The less he saw of her new life, the better.
“Mr. Windham,” she said, her voice as repressive as she could make it.
“Duchess.” He swept off his hat in a flamboyant bow. “What a delight to see you here. And a surprise! You left your husband’s tower. Did he give you permission?”
Isadora gritted her teeth. “That is not the nature of my marriage, Mr. Windham. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“I see you escaped unscathed the last time we met.” He looked her up and down. “And with a child in tow. Not yours, I presume.”
“You forget yourself,” she snapped.
“My apologies, all in good humor.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I heard you made quite the splash a few days ago. I hope it is everything you had ever hoped it would be. And, of course, your new family is, too.”
Isadora lifted her chin. “I have no regrets.”
“Of course not. You could hardly admit them to me, after all.” His eyes glittered strangely. “I see you have not forgiven me.”
“I see you have changed your mind about becoming my friend.”
He held up a finger, waggling it before her face. “Ah, now, you can stop there.Iwas not the one to decide that, dove.Youwere the one who implied that you did not wish to be my friend. Hurtful, of course, but what can one do?”
“Isadora?” Sophia mumbled from behind her. “Who is this man?”
“He is nobody,” Isadora reassured.
“Nobody? Ha!” Mr. Windham took a step back, hands still wrapped around the reins of his horse. “And to think I would have married you, Duchess. I would have given you my name and my home and my life.”
“If that were so,” Isadora said with as much dignity as she could summon, picking up her skirts with one hand and taking Sophia’s hand with the other, “then you would not have left me waiting at the altar. Come, Sophia. We must be going.”
“Ah, yes, blame me for things outside my control!” he called from behind her. “I apologized, did I not? And I would have made things right.”
He had not apologized until after her wedding, a good two weeks after the last attempt. If he had truly intended to take her as his wife, he would have said so before then.
But what did it matter? He was part of her past, not her future—she just wished he would stay there.
“Good day, sir,” she said, and finished marching Sophia away.
“Whowashe?” Sophia pressed.
“Not a very nice man.” Isadora sighed, feeling oddly shaky now that the encounter had ended. “He was supposed to marry me before your papa did, but he never showed. And now that I’m married to someone else, I suppose he thinks I am finally worthy of his attention. But I have no desire to be friends with him.” She almost regretted telling the girl that much, but really, what else could she do? By appearing before her and saying all those things, he had forced her hand.
“He wasn’t very nice to you,” Sophia pointed out.
“No,” Isadora agreed. “Which is another reason I’m glad I’m not married to him. When you’re older, I hope you will never marry a gentleman like that.”
Sophia wrinkled her nose. “I don’t ever want to get married.”
Isadora smiled, finally, as they reached the carriage.Home. The house now felt as though it was somewhere she belonged, and she couldn’t wait to be safe within its bounds.
“One day,” she said, squeezing Sophia’s hand, “I expect you’ll change your mind.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nicholas reached out a hand to welcome Sophia as she entered his dressing room, beaming from ear to ear. He’d heard the pair return while he was shaving, and he had immediately sent for his daughter, wanting to know how their little excursion had gone.
Perched upon his bed, she obliged him with every detail and recounted her extraordinary day. Ordinarily, Nicholas had no particular interest in the workings of a seamstress’s shop or the process of measuring for a dress, but he found himself listening raptly, enchanted by her delight in the experience.
“Everyone treated me just like a grown-up,” Sophia giggled. “Oh!And the dress will bebeautiful. I can’t wait to show you! You mustn’t ask Izzie for clues either.”
