“Iknowthat now! Your Uncle Edward thought it quite amusing to inform me as I left the church that I no longer needed to worry about buying the estate. He couldn’t wait to tell me. Wanted to relieve my mind, he said. Bloody hell. Do you know how it looks, madame?”
“Do you realize you are insulting me, sir?”
He had the decency to look surprised. “I didn’t mean to imply—”
“Of course you did. That is what you are complaining about, isn’t it? That people will say you married me for my inheritance? Well, thank you very much. I was not aware this was the only way I could get a husband.”
His brows narrowed and he said coldly, “Shall wediscusshow you got a husband?”
Her eyes flashed blue sparks, and for a moment she feared she would lose all control. She managed, just barely, to keep silent, and Nicholas refrained from goading her. Both were relieved to find the coach stopping just at that moment.
He stepped outside and extended a hand to help her down. But as soon as she was standing on the ground, he got back into the coach. She stared up at him, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t!” she gasped.
He said bitterly, “You can’t be surprised. I am a man of my word, after all.”
“You can’t just leave me here—not tonight.”
“Tonight, tomorrow—what difference?”
“You know what difference!”
“Ah, yes, the wedding night. But we have had ours, haven’t we, love?”
She gasped. “If you do this, Nicholas,” she said tremulously, “I swear I will never forgive you.”
“Then we are well met, aren’t we, if we both honor our oaths? You have what you wanted. You bear my name. I give you now my home. Where is it written that I must share it with you?”
“You expect me to stay here while you go on as before, living in London and…”
He shook his head. “London is too close for our arrangement. No, I’m leaving England altogether. Would that I had done so before we met!”
“Nicholas, you can’t. I am—”
Reggie stopped herself before making the one declaration that might change his mind. Her pride stubbornly reasserted itself. She would not follow the path of thousands of other women, just to keep a man by her side. If he wouldn’t stay because he wanted to…
“You are—what, love?”
“Your wife,” she said smoothly.
“So you are,” he agreed, his mouth tightening into a hard line. “But you will recall I didn’t ask you to be, and I warned you not to press the marriage. I have always been plainspoken about this, Regina.”
He closed the coach door then and tapped on the roof to signal the driver. Reggie stared incredulously as the vehicle moved away.
“Nicholas, come back!” Reggie shouted. “If you leave…Nicholas! Oh! I hate you! I hate you!” she cried in frustration, knowing he couldn’t hear her anyway.
Stunned, she turned around to face the large gray stone house. It looked like a miniature castle, a gloomy one, in the dark night, with its central tower and corner turrets. This was only a close view, however, so she did not see how it spread out behind and on the sides of the main block in asymmetrical heights and shapes. There even was a large domed conservatory at the back of the house, towering over the servants’ wing on the right.
The arched windows on either side of the door were dark. What if there was no one at home? Famous. Abandoned on her wedding night, and to an empty house!
Well, there was nothing for it. Squaring her shoulders, she forced a smile and approached the front door as if there were nothing odd about a bride arriving without her bridegroom. She knocked, first quietly and then loudly.
When the door finally opened, Reggie saw the startled face of a young girl, a maid. She was not at all confident about answering doors. That was Sayers’ duty. He took himself so seriously. He would have her hide to know she has usurped his place.
“We weren’t expectin’ company, my lady, or I’m sure Sayers would’ve been waitin’ round to let you in. But you’ve such a soft knock…gor, listen to me ramblin’. What can I do for you?”
Regina grinned, feeling ever so much better. “You can let me in, to begin with.”
