He turned and made his way to the parlor door. Just as he reached it, a glass figurine that had been perched on the fireplace mantel flew past him and smashed against the doorjamb. He held up a hand to prevent the scattering glass from hitting his face and drew in a breath as he faced the mess in the open doorway.
Somehow this last burst of violent frustration erased what was left of his own. He said nothing, gave nothing, and left her without looking back.
In the foyer, the butler offered to have his horse brought, but he waved the man off and walked down to the stable to retrieve the animal himself. He needed to get out of this place, to leave the past behind at last. To let everything change in this moment.
And as it did, he realized the only person he wished to see was Evie. And so he rode toward her house and what he hoped might be a new start, even if he had no idea what kind of future that change might bring.
* * *
Evelina hadn’t been able to concentrate all day. Her thoughts had kept turning, slowly but persistently, back over and over to Vaughn. To the fact that he would meet with his former wife at Evelina’s old home. There were so many scenarios that played out in her head.
Lady Blackburn could want to threaten him, demand he give her something more than he’d already handed over in his attempt to please her. She might ask for his help, even though she didn’t deserve it.
But the option that weighed heaviest in Evelina’s heart was the idea that she might ask him to come back to her. That the rejection the countess had experienced a few days before might have woken her from whatever dream Harry had built up in her head. If that happened, whywouldn’tLady Blackburn request a return to the reality she had so squandered? After all, Vaughn was so much better than the duke she had thrown him over for. She must have loved him once and that couldn’t just die, could it? Not when one’s heart had once beaten for someone like Vaughn?
Even though he wasn’t Evie’s, the idea of him being back with his wife stung. Burned, actually. Stung wasn’t a strong enough word.
There was a knock on the parlor door and she turned to watch Parsons enter the room. “Lord Blackburn for you, Miss Comerford.”
Her mouth dropped open. He was here? Even after their unpleasant encounter the day before? After his meeting with Florence? Her heart leapt and she hated herself for it.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, please send him in. We’ll need nothing else, no interruptions.”
“Of course, miss,” the butler said, and then left to collect him.
When Vaughn came in, his hair mussed from the ride over, his eyes bright and focused on her, her knees wobbled a little. She wished she didn’t. Wished she wasn’t fully aware of why. But there it was, an arrow to her heart that was suddenly so sharp and clear.
She’d fallen in love with him.
“Vaughn,” she managed to choke out even as she shoved the horrible truth aside so it wouldn’t be reflected on her face.
He closed the door behind himself and leaned back on it. He never stopped looking at her, that focused regard holding her steady even when she felt weak. “I hated the way we ended things last night.”
She nodded immediately. “So did I. And all I could think about last night and today wasyou. Did you meet with Lady Blackburn?”
He flinched. “I did. It seems I was correct that the public rejectiondidaffect her. She thinks I play some part in it.”
Protective instinct rose in Evelina and she folded her arms. “You? All you’ve ever done is try to give her what she requested.She’sthe one who caused all this turmoil, why shouldn’t she have the consequences?”
A small smile tilted his lips. “So passionately protective.”
She shifted. “I suppose I am. I’ve come to know you since we began this arrangement. And I know you never deserved any of the hell she put you through, not before Harry and not since. If that makes me your champion, I accept the role readily.”
“I’d be lucky to have you fill it, thank you. And you’ll be happy to know I told her I couldn’t do what she ended up asking.”
There was something about his expression now, even more focused and heated on her face. God, had any other man ever looked at her like this? With hunger and gentleness and fascination all at once? Many men had expression those feelings to her with empty words, but never looked like he lived every one of them.
“What did she ask?” Evelina took a shaky step toward him.
“To stop seeing you,” he said softly.
Her brow wrinkled and it felt like her heart dropped all the way to her stomach. “M-Me?”
“Yes. Apparently our public connection has only magnified the problems she’s experiencing.”
“That was what you wanted, yes?” she asked. “Why you came up with this plan in the first place?”
“Yes,” he said, and pushed off the door to pace across the room to the window. He sighed. “I suppose it was. Sometimes I look at you and I forget that. And a few weeks ago, if I had declared I would continue on just as I like and see who I wanted to see, I think itwouldhave been only to make things harder for her and for Southwater.” He pivoted and faced her once more. “But not now.”
