The same thoughts followed her around the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. They were going to the theater tonight, but that didn’t distract her either. It was a new play, so even James would be attending. Which meant Drew wouldn’t have to escort her and Georgina. She wasn’t sure if she’d see him at all today, but she was anxious to find out if it was even possible to get rid of the antagonism that had grown between them.
It was actually a relief when Richard showed up to check on her that afternoon, not because she was glad to see him, which she was, but because she knew he would take her mind off of Drew, and he did that quickly enough with just his attire. She barely recognized him!
“Look at you!” she exclaimed when she came downstairs to find him in the entry hall, and gave him a big hug.
Richard was dressed as finely as any young lord. He’d even cut his black hair, or it appeared that he had, until he doffed his hat and his braid tumbled down his back.
“You’ve been shopping,” she continued.
“One of us had to, if we are going to keep coming to this end of town to check on you, and Ohr refused to go anywhere near a suit. So, have you found us a husband yet?”
She laughed. “Us?”
“Well, we have a vested interest, don’t we? If you’ve got your husband picked out by the time Nathan gets here, then we can head home right after the wedding, and I don’t mind telling you, the less time I spend here the better.”
She raised a questioning brow at him, but he went right on to the next subject as if he hadn’t just admitted he was nervous about being back in England. She wondered if she’d ever find out what he was running away from.
“Have you seen your solicitor yet?” Richard asked.
“No, but I have an appointment tomorrow.”
A servant came down the hall. Gabrielle took Richard’s arm and led him out back to the large garden behind the house, thinking they wouldn’t be disturbed there, but he noticed immediately that it was already occupied.
“Wonderful,” he said. “I was so hoping I’d see her while I was here.”
“Her?”
“Lady Malory,” he answered.
She followed his gaze to where Georgina was sitting on the edge of a fountain, trying to read a book and keep her eye on the two younger children, Gilbert and Adam, she had with her. Energetic tykes; Georgina wasn’t getting much reading done.
Gabrielle had been introduced to the twins and their nurse just yesterday. She didn’t know why the nurse was absent today; perhaps the lady just wanted to spend some time alone with her children.
But it took her only a moment to recall the jealousy Richard had inspired in James Malory upon their arrival. She glanced at him, wondering whether she should laugh or clobber him.
She finally said, “Richard, she’s a married woman.”
“Yes, but look who she’s married to,” he replied. “She can’t really be happy with a brute like that. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Absolutely, was her first thought, and yet she’d witnessed the way the couple behaved together, just as Richard had, and while he might not have read between the lines, she certainly had. In addition to their obvious physical attraction to each other, she’d also sensed the emotional closeness between them, and the utter lack of fear on Georgina’s part. Any woman who could talk to her husband the way Georgina Malory spoke to James knew that she was loved and obviously reciprocated the sentiment.
But Gabrielle saw that her friend appeared to be serious, so she replied cautiously, “You’d think she’d be intimidated by a man who so easily inspires fear in others, wouldn’t you? But I never got that impression from her, just the opposite, actually. And I’ve spoken with her several times in private. She might not be happy with the current situation I’ve placed her in. They did have other plans, after all. But she hasn’t let on that I’ve inconvenienced her and seems happy enough otherwise. But then youwerejust basing your opinion on who she’s married to, right?”
He didn’t answer that and said instead, “I should talk to her.”
She realized suddenly that he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Georgina since he’d come into the garden. It made her try to see the woman as a man would see her. Georgina Malorywasbeautiful. Childbearing hadn’t disturbed her figure at all; it was nicely trim and curved where it should be.
Gabrielle became alarmed. “Be sensible, Richard. You said it yourself. Look who she’s married to. Do you really want that particular man after your blood?”
“He’d never know.”
“Richard!”
“And I’m not thinking of stealing her away from him. A single dalliance will do.”
That statement managed to infuriate her. Trust a man to think of taking his pleasure and then never giving the woman another thought. Richard intended to give in to his temptations.
She watched him move briskly through the garden to approach Malory’s wife. She should have stopped him, but she was sure he was going to be rebuffed, so it was better he find that out and put the lady from his mind. He had no time to be subtle about it, after all, since Gabrielle was going to be there only a few weeks herself, and he couldn’t come by every day without James’s noticing. So he’d have to forgo subtlety and get right to the point.
