“I’ve had a lovely time,” Leo said, drinking his scalding tea in a huge gulp, squirming as the liquid burned his mouth.
“You say that about garden parties and afternoon teas, not about having an intimate affair.”
Leo swallowed with trouble. “My apologies. I did quite enjoy myself. I don’t want you to think otherwise. But it’s time.”
“It’s time?” Prudence asked, her vision narrowing. “Is this the end?”
“Of course not,” Leo said, pausing a beat before asking, “Unless you want it to be over.”
“I don’t want to engage in something you don’t enjoy.”
“But I just said I enjoy it,” he protested.
“But that it was time to leave a place where we could pursue it unfettered,” she reminded him. “Which makes it sound on level with a mediocre jam sandwich.”
It was then that Leo’s façade slammed down. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“I’m trying to get wordsoutof your mouth,” she said. “I refuse to believe that this exodus to London has anything to do with our lovemaking. This is about the stranger from last night.”
“You can believe what you like. I have no control over that.” He stood abruptly, making Prudence pull back. “Stay if you want. I’ll be taking the afternoon train to London.”
He stomped back inside. Prudence sat in the sun, holding her thermos, absolutely stunned. What had just happened? She was at war with herself over what to do. Old Prudence would have sat meekly outside until she felt he’d cooled enough that she could go in and pack her own trunk. She would make nice to calm him down and return to London without another word.
This Prudence, however, did not appreciate being spoken to like that. This Prudence demanded more respect. He would just leave her alone in a cottage where some strange man—that made him nervous!—might return at any moment? And he would leave her there to fend for herself? She had a mind to do just that. She was handy with a rifle—she’d shot her share of pheasants and jackrabbits in her life—but she had no such weapon here.
She stood, put down her thermos, lest she throw it at him in a fit of pique, and followed him into the cottage.
“Why can’t you tell me who that man is?” Prudence did her best to keep her tone even, her body calm.
Leo was throwing his clothes into his carpetbag, not bothering to keep anything tidy or folded. “Because I don’t know.”
“Why can you not tell me the truth?”
He looked up at her, his tongue sliding across his teeth, as if he were clearing something out of his mouth. “We don’t really know each other, Prudence. How would you know if I was lying?”
“Because I do know you,” Prudence said. “I know how you take your tea. I know that your sketches are exceptional. I know that you dislike your career, but you do it because you like knowing the financial secrets of your clients. I know you hate Lord Grabe, though I don’t know why.”
“Because he’s a scoundrel,” Leo bit out. “And a reprobate.”
Now Prudence couldn’t help but cross her arms. “And you aren’t? Carrying on with a widow such as you are?”
“It’s different.” Leo went to the window ledge and rolled up his shaving supplies and his mirror.
“Different how? Because I’m a wealthy widow you aren’t taking advantage of somehow? Despite the fact that you’d abandon her in a cottage far from anything she knows.”
His jaw worked. “That’s not what this is.”
Prudence looked around. “Seems like it to me. I’m not ready to leave. We were having a wonderful time yesterday until that stranger showed up. Now you can’t wait to leave. You’re back to your extreme posture—”
“—My posture is not extreme.”
“And you can’t look at me. Not really.”
He stalked up to her and stared her in the eye. “I look at you all the time, Prudence. The difference is, when you look at me, you don’t see me. You see the show I put on.”
It was her turn to bark out a laugh. “You aren’t that good of an actor, Leo. And if I had to guess, given the remoteness ofthis cottage, your answers about Hooper’s Hill, your ability to navigate a forest in the dark without getting lost, and meeting a man outside your home looking for a friend, I’d say that you are this Lenny character, and that this was your home at one point.”
Leo’s lips thinned until they disappeared. “I’m walking to town to get the tickets. I’ll send a cart back for you and the luggage.” Then he left. He turned his back to her and walked out the door, leaving Prudence staring after him.
