Oh?” Bridget asked.
“How do you feel about Shakespeare?”
“The man who has written more extensively about love than any other playwright in the British Isles?” Bridget asked, letting out a little lovelorn sigh.
Lewis grinned. “Why don’t we go to the theater?”
CHAPTER 31
Bridget’s eyes were bright with excitement, as she seated herself in Lewis’s usual box. The theater was awash with gentle, flickering candlelight that lent a warm glow to Bridget’s face. This was where she was comfortable and happy. Lewis forced his gaze away from her face, irrationally afraid that she might notice him looking too fondly at her. It was a ridiculous fear to have, but after their argument, a strange vulnerability had gripped him. It was as though he had bared his soul to Bridget and was waiting for her to reveal that their seeming harmony was only another scheme.
“I have never seenAs You Like Itperformed on stage,” Bridget said, leaning forward eagerly in her seat. “But Rosalind is my favorite Shakespearean heroine.”
“Is that so?” Lewis asked.
He supposed that he should not be surprised that Bridget favored Rosalind, who was adventurous and witty. She seemed like the exact character who Bridget would probably want to be.
“Oh, yes,” Bridget said. “I will confess something else to you. When I was a girl, I was fascinated by actresses. I even told Elias that I wanted to be one because I always found them so beautiful and magical. There is a charm in being able to transform into so many different characters, to reinvent yourself over and over.”
Lewis slowly nodded. “I can understand the appeal in that. I think we all want to reinvent ourselves on occasion.”
