When the coach pulled to a stop in front of her town house, a footman opened the door to the conveyance and pulled down the steps. Gemma alighted and made her way across the graveled path and to the steps leading up to the door.
Once inside, she gave her bonnet and pelisse to the butler, who smiled at her warmly.
“Good evening, Your Grace. Did you have a nice time tonight?”
She returned his warm smile. “I did, Warwick, thank you. How is your tooth?” Just yesterday, she’d seen the man grabbing at his jaw, and she’d given him a poultice to place on his sore tooth. He’d thanked her mightily.
“Doing much better now, Your Grace. Thank you again. Terribly kind of you.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Warwick. Remember to use the same recipe for five days in a row.”
“I will, Your Grace. I will.” He nodded.
She made her way across the marble foyer and ascended the staircase. When she got upstairs, she warily eyed the door to Grovemont’s room. Was he in there? Skulking about? Or had he gone back to his club? She could only hope he was gone. But no matter. What he did with his time had no bearing on her. She was going to sleep.
She pushed open the door to her room, expecting to see Anna waiting for her as usual. The maid liked to sit in the chair in the corner with her sewing. Instead, the room was pitch dark. Gemma frowned. Where was Anna?
Gemma fumbled around in the darkness, trying to pick out the path to her nightstand so she could light the flint. She’d barely taken three steps when a scratching sound caught her attention. Seconds later, a candle flared to life next to the bed.
She sucked in her breath.
It wasn’t Anna.
Grovemont was there, sitting in a Chippendale chair next to her nightstand with a snifter dangling from his fingers.
“Jesus, you scared me,” she exclaimed, pressing a hand to her chest.
“It’s after two,” came his dark voice.
“You know how long these things go.” Obviously, he’d dismissed Anna and decided to lurk around in the dark. Too bad. Gemma fully intended to ignore him. She went directly to her dressing room and shut the door. She would just have to undress as much as she could by herself and then call for Anna. Hopefully, he’d be gone by the time the maid arrived.
“What do you think you are doing?” came his voice from the other side of the dressing room door.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m preparing for bed.” She managed to unbutton the top few buttons behind her back. The bodice of her gown gaped away to show quite a bit of herdécolletage.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he shot back.
She couldn’t help but smile. “Not really. Tell me what you meant then.”
“You said you want adivorce.” His voice was low, accusatory.
She wrenched open the door. She was fully prepared to say it to his face. “I do want a divorce.”
His gaze dropped momentarily to her bodice just before he gave her a long-suffering stare. “Whydo you want a divorce?”
She couldn’t stop her humorless laugh. “Are you quite serious?”
“Humor me.”
“Fine. I want a divorce because you are an ass, and I have no intention of living the rest of my life under your thumb with your ridiculous rules and your broody temper.”
“I didn’t send you to Cumberland.”
Her brows shot up. “Do you expect my thanks? You did something much worse than send me to Cumberland. First, you made lov—” She shook her head. That part didn’t matter. “You refused to listen to me when I told you I did not trap you into marriage. You’re a presumptuous, holier-than-thou, pompous bastard, and I don’t want to be married to you.”
He blinked at her strangely as if surprised by what she’d said and trying to determine if she was telling the truth. She rolled her eyes. Of course, he would think she was still being deceitful. He wassuchan ass.
“Youdidtrick me into marriage,” he finally replied evenly.
