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amenable. What had happened to her?

He covered his face with his hands and groaned. Hell, even he

knew that. She’d changed after he’d destroyed their marriage. It

was ironic that her newfound courage was all his doing. He went

and closed the door, took the opportunity to pace the carpet,

hands clasped behind his back.

Perhaps if he kept out of her way and allowed her this small

victory, this «visit,» she’d leave without delving into their shared

past again. He stared out of the window into the wintry street

below. Damnation, what was the matter with him? He’d allowed

Sokorvsky to best him and now he was bowing down to Jane?

He let out his breath, watched it condense on the window

pane. Surely there was a better way to ensure that Jane wanted to

go home with all the speed she could muster? He smiled slowly

as an idea occurred to him. A glimpse into the hellish world he

inhabited would probably be enough to send her away screaming,

forever.

Jane found her way to the pretty little sitting room at the back

of the house her mother had used as her primary domain. To her

surprise it hadn’t been altered at all. It still retained the faded

yellow silk wall coverings, white paneling and lace- draped

windows. With a sigh of relief, she rang the bell and then sat

down in one of the comfortable wing chairs by the fireplace.

«Yes, my lady?»

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She smiled at her old friend, Broadman, the butler Minshom

had inherited from her parents when they’d given them the

house as a wedding gift. She was somewhat surprised that her

husband had kept him on.

«Good morning, Broadman. In future, can you make sure a

fire is lit in this room even’ morning and a tea tray available at

ten?»

The butler didn’t quite meet her eyes. «Begging your pardon,

my lady, but I’ll have to check with his lordship, to see if that is

acceptable.»

«Of course, or ask Mr. Brown. I’m sure he’ll be more

agreeable.»

«Are you staying then, my lady? Not that it is any of my

business, of course.» The butler bent to light the fire and then

wiped his hands on his handkerchief.

«For a while.» Jane smiled with more confidence than she felt.

«At least until his lordship throws me out.»

The butler nodded gravely. «Ah, well seeing as he hurt his ribs

not so long ago, I can understand him not wanting to exert

himself.»

Jane blinked at the answer. She’d meant her comment as a

joke. «Lord Minshom hurt his ribs?»

«Indeed he did. I’m not sure how, my lady, but his lordship

was laid up for a couple of weeks, and right grouchy about he

was too. I almost felt sorry for poor Mr. Brown having to deal

with him.»

Jane chuckled. «So do I. His lordship is not an easy man at the

best of times.»

«Really.»

Jane covered her mouth with her hand and looked over

Broadman’s shoulder right into the face of her husband, who

leaned negligently against the door frame, blue eyes frosty, his

mouth a hard line.

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Kate Pearce

«My lord, I didn’t see you there!» The butler took a hasty step

away from Jane toward the door and then stopped.

«Obviously, or you wouldn’t have been indulging my wife’s

passion for gossip.»

«Mr. В road man and I are old friends, and he was hardly

gossiping. I am your wife, after all.»

Jane tried to keep her tone light, while wondering what on

earth had prompted Blaize to come after her. She nodded at the

obviously terrified butler.

«Please bring me some tea and some fresh ink, if you have

any. I doubt the inkwell in the desk here is usable after all this

time.»

«Yes, my lady. Excuse me, my lord.»

Jane waited as Broadman inched past her husband, who

immediately shut the door behind him.

«Can I help you with something, my lord?» She gestured at the

chair opposite hers. «Would you care for some tea when it

arrives?»

«No, thank you.»

His expression of distaste made her want to smile. He’d never

shared her passion for tea, preferring coffee or the stronger lure

of alcohol. He took two paces toward her and then stopped.

«If you insist on staying, insist you come out with me to my

favorite brothel so that you can see how happy I am with my life

and how little I miss or need you.»

She fought not to wince at such a blunt statement of

disinterest and found the courage to smile instead.

«And if I agree, you will attend some balls and events with me

in return, yes?»

«I didn’t say that.»

She held his gaze. «Yet it seems only fair.»

«Since when has ‘fair’ ever been a measure between us?»

God, that hurt. He insisted that what had happened between

them had no relevance to his present way of life, but he couldn’t

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resist bringing up her mistakes at every opportunity. Perhaps it

was time to acknowledge that, to try to get through to him again.

«You’re right. I wasn’t fair to you. I wasn’t fair at all.»

His expression froze. «Dammit, don’t you dare apologize to

me. That wasn’t what I meant at all.»

«But...»

He headed for the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Jane sighed. He was proving far more difficult to deal with

than she had anticipated. It was as if he’d encased his softer

emotions in a hard shell. If she hadn’t known him better, she

would’ve believed he was completely callous. But she’d seen him

at his worst before, seen him despair and yet still find the

strength to offer her comfort, which she’d spurned.

With renewed purpose she opened her mother’s old desk and

took out some writing paper. It was time to reconnect with her

friends and find out the true state of affairs, whether Blaize liked

it or not.

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Kate Pearce

3

«Jane, my dear, how are you?»

Jane allowed herself to be drawn into a crushing hug by her

much taller companion and kissed the powdered, scented cheek

closest to her. She hoped her rain-dampened clothes didn’t

offend. She’d decided to brave the blustery weather and walk the

short distance from Hanover Square to Crescent Place.

«Emily, you look so well.»

Her friend laughed and pretended to pout, drew Jane toward a

chaise longue designed in the Egyptian style. The large sunny

drawing room was decorated in fashionable homage to the

current craze for Egyptian artifacts. Yellow silk hung on the walls

and a variety of fantastical golden objects graced the mantelpiece

and the furniture.

«I look well enough for a woman with three children. You,

however, still look like a blushing virginal debutante. Are you

sure Minshom was capable of consummating your marriage?»

Emily gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth. Jane

hurried over to remove Emily’s fingers from her lips.

«It’s all right, Emily. I know you were joking.»

Emily sighed and returned the pressure on her hand.

«Goodness. Jane, I’m sorry, that was quite uncalled for. It

appears that living in London has sharpened my wits beyond

what might be considered amusing.»

Jane sat back and took a good look at Emily, admired the

saffron yellow of her silk gown and the pale blonde curls framing

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her face. Despite her modest upbringing, Emily had done very

well for herself and married the heir to an earldom. From what

Jane could see, she hadn’t let her new rank change her easy and

friendly ways.

Jane smiled brightly. «How is George, and how are your

children—in good health I hope?»

«They are all well. The children are in the countryside with my

parents, and George and I are enjoying ourselves in Town

without having to worry about them all.» Emily sighed. «Not that

I don’t miss them terribly, mind, but it is nice to be away from

them.»

«I can imagine.» Jane looked fondly at her best friend. She

couldn’t imagine ever wanting to leave a child, but perhaps that

was just her, and she knew Emily was truly fond of her brood.

Emily poured them both some tea and sat down, her

inquisitive brown eyes fixed expectantly on Jane.

«So what brought you to London? Did Minshom finally come

to his senses and ask for you?»

«No, I came by myself. He was as surprised to see me as you

are.»

«But not quite so thrilled, I’ll wager. I don’t think most of the

ton even knows he is married.» Emily rolled her eyes. «The recent

scandal about him and Anthony Sokorvsky has been the talk of

the town for weeks.»

Jane set her teacup to one side. «That’s one of the reasons I

came to see you first, Emily. I knew you’d have the best gossip.»

«I always do, don’t I?» Emily laughed, «Even at school I was

always the first to know which teachers were leaving, who was

having an affair with whom, who had inherited a fortune.»

She sat forward. «Well, as I told you in my letters, your

husband had a ‘relationship’ with Anthony Sokorvsky for quite a

while, but, recently, Sokorvsky ended it and went off with a

woman. It was quite a surprise to everyone. Minshom bragged

that he’d have Sokorvsky on his knees begging to be taken back,

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Kate Pearce

but it didn’t happen, and now some people are laughing at

Minshom and I suspect he doesn’t like that at all.»

«I suspect you are right.»

Emily refilled Jane’s cup and then her own. «And there are

new rumors that he and Sokorvsky actually fought. That part is a

little unclear, but it is true that your husband retired to his bed

for two weeks after his last encounter with Sokorvsky at a house

party.»

Jane nodded. «It might also explain why Minshom didn’t

follow through with his threat to personally eject me from his

house last night.»

«He threatened to throw you out?» Emily’s eyes widened and

her mouth opened. «That man deserves to be thrashed. I can’t

imagine why you stay married to him.»

«Because I don’t have the necessary family connections,

money or power to blacken his reputation and petition for a di-

Emily shuddered. «And you wouldn’t want to be divorced,

darling. No woman wants that stigma.»

«So you think that living apart from him is the perfect solution

for me?»

«I don’t know.» Emily frowned. «It seems unfair that

Minshom gets to cavort around London behaving abominably

while you are stuck moldering in the countryside.»

Jane suppressed a smile. «I hardly ‘molder,’ Emily. There is

plenty to do in a house as big as Minshom Abbey, and I have

some wonderful friends.»

«You’ve always had a gift for making friends, Jane, but,

remember, I’ve met most of these acquaintances of yours and

they are not quite in the same class as your peers here.»

«But I hardly know anyone in London,» Jane protested. «I

didn’t have a Season, like you—I married Minshom instead.»

«And more fool you.» Emily leaned forward to add hot water

to the teapot. «You should have insisted on having both.»

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Jane shrugged. «In truth, my father tried to use the lure of a

Season to stop me from marrying Minshom. He offered to give

me the most lavish come-out he could afford if I’d put off

making a decision about tying the knot.»

«He was right to do so. You should’ve pretended to agree

with him and then had both. Or you might have met a better

man in London and told Minshom the engagement was off.»

Emily sighed dramatically. «Lord, I wish you’d never met that

man, and at my eighteenth birthday party of all places! I’ll never

forgive my brother for inviting him.»

«Can you imagine how Minshom would’ve reacted if I’d done

that to him?» Jane’s smile died. «And, in truth, I was so in love

with him by then that I couldn’t have abandoned him if I’d

tried.»

Emily’s teacup rattled into its saucer. «You were too young to

make that choice and he was too old for you.»

«I was seventeen, Emily. You were or.ly two years older than

me when you wed George, and George is ten years older than

Minshom!»

«George was already settled and looking for a wife. Minshom

was in his mid-twenties, far too young for a man like him to

settle down, if you ask my opinion. I always felt Minshom never

really came to terms with his need to marry you.»

Jane sat back and considered her friend. Despite Emily’s

sunny exterior, she was very intuitive about people and their

behavior.

«I can’t argue with you about that. I think he married me

despite himself.» She sighed as the memories crowded around

her. «It was if he was always looking for a reason to leave me.

And, of course, as soon as I gave him one, he was off.»

«I’m sorry, Jane. As I said, the man deserves to be

horsewhipped.» Emily reached across and patted Jane’s knee.

«Now, really, what are you going to do about him?»

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Kate Pearce