“Do not feign concern for him now,” Nicholas grunted. “That was never your way. Sir Richard was a means to an end for you, as you were for him.”
“Yes, yes.” She waved a cavalier hand. “And we are both better off separated. I am not implying that I am worried about him, and certainly not that I miss him. Did you know he is seeking to divorce me for adultery?”
“I did not.”
“So, should he perish abroad because of old age or by accident, more’s the pity for him and the benefit to me. I will wear the proper mourning attire and move on with my life as a happy, wealthy widow. But if you did not come here to talk about Dickie... You received my letter, yes?”
Nicholas started, glanced up. “Letter?”
“Yes,letter. I wrote to you earlier this week. I thought that was…” Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, that really isnotwhy you are here. I wrote to you asking you to return to me.” She crossed the room in an instant, taking him by the shoulders. “And you are here, and yet you are not.”
Nicholas masked his horror and released himself from her grasp. He paced the room, thinking. What were the chances that she had bid him to London the moment he had resolved to meet her and put an end to their connection for good?
Another cruel twist of fate.
“No,” he muttered, raking a hand over his mouth. “I did not come to London intending to reunite with you. Not in the way you believe. Lady Harrow—”
“Lady Harrow?” She laughed bitterly. “No, no, Your Grace. Now I see perfectly well what you intended. You are casting me away like a disused rag.” For a moment, she was silent, and Nicholas feared the worst. “How strange it feels to be on the receiving end of rejection…”
“It had never been my intention to mislead you. The parameters of our…acquaintance,were clear from the first. And now I have reason to bring it to a definitive conclusion.”
“A woman?”
Nicholas could not help but smile. “What else?”
“And so, you visit me here to ensure I will bother you no longer.” She rolled her eyes heavenward and shook her head. “A note really would have sufficed. You could have saved us both the embarrassment of this assignation.”
“I could not risk it being intercepted. And I felt, from what I recalled from you, that you would not take me seriously by written word alone.”
“You were probably right. Typically, I am very good at getting what I want, and men are most susceptible to being worn down by correspondence. The impatience of your sex is astounding.”
She sighed dramatically.
“So be it. I shall find amusements elsewhere. But answer me this—who is this woman? Surely not the poor dear you have taken to wife.”
Nicholas must have looked shocked, because she continued with a laugh.
“Dearest, did you expect London would not hear of your surprising marriage? A tantalizing affair.”
His brow arched. “I expected you would not mention the wedding to protect your pride. Samuel came to me some weeks ago and suggested you had set yourself on the path of war.”
“Foryou?” She grinned furiously. “Avon, we had our fun. We would have continued to have fun had Dickie not called for that duel. But you must know that my heart was never in it. And neither was yours.”
“So you will not seek to make my life difficult?”
“Certainly not. It is in my interest to pretend you never existed—unless I need to stateagainthat my old, rich husband is looking to divorce me and ruin my good name. I would lose everything by associating myself with you.”
Summer walked toward the door.
“She must be an exceedingly worthy woman, the wife you have taken, to have captured the heart of a rogue as yourself.”
“I did not say that she had.”
“Yes, but actions often speak much louder than words, don’t they? Play coy with me if you must. But I wish you well with her, a successful and perfectly boring reformation.”
That evening, Nicholas exited the Whitmore townhouse after stopping quickly for dinner with his brother. The early winter air greeted him with its sharp bite, carrying the air of smoke from nearby chimneys and the wagons of passing chestnut vendors.
Samuel had gone ahead of him to clarify the cost of the trip with his driver. He peered up at Nicholas, where he waited beside the carriage, fiddling with a small pink jewelry box.
