Samuel let out a defeated breath and returned to the drawing room to see Lovell lean close to Flora and whisper something in her ear. Flora’s cheeks flushed a becoming pink, and she rose to her feet. She nodded to Samuel, then slipped past him and out the door of the drawing room.
Samuel waited until Flora’s footsteps had faded, then crossed the room and threw himself into a chair across from the settee. “Don’t let Lady Silvester catch you in here alone with LadyFlora, Lovell.”
Lovell chuckled. “Not to worry, Lymington. Lady Silvester left the two of us here alone when she went upstairs to dress for dinner. I think we can assume she trusts me with hergranddaughter.”
“Both ladies have forgiven you for your wild antics this past year, then. You’re a fortunate man, Lovell.”
“Indeed,” Lovell murmured. “Forgiveness is a divine thing, isn’t it?”
“Divine, or unforgivably foolish, depending on the offense.” Samuel winced at the resentment that colored his words. Lady Flora was the reason Samuel had insisted they go to London for the season in the first place. Would he sulk now, once he’d gotten preciselywhat he wanted?
It wasn’t that he resented Lovell, or the happiness his cousin had found with Flora.
Not specifically.
No, he resented everything and everyone in equal measure. Lovell, Lady Flora, Lady Silvester, Lady Crosby, Emma—especiallyEmma—but he resentedhimselfmore, for having been fool enough to be taken in by her wiles, and for continuing in that foolishness now, even after he knew what she was.
He’d returned to Kent determined to banish Emma from his mind forever. She’d lied to him, and used him. He didn’t even know her surname, for God’s sake. After everything they’d gone through together, she hadn’t even givenhim that much.
This, because she believed his cousin was guilty of a despicable crime.
Lovell had his flaws, but a kidnapper and murderer? Anyone who’d spent any time with Lovell should have known at once he was the furthest thing from a cold-blooded villain.
All the time Emma had been smiling at Samuel, flirting with him and kissing him with those soft, red lips, she’d been plotting to fit Lovell’s neck with a noose. It was a betrayal in every way. Every time he thought of it, it was as if a pile of stones had crashed down on his chest, crushing him under the unbearable weight.
Yet somehow, even now, she was all he could think about. He fell asleep every night with her soft, husky voice in his ears, dreamed of her dark blue eyes, and woke every morning,aching for her.
What sort of man pined for a woman who’d told him more lies than truths?
“You’ve no need to worry about Lady Flora’s virtue,” Lovell said, recalling Samuel to the present. “I’ve been the picture of restraint, Lymington—a perfect gentleman.”
Samuel gave his cousin a guilty look. He had no business lashing out at Lovell. It wasn’t Lovell’s fault he was miserable. It was no one’s fault but his own, for acting such a damn fool over a pretty face. “You have, indeed. Welldone, Lovell.”
“If Ihavedone well, it’s because you didn’t abandon me. You’ve ever been my conscience, Samuel, and I’m grateful to you for fighting for my happiness, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
Samuel’s heart softened at the sincerity in Lovell’s blue eyes. At one time he’d feared the good-natured, caring boy Lovell had once been was gone forever, but with every day that passed, he saw more and more of that boy in the man Lovell was becoming. “You’re my cousin, Lovell. Your happiness is as important tome as my own.”
“Your happiness is just as important to me, so you can imagine how dejected I am to see you wandering about with that woebegone expression.”
Samuel grunted. This was the trouble with being around a couple who were madly in love. They expected everyone around them to be as blissful as they were. Samuel was, unfortunately, as far from blissful as a man could get, but hecouldmake more of an effort to climb out of the deep pool of self-pity he waswallowing in.
“I beg your pardon if my expression offends you, Lovell,” he snapped, then cringed. Damn it. He’d meant to say something gracious.
“You may growl all you like, and welcome. I just wonder what has you so grim. You have no reason to be, from what you’ve told me.”
“No reason to be pleased, either.” Samuel kicked at the ornately carved leg of the delicate little table beside his chair. He’d always despised this particular table. Its very daintiness offended him, made him feelbig and clumsy.
“Don’t assault the table, if you please, Lymington.”
Samuel huffed, but he balanced one leg over the other knee in an attempt to save the furnishings.
“It occurs to me something hasn’t been resolved to your satisfaction,” Lovell went on. “I wonder what it could be?”
“Nothing. I’m perfectly well satisfied.”
Lovell snorted. “That must be why you’ve been stomping about with that dark scowl on your face, terrifying everyone who crosses your path. Yesterday I saw poor Mr. Humphries turn and scurry back up the staircase when he saw you coming.”
Samuel gave another irritable grunt. “All the better.”
