Chapter Twenty-two
The next morning, when Iris emerged from Hadley House and stepped onto the drive, the one person she most wanted to see wasn’t there.
“Lord Huntington won’t attend the race?”
She’d spent most of the night awake, unblinking eyes fixed on her bedchamber ceiling, but the few times she’d fallen into a fragmented, troubled sleep, her nightmares had been about the moment when she’d need Finn, and he wouldn’t be there.
And now that moment was here.
Iris’s body went numb with shock. Even in the darkest part of the night, when the nightmares were at their worst she’d still believed he wouldn’t abandon her, but now, standing here on the drive with the rest of her family and friends surrounding her, she saw how wrong she’d been.
“Miss Somerset.” Lord Derrick stepped forward, his face haggard, and his brown eyes grim. “I beg your pardon on Lord Huntington’s behalf. He wasn’t in his bedchamber when I went to fetch him, and his horse is gone from the stables. It appears he’s gone, ah… for an early morning ride.”
Or he was on his way back to London, without a backward glance, and without a word of explanation to anyone. Iris sucked in a breath as pain unlike any she’d ever known sliced through her.
She didn’t try to stop it. She let it tear into her flesh, let it cut her heart into shreds of bloody pulp, but only for a moment. Just a single, terrible moment, and then her chin lifted and she straightened her shoulders. She took one ragged breath, then another, and a third, the last one steadier, deep and steady…
“Shall we go, then?” Iris swung herself into Chaos’s saddle. “Lord Wrexley awaits.”
For a moment everyone stood about on the drive looking at each other blankly, as if they weren’t sure what to do next.
“Will you ride, Captain West?”
Captain West snapped out of his trance at Iris’s voice and mounted his horse. “Yes. The ladies will take the carriage. Derrick, if you would?”
Lord Derrick handed Honora and Violet into the carriage first, then offered his assistance to Charlotte and Lady Annabel. Once the ladies were settled he mounted as well, and Captain West led the party down the drive.
When they arrived at the designated meeting place, they found Lord Wrexley waiting for them. Two other gentlemen stood at one side of the field, checking their tack and fussing over their horses. Iris recognized them at once as Lord Claire and Lord Edgemont, two notable London scoundrels.
“I’d like to speak with Lord Wrexley alone, if I may. Perhaps, Captain, it would be best if you and Lord Derrick waited with the ladies?” Iris pointed with her riding crop at the carriage, which had stopped some distance away. “You’ll be close enough to see the race from there, but not so close—”
“We’re likely to get into a brawl? Yes, perhaps that would be best. I wish you luck in the race, Miss Somerset.” Captain West tipped his hat, then made his way over to the carriage.
“Watch out for Lord Claire, Miss Somerset. He’s not above trying to knock you aside.” Lord Derrick paused. “Neither is Lord Edgemont, come to that. Watch out for them both.”
Iris managed a strained smile. “I will, my lord. Thank you.”
He looked as if he wanted to say more, but after a moment he sighed and joined Captain West and the ladies.
Iris kicked Chaos into a trot and came alongside of Lord Wrexley. They stared at each other without a word for a moment, then Lord Wrexley removed his hat. “You’re very good to come, Miss Somerset.”
Iris didn’t say she was being much kinder to him than he deserved, because they both already knew it. “I’ll ask for something from you in return, if I may.”
He looked surprised, but he nodded. “Yes, of course. What can I do?”
Iris wasn’t sure why she asked when she knew lies rose more easily to his lips than the truth, but she plunged ahead. “You can tell me the truth, my lord. There was a lady, a Miss Hughes. She was betrothed to Lord Huntington seven years ago, I believe?”
Lord Wrexley’s face drained of color, but he must have seen at once there was no use denying it, and after a moment he nodded. “Yes.”
“And you ruined her?”
“It wasn’t as simple as Huntington makes it out to be,” Lord Wrexley ground out through a jaw gone tight. “I loved her—”
“No, you didn’t. A man doesn’t destroy the happiness of a lady he loves, Lord Wrexley.”
His face went dark with anger. “I suppose you think Huntington loves you? You’re mistaken, Miss Somerset. He doesn’t know how to love anyone. He’s a—”
Iris held up a hand. “That’s all, Lord Wrexley. Thank you for answering my question.”
