She stopped suddenly, and he nearly walked into her. Then she turned, and he saw the fire in her eyes.
“Mary, please wait for us in the carriage.”
Clearly Mary had seen the fire also, as she ran out the door.
“Once, I would have allowed you to speak to me that way, but no more. I am no fool, nor am I stupid. I rarely take risks unless it is necessary for me to do so. I did not see going to the sweet shop this morning as a dangerous venture.”
“And yet it was,” he snapped. “And a stupid one.”
“Do not ever call me stupid again!” She drilled her finger into his chest before turning once more and stalking out the door behind her friend.
“When is it necessary for you to take risks?” He followed.
“I’m going home, Nathan. Go away.”
“And what did you mean by saying, ‘once I would have allowed you to speak to me that way’?”
Mary now sat in the carriage. Before he could reach her, Beth had climbed inside and settled herself on the seat beside her friend.
Nathan gave Toddy, his driver, the address for the Blake residence and then joined the ladies inside. They traveled through London in silence for the next twenty minutes. A heavy, thick silence that had Mary shooting looks between Nathan and Beth. Neither said a word but kept their eyes on the streets outside.
“I will stay with Mary and have a carriage take me home from here.” Beth rose with her friend as the carriage stopped outside the Blake home.
“No, you will not. Good day, Mary. You will forgive me for not escorting you to the door,” Nathan said, gripping Beth’s wrist.
Mary shot another wide-eyed look between them, then kissed her friend’s cheek before leaving.
Nathan lifted the hatch above his head and gave Toddy directions to Beth’s house while still holding her wrist. He then urged her back into her seat as the carriage began to move.
“You had no right to stop me leaving with Mary,” Beth said with barely concealed fury.
“What did you mean when you said, once you would have allowed me to speak to you that way, but no longer?”
He thought she wasn’t going to tell him, just sit in angry silence for the entire trip. He was wrong.
“I was a foolish innocent three years ago whose only worry was to make sure I transformed myself into everything you wanted me to be. I am no longer that person.”
He looked at her as if he’d never really seen her. Were her words the truth?
“I only ever wanted you to be yourself. I asked for nothing more than that.”
She gave him a pitying look that had his teeth snapping together.
“You wanted a well-behaved, perfect society woman, and I gave you that.”
“So what are you telling me, Beth? That you were playing a part? That you had no wish to marry me… no, wait.” He held up a hand. “We both know that’s actually the truth.”
She clamped her mouth into a line and looked out the window.
“Oh, so now you’re quiet.”
“I should not have spoken as I did.”
“And yet you cannot unsay the words. Cannot tell me that the woman I fell in love with was not actually who you are, but some version you created to please me.”
“I was who my mother had trained me to be.”
“But clearly not who you wanted to be?”
