“I hope your evening is miserable,” she said with her typical petulance, and stormed away.
“Dear heaven,” Bram muttered, raking a hand through his hair.
He was not one to pray, but he did so now, silently hoping Miranda had slept through this embarrassing moment.
Would this not set her off for certain?
He could not have her believing Brianna and he were currently dallying when their affair had ended years ago and would never be revived.
Nor had he thought of Brianna from the moment they had parted ways. She was volatile, unfaithful, and completely absorbed in herself.
The notion that she wantedhimwas laughable. What she desired was the bragging rights to being bedded by a duke.
Miranda stirred.
He held his breath.
Had she heard Brianna? If so, he would lose all chance of wooing Miranda.
Again, not that Miranda wanted him, either. She had no feelings for him, just as Brianna had never seriously cared for him.
“A friend of yours, Solway?”
“No friend of mine,” he muttered, coming to Miranda’s side and settling his large frame on the ottoman beside her. “What did ye hear?”
“All of it.”
Of course. Just my luck.
“I’m sorry, lass. I won’t pretend to have been a saint, but neither was I ever a wastrel. Lady Wharton and her husband detest each other.”
“So that makes what the pair of you did all right?”
“I am no’ suggesting it was right or wrong, just that no hearts were hurt. Wharton and his wife were both unfaithful to each other long before I ever caught her eye.”
She set her book on a small table beside her chair. “You owe me no explanations, Solway.”
“Aye, I do.”
“No, actually, you don’t. We are not courting and shall likely never see each other again once we reach London. I would not dream of interfering with your nightly activities. You are a bachelor. I assume you have the occasionalmanlyurges. Perhaps more frequently than on mere occasion. It is none of my business what you do with your women.”
My women?
Och, she was angry.
“All ye say is true, but yer opinion of me still matters, Miranda. All I am pointing out to ye is that I was no’ the one who cheated on his spouse. I would never look at another woman if ye and I were courting.”
She gave a mirthless laugh and shook her head. “You need have no concern about that. I had my hand at marriage and itwas a complete failure. I have no intention of giving my heart to any man ever again.”
He inhaled sharply. “Ye were married?”
She stared at him long and hard, and then tears streamed down her cheeks.
Oh, bollocks.
Did this mean she loved her husband? Or did she detest him?
And what did her tears mean for his own hopes?
