“Colin!” she ground out.
He shook his head. “This is ridiculous. Jane, you vowed to obey me—and you shall.”
She flinched at the way he threw their broken vows in her face and snapped, “We both vowed a great deal. All of that means nothing toyou.”
She spun away from him, feeling his gaze hard and heavy on her back. But even though she was angry, so angry that she trembled, she recognized that arguing with him was futile. Colin got what he wanted.
If he didn’t, he could make things difficult for Alicia and Charles. She wouldn’t put it past him to do just that.
“I will go with you,” she murmured when she could find her breath again, “If you will allow that I may return and see my sister, Charles and little Matthew.”
She faced him in time to see a barely perceptible flinch cross Colin’s expression. “Matthew. The child is a boy?”
Jane nodded. “Yes. And he’s beautiful.”
A slight softness entered Colin’s face and he cleared his throat. “You may visit as often as you like,” he conceded quietly. “I will send a carriage for you and a cart for your things after lunch.”
He turned on his heel and made for the door, with her staring at him. She placed her hands on her hips. “That is all?”
Her words stopped him short at the door, one hand held out to the handle. He turned and faced her. “For now. Good day.”
He didn’t wait for her response, but marched out through the foyer, and then he was gone, leaving Jane to stare at where he’d last stood.
And wonder what the hell had just happened.
Colin urged his horse faster and clung tight to the reins so he wouldn’t deposit himself arse over head into the gutter. He was shaking so hard he probably shouldn’t have even been riding.
He’d had no intention whatsoever to demand Jane come live under his roof. He’d only come to chastise her, to see her and determine she was still the same as ever and then leave unscathed.
But the moment he laid eyes on her, everything in his world had changed. He’d spent half a year pretending Jane meant nothing to him. Six long months trying to make that lie into the truth. But seeing her here, even more beautiful than ever, smelling her lemony scent and feeling her warmth when she came near…well, he couldn’t deny that he still wanted her.
That desire was dangerous, of course. Desire had made many a man commit terrible mistakes. But one could take desire and never allow it to control one.
Feelings were another thing entirely. Andthatwas what made this situation with Jane worse. He saw her and he wished so desperately that he could go back in time. Back to before he saw her on the terrace with another man on their wedding night. Back to when he looked into her eyes and saw his future.
Those were feelings hedid not want.
He turned his horse down a familiar lane and onto the drive of Arthur’s home. He’d canceled their meeting through his butler earlier in the day, but now he needed to see his cousin. Arthur had always been a voice of reason when it came to women. When it came to Jane.
He needed that now.
He was let in by Arthur’s butler and paced the room as he waited his cousin’s entrance. When the door opened, he turned in time to see a scowl on Arthur’s face. One that evaporated almost instantly as he stepped into the room, hand outstretched.
“Colin,” he drawled, calling him by his first name, as always. Arthur had never called him Wharton ormy lordedhim. “I thought you wouldn’t be joining me this afternoon.”
Colin shook his hand and nodded. “Yes, I know. Something happened and I thought I wouldn’t be good company. But I have swiftly realized I need a friend’s ear and you have always been one of the best to me.”
Arthur’s cheek twitched slightly and then he smiled. “I always shall be, Colin. Come, sit down. Tell me what has happened.”
They took their places in front of the fire and Colin leaned forward, draping his forearms over his knees as he stared at the floor. “Jane is back in London.”
He heard Arthur suck in a breath and looked up to see a troubled expression on his face.
“I had hoped you hadn’t seen that particular item in theScandal Sheet,” Arthur said.
“I did.” Colin scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I went to see her.”
Arthur jumped up at that, nearly flipping his chair over in the process. “You did what?”
