Page 8 of The Lady Loves A Scandal

And Gideon was to blame for it all—her heartbreak, the gossip and scandal, and even Sybil’s courtship with Garwood.

Footsteps sounded on the polished floor as someone with a long, heavy stride rounded a corner and moved toward her in the darkness. The hair prickled on the back of her neck. This was her home, and never had she been overcome with a sense of peril while in it. It could be anyone traversing the halls during the ball—a servant, a guest, or even a criminal bent on thievery.

“Sybil.”

Her pulse hammered, her blood rushing through her veins. It was the exact thing she’d longed to hear since the night she watched Gideon ride away: her name uttered in a breathless whisper crossing his lips. She could almost feel his breath cascading across her neck as he called to her again.

“Sybil.”

Belatedly, she realized he’d called her because, just as she could not see him in the darkened hall, she was also invisible to him.

“Lord Galway.” Her clipped tone halted his movement. How long had it been since she’d spoken to him in such a formal way? He’d bid her to address him as Gideon since their second meeting, at least when they were afforded a spot of privacy. “What are you doing here?”

“I—“

“Where have you been? Why did you leave London? What reason did you have for not showing to sign the betrothal contracts?” Each question was punctuated by the stomping of her foot, which made little sound due to her soft slippers. Slamming her heel into the floor should have released a bit of her fury, yet only her words echoed in the cavernous hall. “The only explanation that suits is that you found yourself dead and unable to keep your promise. However, here you stand…over a year later. Can I assume you were gravely injured and unable to send word to me?”

He exhaled, the sound barely audible where he continued to stand in the shadows. She wanted to bid him come closer, yet, she did not trust that she would suppress the urge to close the distance between them.

“I sent a note,” he whispered.

“Saying you would return as quickly as possible.” An image of the missive, nestled in her stationery desk, came to mind. The scant, simple words. “Do you think your return has been quick, my lord?”

He stepped closer, and Sybil was shocked to realize he’d only been a few feet away. “I returned as soon as it was safe to do so.”

“Safe?” She receded a few paces until she could hardly make out his face in the shadows. It would also keep Gideon from seeing the many emotions no doubt clouding her expression. “What does that mean?”

Gideon followed her as she continued to step back. His gray eyes were filled with the desperation and longing that had held her heart in a viselike grip all these months.

“I thought you dead, Gideon,” she seethed. “I convinced myself that you must have perished, or else you’d be by my side. Surely, that was the only thing that could keep you from me.” Her anguish seeped from her on a curt chuckle.

He shook his head, and his shoulders sagged. “I am not dead, nor would I choose to spend even a second away from you if I could have prevented it.”

Gideon reached out to her as her back pressed into the wall behind her.

Music and the buzz of conversation floated from the ballroom on their other side.

Her mind was screaming just as loudly. Sybil shouldn’t believe him. He was spinning a tale that would only serve to crush the small part of her that had survived his abandonment the year before. She could not risk allowing him close enough to hurt her again.

“I am not a dullard, my lord, nor am I a lady in need of a scoundrel,” she hissed, ignoring his outstretched hand.

His intense stare pleaded with her to listen, to believe him. “It was never my intention to leave you, Sybil. You must believe that.”

“Then why did you?” It was the question she’d been burning to shout at him since she spied him in the ballroom; however, it came out as little more than a whisper. “Why did you abandon me?”

“I can do nothing now but offer my sincerest apologies.”

“But no explanation?”

His hand fell to his side as his gaze moved from her face. “Perhaps one day. But for now, no, I have no explanation for my absence.”

“Because, as you said, it wouldn’t be safe?” He’d used the word a few moments before. Said he planned to return to her as soon as it was safe.

“I promise I will explain all as soon as everything is handled.”

She scoffed. “Oh, my lord, I have witnessed firsthand how much you value your promises.” Sybil crossed her arms, her fingers tightening on her upper arms to keep from reaching out to him. Even in her fury, she longed to touch him, to know he was real and unscathed. “Besides, I cannot guarantee I will be available to hear your explanation once the time presents itself.”

Even as she uttered them, each word was like a knife to her stunted heart.