“Would you like me to have Harrison escort the lord out?”
At Joanna’s question, she shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I am quite curious as to why Lord Blackmore is here.” She strode forward, brushing past Marcus as she stepped into the parlor. Not in the mood to sit, she stopped next to a wingback chair and turned to face him.
He strode back into the room, standing near the window across from her. Something told her he wished the room were larger so he could be farther away from her. Yet, he’d come. Why?
Joanna moved to her side.
She turned her head to face her sister. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what the viscount has to say in private.”
Her sister’s brows lowered as she looked to Marcus. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure.” Though she had no idea why her legs weren’t shaking. Instead, anticipation filled her just like it did before sending a horse over a rock wall.
“Very well. Harrison will be nearby if you need anything.”
She gave her sister a curt nod and watched her leave the room. Though Joanna may be tempted to listen near the archway, she would respect them. After her sister disappeared, she looked at Marcus again.
It was lighter in the pale blue parlor and his black hair and attire stood out in foreboding contrast, but she felt no fear. Her feelings were as jumbled as the day before, but a strange calm had descended upon her as if she’d been waiting for this moment since she left him yesterday. “I expect you have a reason for calling. I highly doubt it is to become better acquainted with me.”
His countenance revealed nothing nor did he blink. “I have come to offer my apologies for my behavior yesterday.”
Though she had no expectations for the reason for his visit, an apology was a surprise. “Why?”
He pulled down on the tailcoat as if wearing it were unfamiliar, which wasn’t true. “My behavior was not acceptable. I can only offer that it was the surprise of your visit when Gibson had strict orders to inform all callers that I was not in residence.”
Did she hear him correctly? “Then you blame your poor behavior upon me.”
“No.” His answer was quick and for the first time since he’d stepped into the room, he appeared less than sure. “The fault was mine. I merely wished to explain myself and assure you that had I met you here, I would not have behaved so.”
This restrained Marcus was an entirely different man than the one she’d fallen in love with. They had been so different. He, the second son of a viscount, enthusiastic, and quite impulsive. His emotions strong and quick. She’d been polite and reserved and like a horse to a herd, she’d been attracted to him. This man before her was not him.
Resentment built. “It would have been highly unlikely for you to have met me here since you hid the fact you were alive for three years. When had you expected to tell me, or was there no expectation for that?”
He stiffened even more, if that were possible. “My brother’s demise took that decision from me.”
At the mention of his loss, her heart ached for him, but her mind refused to give him any sympathy. “If not for that unfortunate occurrence, I can only imagine that I would have never known of your miraculous rise from the dead.”
His lip curled up for a moment. “No one would have.”
He hadn’t planned to tell his family he was alive? She couldn’t quite believe him. “But now, everyone knows. If I go to London for the rest of the season, I will be an object of pity because of you, so I am regulated to staying away.”
“I do not see why you would be an object of pity simply because I have had the misfortune of not dying.”
At the irritation in his voice, an imp inside her shouted in triumph. It was a side of her she didn’t know and couldn’t seem to rein in. “Then allow me to explain. As you may or may not recall, we were betrothed when you left to fight Napoleon. That you are back and there has been no indication that you plan to honor that, you, in effect, have thrown me over.”
His brow furrowed and he didn’t say anything at first.
A tiny flame of hope flickered deep in her heart. Would he consider honoring their old marriage settlement?
“Then I must apologize again, for I had not thought of how my return to society would reflect upon you.”
As her hope was dashed, her imp took over. “An apology does not help my circumstances.”
His gray gaze narrowed. “What would you have me do? I cannot undo what has been done.”
She must have understood Joanna’s rants against the unfairness of society and the way women were treated far more than she realized because his answer sent a lightning bolt of fury through her. “What you could do is honor our betrothal.”
“You married.Youbroke our betrothal.” His gray gaze turned ice cold.
