The other, far more troubling secret, involved Teddy. If Mr. Mealy had somehow learned of the two of them, living as man and wife during the last month, the potential for Teddy’s social ruination was monumental.
Surely, he could not know either fact.
But, if he did, public revelation of either spelled disaster. How ever would she repay a monstrous loan if her income dried up? And that outcome was nothing compared with bringing scandal down on Teddy.
Mealy withdrew a white hanky from his waistcoat and mopped his shiny, florid forehead. “I think you do know. And I think you’re smart enough to know if word got out, people would get hurt.”
Her pulse spiked, despite her best efforts. “Why would my secret, assuming I have one, get out?”
“It won’t—so long as the marriage takes place.” He leaned very close. The mélange of his too-strong cologne mixed with a distinctly sour odor she did not care for in the least.
He ran one of his meaty fingers down her cheek and she stifled a shudder of revulsion. Oh, would that she had permitted Teddy to accompany her to town as he’d wished. Told all and sundry of their marriage—again, as he wished.
She closed her eyes briefly. Was she mad? They were not married, and Teddy must be told, post-haste. Especially now that their secretmight be exposed.
“I’ve allowed for a six-month betrothal.” He licked his lips. “I would not be opposed to a shorter duration, however.”
His confidence terrified her.
“Why?” she demanded. “Why would you want this? Surely you would prefer to wed a willing wife?”
He huffed out a laugh, emitting the repugnant odor of old cigar smoke. “Willing, unwilling. Either has its appeal, my lovely Lady Georgina.”
His gaze dipped to her bosom, then fixed on her mouth with a determined glint. Lips parting, and slightly wet looking, he hinged forward. He was going to kiss her. The audacity.
She groped behind her, blindly searching for the door handle as he closed in.
In the nick of time, she touched cold brass, and twisted. Sidling out of its trajectory, she flung open the door and stumbled backward out of his range.
“I’m afraid I must cut our visit short, Mr. Mealy.”
“Please, Georgina. We are an engaged couple. The banns are set to be posted. You must call me Chuck.”
Without another word, she hastened for the door—and freedom—letting herself out.
Once on the stoop, she gazed about her in frozen panic. Now what? For once, she hadn’t a clue. She started for her parents’ home, moving on wooden legs. Then she saw the carriage,hercarriage, parked on the curb, and a deep dread descended.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The moment RallyStreet came into view, a storm of emotions raged through Teddy. Too many to name. Too many to quell. So many memories of his time spent at number 37 Rally Street over the years, with Drake, his closest friend, his confidant.
The Baron and Baroness of Gladstone, so different from Teddy’s father, had welcomed his presence—when they were home and noticed that their children, Drake and Georgina, were about.
God,Georgina. He pictured the wide-eyed angel whose gaze had followed him everywhere, then remembered the first time he’d seen her as other than that. Ted had invited himself to Drake’s home during one of their Oxford breaks, preferring the laid-back atmosphere of his friend’s home to what promised to be a miserable affair at his father’s country estate. He and Drake had barely settled in when she’d walked into the room looking…all grown up. Utterly luscious.
But Ted had been too wild for her, and Drake, seeing that, had warned him off of her—and too, he didn’t trust himself not to break her heart. Who could have foreseen how she’d play him for a fool?
Banishing the memories, as the carriage halted in front of the townhouse, he drew a bracing breath and descended the carriagesteps, then strode for the front door. The Belfrys’ butler, of course, recognized him, inviting him in with no hesitation. He looked decidedly taken aback when Ted asked not for Lord Belfry, but Lady Georgina.
“She’s…er…not in, my lord.”
“Hasn’t she arrived?”
“Yes, this morning.”
“Then, where’s she gone?” he demanded.
“I can’t say. I know only that she stepped out the front door a moment ago.”
