Page 97 of Bad Luck Bride

“And I let you.” He lowered his head with a sigh, rubbing four fingers over his forehead. “A decision on my part that in hindsight seems extraordinarily stupid.”

She didn’t reply. She waited, and at last, he looked up.

“So,” he said, squaring his shoulders, “it’s no, then, is it?”

“I’m afraid it is. It must be. I can’t cause Josephine the same pain and humiliation I suffered. I just can’t do that to her. Do you understand?”

He didn’t reply, but the pain in his face tore at her, ripping her heart out.

“Oh, Devlin,” she cried, suddenly fearing the worst. “Please tell me you understand!”

“Of course I understand.” His arms came up, wrapping around her as she sagged with relief. “I hate it, Kay,” he muttered, his lips brushing her hair. “I do. I won’t lie. I hate it, and I resent like hell the stupid rules and tight-laced morality that governs all our lives, but I also know the pain you’ve suffered and how much you love your sister and how you want to spare her that same pain. And as frustrating as it is and how hellish it’s going to make our lives for the next few months, it only makes me love you more.”

A sob came from her, a sob of wrenching pain and overwhelming love, and also a tiny little speck of disappointment that he hadn’t rejected her reasons, hauled her over his shoulder, and carried her out here by force, taking the decision out of her hands.

He heard it, that sob, and his arms tightened, holding her so strongly, it took her breath away. “I’ll be back,” he promised fiercely.

“Of course you will,” she mumbled against his lapel.

She must not have sounded convincing, for he grabbed her arms and pushed her back to look into her face. “Listen to me,” he ordered, giving her a little shake. “I’ll get things straightened out as quickly as I can, but it won’t happen overnight. It’ll take a few months, maybe a year, before I can come back to England.”

“I know.” She took his face in her hands and looked into his beautiful eyes, putting the best face on things, for his sake. “At least no one’s going to suppress our letters this time. And even if they do, I won’t lose faith in you or in us.”

“Neither will I.”

“And I won’t be holed away in Wales, thank heaven, with only my mother and little sister for company. I have my work here at the Mayfair, and that will give me something useful to do while you’re away.”

“When I come back, we’ll get married, and it will be the biggest, grandest wedding the ton’s ever seen.”

“Damned right it will.”

He smiled a little. “Just don’t go getting engaged to anyone else while I’m gone, all right?”

Laughter bubbled up inside her, ending in a sob. She choked it back. “I won’t, I promise.”

The clock on her credenza chimed the half hour, and she couldn’t bear it another moment. “You’d better go,” she said, her voice suddenly, surprisingly resolute.

He pulled her close, bent his head and kissed her, hard. Then, he let her go, picked up his hat, and turned abruptly away, walking toward the door. He opened it and started to walk out, but then he paused again to look at her one last time. He didn’t speak. He just stared at her for what seemed an eternity, then he said, “I will come back to you, Kay. However long it takes.”

“I know.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he stepped backward into the corridor. And then he was gone, vanishing from her life once again.

Kay stood there long after his departure, staring at the empty doorway, his last words echoing through her mind like a dismal dirge.

However long it takes.

She feared it was going to take a long, long time.

Suddenly, desolation swamped her, and all her courage vanished into the wind. She sank into her chair, folded her arms on her desk, and buried her face in the crook of her elbow. She would have burst into tears, if a beloved voice calling her name hadn’t stopped her.

“Kay?”

Josephine’s voice came floating to her along the corridor, and she sat up, grabbed her pen, and assumed the pose of the efficient secretary as her sister came into her office.

“Where have you been?” Josephine demanded.

She paused in her nonsensical scribbling and tried to look surprised. “Here, of course. Where else would I be?”

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