I blinked for a few moments as I considered how to answer this question. “What do you mean?”
“I understand you met at my party,” he began. “And then I saw you together again at the funeral. I know he’s a popular author, and that can be a source of fascination for some people.”
A laugh burst from me. “Lord Linden, that isn’t at all the case here. I assure you.”
“Truly?” He looked relieved.
“Yes,” I answered with a firm nod and was just about to tell him how I knew Mr. Dorian when the man continued.
“I was worried because he does have a bit of a reputation, you know,” he said with subtle disapproval.
Considering that Lord Linden had a reputation of his own, I couldn’t help wondering what a man had to do to earn his censure. It was terribly duplicitous of me, but in that moment, my curiosity won out. So I swallowed my admission, and instead I tilted my head. “I’m afraid I don’t.”
The baron raised an eyebrow. “I’m not one to gossip, of course …”
“No, certainly not,” I agreed, willing the man to get to the point.
“But I believe he might be pursuing you.” Somehow I managed to suppress my snort of disbelief as he went on. “And as you are clearly a woman of unimpeachable character,I feel that it is my duty to tell you that woman he was with at my party—”
“Mrs. Langham,” I answered, rather too quickly, and he looked surprised.
“Uh, yes. Mrs. Langham. Well, as I understand it, she is his mistress.”
It wasn’t anything I hadn’t already assumed, and yet hearing it from someone else stung far more than I expected. I sat back in my seat. “Yes. That makes sense,” I rasped after a moment. And itdidmake sense. It aligned with everything I had read about Mr. Dorian since leaving Corfu, and he had made no attempt to hide their connection from me. Furthermore, the woman was beautiful and charming. If anything, it would be odder if she wasn’t his mistress. I had only myself to blame for not acknowledging it sooner.
He frowned in concern. “Are you all right, Mrs. Harper?”
“Of course,” I insisted. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
But Lord Linden’s wary gaze returned. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
I immediately straightened. “Not at all. I appreciate your concern, but let me assure you it was not needed,” I said firmly.
He held my gaze and seemed satisfied. “Good. Then may I call on you again?”
I gave him a bemused look. “Certainly.”
The baron noticed my confusion, and his eyes flashed with amusement. “I confess I did not come here solely out of gentlemanly concern.”
Now my confusion deepened. “No?”
Lord Linden smiled. “No. I also wanted to see you. To pay you a call.”
Understanding finally dawned, though my confusion did not leave. “Oh.”
“Yes.Oh,” he mimicked with a chuckle.
My cheeks heated, but before I could respond, Mrs. Ford entered with the tea tray, followed by Tommy.
“Hello,” he said. “We’ve brought you tea.”
She shot me an apologetic look over his head, but I was grateful for the distraction, as I needed a moment to absorb the baron’s admission. I had assumed he was the kind of man who flirted the way other men breathed and thus hadn’t taken his attentions towards me very seriously. But this was cause for a reconsideration.
Meanwhile, the baron was attempting to converse with my son. “Hello, young man,” he said stiffly. “And what is your name?”
“Thomas Harper, my lord,” he replied cheerily. “But everyone calls me Tommy.”
“Very good.” The baron then shot me a slightly panicked look, and I surmised that he was not often in the company of children.
