Lavinia didn’t even turn around, but her unyielding expression was reflected in the glass pane. “My son despises the very sight of me now, thanks to you.”
Mara swallowed. She knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but surely Lavinia could relent in her enmity for just a short while and give her a chance to explain. “I never meant to cause a dispute between you and Roarke—”
“Didn’t you?” Lady Eversleigh spat. “I know you’ve always resented me for sending you away and telling him that you were dead. It obviously didn’t matter that I made sure your sister, my husband’smurderess, never saw the inside of a prison cell. After all that, I never thought you would stoop so low as to turn him against me completely.”
Mara tried again. “I only felt it was time he knew the truth.”
Lavinia finally faced her. “And what gave you that right? You are nothing to him but his current lover. Do you really think he might still marry you now?”
Mara could feel her ire starting to build, but she did her best to remain calm in the face of such hostility. “No, I don’t. Which is why when I return to London, once I am reunited with Lily and Bentley, I will be taking them with me to America.”
For the first time, she’d piqued Lady Eversleigh’s interest.
“And how do you propose to manage such a feat on your own?”
She didn’t want to tell her of her plans to borrow the money from Athena, so Mara said, “I have some money set back in savings.”
“Indeed?” This time there was no mistaking the animation in her gaze.
“Butthistime,” Mara began, causing Lavinia’s face to fall slightly. “I’m not leaving without Roarke’s full awareness. Hehas to be the one to tell me to go. I’ll not live another seven years full of remorse and regret.”
To Mara’s everlasting surprise, the viscountess sighed, as if some of the fight was leaving her. “I certainly don’t need to add to my son’s animosity by replaying the past.”
Mara realized that was as much of a cessation that Lavinia was willing to make, so she decided that it was enough, and rather more than she’d been expecting.
“Thank you.”
She could see that even that small show of respect went far to redeem herself in his mother’s eyes, so Mara walked back over to Lyra.
After a quick glance at her mother, the countess murmured, “Well, I didn’t hear any gunshots, so I have to hope that you have reached an accord regarding my brother.”
“I think so,” Mara said.
“Good,” Lyra sighed. “I must say I was getting tired of fighting all of those battles on your behalf. If you haven’t noticed, my mother can be rather obstinate.”
Mara was in the middle of a laugh when Roarke walked in, but one look at his dark, brooding scowl and the rest of it died in her throat.
He didn’t even spare her a single flicker of recognition.
She knew he was still in pain and trying to sort out his conflicting emotions regarding the past, but his coldness ripped through her heart as effectively as any knife blade. Thankfully, she didn’t have long to dwell on the matter, for Carter appeared and announced that supper was ready.
As they filed into the dining room, Lavinia sat at one end of the table, as was her rightful place as the current viscountess and Roarke’s mother, while he went to the opposite end. Mr. Davis was seated to Roarke’s left as his honored guest, and while Lyra would have been to Roarke’s right as his sister and higher in rank that Mara, the footman pulled out that chair for Mara instead.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lavinia demanded. “Your sister is a countess, and it is her due to—”
“We are not sitting down in London where the proprieties are constantly monitored, Mother,” Roarke snapped. “This is a country house, and as such, only my rules apply. A fact you would do well to remember.”
With that, Lavinia clamped her lips shut.
Mara dared to risk another glimpse at Roarke, and she felt her body instantly heat when she found that intense gaze focused on her at long last. While it was impossible to imagine what he might be thinking, at least he’d finally acknowledged her presence.
And that, she considered, was a small victory.
Roarke had never thought Mara looked more beautiful. But then, he hadn’t spared her more than a passing glance for more than three days, ever since he’d left the conservatory so abruptly.
To be fair, one might have said he hadn’t been in his right mind, having received one of the biggest shocks of his life. Other than stumbling upon Mara in that haberdashery, finding out that his father had been stabbed to death had completely caught him off guard. Like then, he wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with the matter, but after some reflection and quite a bit of brandy, he realized that he’d been wrong to treat Mara in such an aloof manner. She had been a victim in all of this. Her only crime was to be honest with him, to finally give him what he wanted, and what had he done to repay her?
He’d shut her out completely.
