He swallowed.
Chapter Ten
When Tessa returnedfrom her ride, Lady Gosforth was out, visiting friends as usual.It was a relief, as she sometimes found the old lady’s company exhausting.Her moods were so mercurial Tessa was never sure whether she was being attacked or complimented.
Her ride on the heath had been glorious.A sunny day with a breeze just crisp enough to be refreshing and not too crisp to be chilly.Most of the time Marcus had been quiet, apparently deep in thought, and she’d quite enjoyed knowing that he appreciated silence at times and that she needn’t exert herself to make polite conversation.So she was free to let her own thoughts roam.
She still hadn’t had an answer from the woman in Yorkshire, but she wasn’t going to fret just yet.She’d continued scouring the newspapers for positions, and in the meantime was enjoying the treats of this new London life, chief among which was her almost daily rides.
She came down as usual for afternoon tea, and though everything had been laid out, there was no sign of Lady Gosforth.
“Milady said she might be late, but that you should start without her,” Peverill told her.
So she did, but she’d only drunk half a cup of tea and eaten two dainty cucumber sandwiches and one of cook’s wonderful wafer-thin almond biscuits, when Lady Gosforth entered the room like a tempest in full flow.
“Appalling!”she declared, ripping off her gloves and flinging them down on a chair.“Just appalling!Society is going to the dogs!”She took off her hat and sent it sailing across the room.“Peverill, brandy!”
“What is it, Lady Gosforth?”Tessa asked.
The old lady looked at her, pulled out her lorgnette and stared at Tessa for a long, unnerving moment.“My nephew didn’t say anything of interest when you were out riding this morning?”
Tessa shook her head.“Nothing of any significance.”
“Typical!”She sat down, seized the brandy and drained the glass.“Men are such asses!But he’s always been ridiculously protective.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t worry.He’ll take all the blame for himself—he always did, even as a boy.”
“The blame for what?”
“You don’t know?”
Tessa shook her head.
Lady Gosforth explained about the gossip, and how everyone who mattered in London believed that Marcus had kidnapped Tessa and made her his mistress.
