‘The Earl? It’s possible, I suppose. We are neighbours, after all. Now, will you come upstairs and help me to get this dress off, please? Then I really must get to bed.’ Kate tried to laugh. ‘I’m not used to late nights.’
Harriet helped her and refrained from asking any more questions. But when she had gone, Kate went to her window and gazed out at the starlit sky.
It was all too likely that what had happened tonight would have meant very little to Dan. His reputation for attracting women was well-known, but she had foolishly ignored all the warnings, even those that came directly from him. And yet she still felt that deep down, he was honourable. She did not think he would talk to anyone about this; she felt she could trust himto keep silent about tonight. Besides, by the end of summer he would be out of her life for good.
But did that make her feel any better? No. In fact it made her feel quite wretched. ‘Kate Summerby,’ she told herself aloud, ‘you are twenty-six years old. Be sensible!’
Yet she couldn’t help those stupid hopes springing to life once more. Maybe they would see one another again? After all, he hadn’t really had a chance to suggest anything, because Harriet had come rushing out of the house the minute the carriage stopped. Perhaps tomorrow he might send a note, or he might even call.
But the following morning her hopes were dashed by, of all people, Harriet.
Harriet had gone to the market in town, and Kate could tell the minute she saw her that something was wrong. ‘Kate,’ she began a little hesitantly as she put down her basket of purchases in the kitchen, ‘Some people were talking about the Earl this morning.’
Kate felt an instant throb of alarm, but said, ‘I imagine that he is quite a regular topic of conversation.’
‘Yes. But they were saying that he set off for London this morning, to see that woman he was going to marry. Lady Cecily.’
Somehow Kate managed to act as if her world hadn’t fallen to pieces. Somehow, she calmly said, ‘I see. What else did you buy in the market, Harriet?’
They unpacked the basket and put everything away as normal, then Harriet made a pot of tea and they discussed what jobs were to be done that day around the house. But later that morning a groom rode up with a letter for her.
Miss Summerby,Dan had written.I have gone to London on urgent business. When I return, we need to talk.
She had taken the letter to her bedroom to read, because for a few brief moments she’d hoped the gossips were wrong andthis letter would tell her so. But now the weight of reality all but crushed her.
His ‘urgent business’ was Cecily. Why hadn’t he told her that his former fiancée was still in his life? How could last night have happened if he was intending, the very next day, to go back to her? Hadn’t Cecily been unfaithful to him, confirming his belief that trust was a weakness he refused to risk?
Whatever the answers, Kate realised she had been an utter fool. When—ifhe returned from London, it sounded as if he might indeed pay her a call, maybe to apologise, maybe to explain that Cecily had always been on his mind. Kate resolved to be polite and calm if that were the case. After all, she had decided long ago that her youthful dreams of love were a fantasy—until last night. Until Dan danced with her and kissed her and showed her what rapture she could experience in the arms of a man like him.
She went downstairs again to tell Harriet she was going to weed the rose garden, and Harriet was startled. ‘Are you sure? Joseph said he would do that tomorrow!’
Kate was already donning her sun hat and some thick gloves. ‘The weather is quite perfect for the task, so I’m going to get on with it straight away.’
‘Then I shall help you,’ said Harriet staunchly. ‘And Kate?’
Kate was on her way out, but she stopped. ‘Yes?’
‘Just remember, won’t you? that all this—’ and she gestured around ‘—is far better than living with your sister and her family. Really it is!’
Kate forced a smile. ‘Exactly,’ she said.
But last night had changed everything, because she feared that she had laid herself open to more hurt than she’d believed possible.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dan had risen by seven that morning and had made arrangements with his grooms to travel as soon as possible to London. By the time he was ready to leave Oliver hadn’t yet risen, so Dan asked the butler to inform him where he’d gone.
He knew that not only his household but the whole neighbourhood would soon be buzzing with speculation, and he hesitated about sending word to Kate because he wasn’t sure how long he would be away or what news Cecily had to tell him. In the end he decided to write a brief note. To say what, though? To tell her that she deserved better than him? To say he’d been wrong to allow the events of last night to happen?
But during his sleepless night he just couldn’t dismiss his last memory of her as he helped her out of his carriage at Clematis Villa. She had looked utterly exquisite, utterly desirable with her fair hair all tousled and her green eyes hazed with the aftermath of sexual arousal.
What had he done?
He had plenty of time for self-reproach during the journey, which took long enough even though he kept horses at every staging post along the way. It was well into the afternoon when his carriage crossed the Thames by way of busy Westminster Bridge, and by then Dan had turned his thoughts to whatever Cecily might have to say.
Was his mother still alive? If so, would he attempt to visit her? Or was all this yet another of Cecily’s lies? His emotions were raw, like an old injury that should have healed over long ago but kept recurring, and the sooner Cecily explained herself, the better.
He had sent a rider ahead to warn his Mayfair staff that he was on his way, and if any of the servants were surprised by his arrival, they were well-trained enough to give no hint of it. Dan immediately sent a brief note to Cecily:I am in London. I shall call on you at your earliest convenience.
