Rhoda could not meet Sophia’s eyes, choosing instead to stare at the elaborately designed rug covering the floor. “I could not do it.”
Silence.
“You mean you could notdo it,or youcould notdo it?” Sophia, Rhoda believed, had an inkling as to what Rhoda meant.
“I simply couldn’t do it.” She lifted her chin and looked from one girl to the other. “I wanted to do it. And I had every opportunity to do it. I’m quite certain we could have gotten away with it. It was just… he’d asked me not to. And there he was, defending my honor amidst all of his peers.”
She awaited the recriminations Cecily would surely heap upon her head. And the justified complaints Sophia would have.
Neither of which came.
“I am so very proud of you.” Cecily’s smile stretched from ear to ear.
“You love him! I knew it!” Sophia’s eyes had gone all dreamy, much like they normally did when she spoke of her husband.
Rhoda glanced from one to the other. “You mean you are not angry with me?”
But they were shaking their heads, most adamantly. “We were most willing to assist you, as you well know. But you walked away from nearly one hundred thousand pounds, simply because you’d given him your word.” Sophia sighed. “Isn’t love the most wonderful thing in the world?”
But Rhoda didn’t feel that way at all.
“There is more,” she blurted out.
Cecily’s eyebrows rose.
“I ran into him in Hyde Park, while taking an um… detour coming home.”
“Oh, this gets more interesting by the moment.” Sophia’s enthusiasm was not to be dashed.
“In my gentleman’s garb.” Rhoda waited for this to sink in. “I was dressed as a gentleman when I came across my unofficial, formerly official, now former officially unofficial fiancé.”
Must she spell it out for them?
“He knows I was going to place the bet. He knows that I didn’t have enough faith in his abilities to resolve our difficulties on his own.”
“But you didn’t.” Cecily stated the obvious. “Place the wager, that is. You walked away, incredible character on your part, might I add.”
“I told him I didn’t go through with it, but he was so very upset. It was as though by doubting him, I’d killed any feelings he ever had for me.” And broken her heart at the same time.
“But what is a lady to do?” Sophia burst out of her chair, throwing her hands into the air.
“He was so… disappointed that I’d considered going against his wishes. It was as though he didn’t even want to look at me after that. He put me in a hackney and sent me away.”
“Well, that is easily remedied.” Cecily spoke matter-of-factly. “Nothing a conversation cannot repair.”
“I hesitate to agree that it will be that simple, Cece.” Rhoda couldn’t shake the look of defeat she’d seen on his face when he closed the hackney door. She honestly wasn’t sure it would make any difference anyhow. He’d wanted her absolute faith, her wholehearted trust. Which, to be honest, needled her. Both their futures were at stake; why should they only do this his way? He ought to have heard her out at the ball. He ought to have been willing to consider her ideas. She wasn’t a complete nincompoop, after all.
Men and their fragile egos!
In a matter of twenty seconds, she went from utter heartbreak to exasperated frustration. Why should she feel guilty?
She was happy she hadn’t placed the bet. She wasn’t going to let him win anyhow. Holy heck, but she wasn’t going to let anybody win! They could wait until the end of time, blasted bastards, every one of them.
Justin wasn’t angry with Rhoda nearly so much as he was disgusted with his own failings.
The person he’d thought he was, no longer seemed to exist. He’d considered himself a man of God. Did men of God lust after young women, sinning with them over and over again in their thoughts? Did they hunger for money? Were they willing to walk in the world’s ways at the first hint of trouble?
He’d had her in his arms, alone, in a secluded place in the park. He’d not even realized she was dressed in men’s clothing until he’d gone to slide his hand beneath her nonexistent skirt.
