Page 145 of Kathryn

“I will take you in mine.”

Katie was so angry she could barely speak. “Jasper, what—”

“Hush, now, Katie, darling. You don’t want the servants to stare, do you?” He gestured to where two of the countess’s footmen stood a few feet away.

“I do not want to ride with you—especially not in an enclosed carriage!”

He gave an insufferable chuckle. “You don’t want any servants hearing our conversation, my dear.”

Gritting her teeth, Katie allowed him to help her into the old-fashioned carriage, which she could not help noticing had the Grimsby escutcheon emblazoned on the side, so not Jasper’s carriage, as he had claimed.

“Do not be angry with me, Katie,” Jasper crooned as the carriage moved down the long driveway. “I wanted to talk to you, but it is impossible to get you alone—and god knows I have tried.”

“We have nothing to say to one another.”

He pushed to his feet, as if to cross the space that separated them and sit beside her.

“Stay on your side of the carriage, please.”

His eyebrows shot up at her harsh tone, but he sank back down into worn chocolate-brown velvet. “You are angry.”

Katie gave a disbelieving laugh. “Now, I wonder why that could be? Because you tried to extort money from me?”

His good humor wavered, exposing something darker, only for a second, but she saw it.

“By dismissing my carriage and taking me home—alone—you risk creating a scandal,” she added, not that he cared.

“Why, we are old friends, Katie; even your husband knows of our friendship. Surely nobody could cavil about me joining you on a fifteen-minute carriage ride?”

Katie sighed wearily. “Why won’t you just leave me be? What little feeling there once was between us is long dead. You are only making an embarrassing nuisance of yourself.”

His smile twisted but hung on by a thread, displeasure flashing in his blue eyes. “My, my, what a little shrew you have become. Is it age? Or your newly elevated status?”

“Whatever it is, it is none of your concern,” she retorted. “And you could have spared yourself the rough side of my tongue had you simply left me alone.”

“Oh, Katie darling. When will you stop fighting it?”

“It?”

“The attraction between us. I know you can feel it just as I can. It is not too late, you know. I realize you have just been punishing me for my behavior five years ago. But it would be a crime to throw everything we had away.”

Her jaw dropped. “Did you hit your head?”

“Pardon?”

“Your head. Have you injured it? Even if I were willing to put aside your recent abominable behavior, my recollection of what happened five years ago is a good deal different than yours. I recall you promising me marriage to get beneath my skirts, which I was stupid enough to allow. I also recall you running off to your grandmother when she snapped her fingers. I recall you marrying another woman after telling me we were betrothed. That is what I recall.”

“Good God, Katie! You behave as if you did not know that I was as poor as a church mouse,” he snapped, finally showing his ire. “How the devil did you think we could marry? I had nothing but my meager allowance and you had nothing at all—or so I believed at the time. Surely you must have known that I was just voicing my dreams rather than promising you anything.”

“I was six-and-ten—a child—how was I to know that when a gentleman tumbled a woman and then gave his word of honor, it meant nothing? Less than nothing as you could not even tell me face-to-face that you had married. Do you know how I felt at that ball your father gave to celebrate your wedding to another woman? Can you imagine how devastating it was to see you—a man who’d pledged himself to me—dancing and laughing and smiling with your new wife?”

He flinched at the heat in her words, but his expression was petulant. “I have repeatedly apologized for that. What else do you want?”

“If you think your empty apologies mean anything to me, then you cannot be nearly as smart as you think you are. I have told you repeatedly that I do not want to be seen with you, not to mention indulge in—in, well, whatever you seem to be suggesting. You must have a maggot in your head if you think—”

“Enough.” A dull red flush slashed his cheeks and his stunned expression turned unpleasant. He leaned forward so suddenly she recoiled, hitting her head against the worn bolster. “So high and mighty you’ve become.” His handsome face turned even uglier. “As you’ve been such a little bitch to me, I have changed my mind about offering you a bit of fun.”

“Let me guess,” she retorted. “We are back to extortion, now. Well, you can go to the devil because I will not give you a penny!”