Chapter Two
ATHENA’S HEART HAMMEREDwildly against her breast. Not only because she’d been given a chance, but because of the man who stood before her. Taller than she recalled, with a pair of broad shoulders that almost spanned the width of the doorway behind him, he looked like the very embodiment of masculine strength and power. The hair, she noted, was still the same – a blend of bronze and gold – but it was cut in a shorter style now. A pair of hard, sky-blue eyes stared back at her from beneath a furrowed brow. His mouth was set in a firm line of displeasure. And yet, in spite of all this, she had the most bizarre urge to reach out and trace her fingertips over his unshaven jawline. The bristly texture there tempted her in the same way a bolt of slippery silk would at the milliners – she simply had to know what it felt like against her skin.
Frowning on account of her foolishness, Athena glanced at the chair she’d occupied until his arrival. “Shall we sit?”
“You may do as you wish,” he said. “I prefer to remain standing.”
Well, she wasn’t about to let him tower over her any more than he already did. She clasped her hands together and raised her chin while doing her best to ignore the churning of her stomach. She’d never been nervous before. Not ever. And yet, there was no denying the apprehension that now assailed her.
Swallowing, Athena took a fortifying breath and said, “I owe you an apology.”
He stared at her as if she were daft.
“For the manner in which I behaved toward you six years ago,” she added, as if that part required explanation.
A nerve ticked at the edge of his jaw. “If that is all, I shall have my butler show you out. Again.”
The churning in her stomach fanned outward until it collided with her frantic heartbeats. Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears and she could not allow that. She needed him to assuage her guilt.
Desperate, she took a step forward. “My sole intention was to ensure my brother’s happiness, and in so doing, I fear I caused a great deal of damage. For which I am truly sorry. Robert, I—”
“Lord Darlington, if you please.”
“Of course.” She bit her lip. His eyes darkened. A tremor raked her spine. “Please. Forgive me.”
“Forgive you?” A snort of derision filled the air. “You stood up in church, before one and all, and announced that the woman I was about to marry loved someone else – that she preferred another man to me and that the only reason I’d not been informed was for the sake of sparing my feelings.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry.” He leaned forward with flint in his eyes, piercing her to her very soul. “Forget the fact that hundreds of pounds in wedding expenses were wasted. Or that it was to be a marriage based solely on convenience. You ridiculed me, made a mockery of my reputation, and ensured no other woman of noble birth would ever wish to come within ten paces of me. I was scorned because of you, laughed at. And while I can appreciate the fact that you were but fourteen years of age with nothing but romantic notions filling your brain and that you were courageous enough to do what your brother should have done sooner, I cannot forgive you.”
Athena could only blink in response at the violent anger to which she’d become a witness. She’d ruined his life. There was no getting past that. “Marriage is forever. Would you really wish to be tied to a woman who loved someone else?”
He leaned back, closed his eyes briefly, and finally shook his head before pinning her once again with the fierce intensity of his gaze. “It no longer matters.”
“It does to me.”
A humorless laugh answered her comment. “Does the guilt haunt your days, Miss Townsbridge? Does it keep you from sleep at night?”
She crossed her arms and firmed her jaw against his mocking tone. “You were a good family friend. Charles was prepared to sacrifice his own happiness for you. So was Bethany. They would both have been miserable, while you...”
“Yes?”
She glared back at him. “Would you rather be blind, my lord? Or do you prefer to see?”
He held her gaze for a long, hard moment before he finally swung away and strode to the door. “This conversation is over, Miss Townsbridge. I’ll thank you never to call upon me again.”
Athena stared at his retreating form until he vanished from sight. A quivering breath stole its way past her lips. Weak-legged, she sank onto the chair behind her. Goodness gracious. The perfectly polished, well-mannered gentleman she’d once known had been transformed into an ill-bred heathen. Robert Carlisle was no longer the good-natured man notorious for his ready smiles and kind remarks. He was a thunderstorm to be reckoned with, and she’d not been prepared for that.
Her fault, of course. Everything was her fault. She had to do better – try harder – to put it to rights. Bolstering herself, she got back onto her feet, clenched her fists and marched out into the hallway.
“Miss Townsbridge,” the butler said as he approached her. “I understand you are leaving.”
The hell she was. She forced a smile. “Not quite.”
The butler’s face fell. “I, um...see.”
