He heard her sharp intake of breath. Then she turned and walked in rapid steps away from him. The closing of the door punctuated the silence. He stared at the place where she'd been. Couldn't believe she was... gone.
Morgan remained, his eyes cold. "You and I have unfinished business, Mr. Hunt, and I will do what is in my power to atone for the suffering I have caused you." Then a thread of anger entered his voice. "But hear me well: you will leave Miss Fines out of this. She is a young, innocent girl, and when I think of what—" His fists curled at his side, and he said tightly, "If it is satisfaction you want, then come for it like a gentleman. Good night, sir."
The door shut behind him, and Gavin was alone. Trapped in hell, with no escape.
As he'd always been.
33
Back in herown snug breakfast parlor, Miss Priscilla Farnham ought to have felt safe at last. She'd escaped the villain; the pristine windows offered views of an unclouded sky. Around the table, her family members ate their toast and marmalade in contented silence.
"Priscilla, dear, why aren't you eating?" her mother said.
Miss Farnham bit her lip. "The truth is, Mama," she burst out, "I've alwayshatedmarmalade."
—fromThe Perils of Priscilla, a nearly completed manuscript by P. R. Fines
"I'm done crying," Percy announced from the doorway of her mother's sitting room.
Mama looked up from her reading. Her brows lifted above her rounded spectacles.
"Well, there's a relief," she said mildly. "I thought you meant to carry on for days yet. As you are recovered, have a seat."
Percy sighed. She had been expecting this—in truth, had been putting it off for as long as possible. But a person could only shut herself in her chambers and sustain hysterics for so long.
She dropped into the adjacent chair. Curled on Mama's lap, Fitzwell lifted his head. His snort seemed to say,You're in for it now.
"Before you lecture me, I want to say... I am sorry, Mama," Percy muttered. "I know how disappointed you are in me."
"I haven't moved beyond shock yet. I still don't understand how you could do such a thing." Lace fluttered against Mama's graying curls as she shook her head and put down her book. "You've always been headstrong, but this... Have you lost your mindcompletely?"
"I wanted to help Paul," Percy said in a small voice.
"I have dealt with Paul," her parent said in tones that made Percy wince in empathy for her sibling, "so you will leave him out of this. What I want to know is whyyouwould willingly throw yourself at ruin."
"But I am not ruined. Ga—I mean to say, Mr. Hunt, promised to keep our wager secret. And he's kept his word. There hasn't been a whiff of scandal about me. Well, other than the fact that I threw Lord Portland over." Hastily, she added, "Not that that was my fault."
To her surprise, her mother said grimly, "That was the one thing you didright. Lady Helena filled me in on the lateston-ditsurrounding his lordship. Apparently, it's all over Town that the man is buried in debt. Thank heavens you escaped the clutches of that fortune hunter."
Percy lifted her brows.I actually did something right?Wanting to maintain the direction the ship was sailing, she said, "When did you see Lady Helena, Mama?"
"She came by yesterday. You were taking a nap, and she did not wish to disturb you. Now do not try to change the topic," her parent said. "Though by some miracle you seemed to have slipped beneath society's notice, the fact remains thatyouknow what you did. And do not think for a moment that I believe you have told me everything, young lady."
Percy gulped. When Nicholas had brought her back to the townhouse two nights ago, she'd given a summary of events to Mama. A rathereditedversion. Even then, her mother had stared at her in mute astonishment; she'd counted herself lucky when, instead of being interrogated further, she'd been sent up to bed.
Apparently, Mama had recovered from the shock.
"I must ask you this, Percy. And know that this is the last question any mother wishes to ask of her unwed daughter." A pause. "Have you done anything..."—her parent's chin trembled—"... irrevocable?"
Heat flooded Percy's cheeks. "No, Mama, I have not," she mumbled.
Her parent's sigh rushed into the silence. "Well, thank goodness for that at least."
Percy understood her mother's relief, of course. At the same time, misery flooded her. Because despite everything that had passed and her frustration at Gavin's intransigence, she still yearned to be in his arms. The tears she'd shed these past two days had mostly been for his suffering—his and Nicholas'. To think of what they had both endured... and with the loss of Stewart, Gavin's pain must be double-fold.
Having had time to reflect, she could understand why Gavin had felt that he needed his revenge; why, in the horrifying wake of losing his mentor, he might have chosen it over her. Yet his choicehurt. Why was she so easy to set aside? Why couldn't she for once be important enough to come first? Why couldn't the man she loved love her back?
If she was wise, she would abandon any hope of a relationship with Gavin Hunt.
