Page 55 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
“Of course it is,” she snapped. “Do you think because I’m a woman, because I cannot serve in Parliament, that I cannot possibly know the workings of government? Do not insult me by implying I don’t understand how complicated the process is.”
Niall canted his body toward her. “Youare the cleverest woman of my acquaintance. But it’s easy to cast stones when you’re not in range of a return fire.”
Jerking her head back, Alicia glared at him. “Everything I, as a woman, do outside of the very narrow mold I’m expected to occupy puts me at risk of the firing squad.Everything. Which is why I’m concerned about your zeal to ruin that writer. I’d wager she had noble intentions, but that won’t matter in the end. Men are always given second chances, but women only have the one to make it count.”
“She could very well ruin my career,” he hissed, his fingers curving about the edge of the tabletop. “After all my hard work, it could be reduced to cinder and ash with just a negative word from her hand.”
“If your career in Parliament can be so easily incinerated, perhaps you didn’t deserve it in the first place.”
And with that salvo, Alicia rose to her feet, tossed her napkin on the table, and prowled from the room.
Niall watched her go, at a loss for words.
…
Alicia stormed into her chambers, so frustrated she was hardly sensible.
How she had managed to navigate the staircase, as well as the long halls that made up the family quarters in Campbell House, she did not know. But now she stared at the familiar watercolor framed on her wall and desperately tried to wrangle control of her anger.
They had been married for almost two months, with a rocky start that had started to smooth out after she had nursed him successfully through a bout of cholera. But it seemed Niall could still be an arrogant arse.
Alicia curled her hands into fists, frustrated that her ploy to utilize her essays to help her husband had not distracted him from his bitterness at her past criticisms. Worse yet, Niall now knew the writer was a woman, and the idea Torres could discover her identity at any moment left her nauseated and lightheaded.
She needed to tell Effia and urge her to be careful.
Swishing her skirts, Alicia prowled to the bed and forced herself to perch on the edge until her rapid pulse settled. While she counted in her head, her jaw clenched tightly, the sound of her dressing door opening made her flinch. A second later, Jane appeared, her expression darkening when she took in Alicia’s state.
“Whatever is the matter? When I dressed you for dinner, you were all smiles and nervous energy.” The maid tossed a hand up. “Now I’m surprised you have any teeth left in your mouth.”
“How very clever of you,” Alicia sniped, crossing her arms across her chest. Although the action made her appear petulant and childish, she couldn’t help herself. Anger dug into her skin like barbs. Niall knew just how to irritate her. No, heangeredher, to the extent that she wished she could toss him directly into the sun.
But under all that anger lurked fear. Fear he would discover she was the writer whose words continued to haunt him. Fear he would no longer want her once he knew. Fear he would force her to give up the one pursuit that had ever brought her joy.
Alicia knew she needed to face that fear or her anger, her helplessness, would continue to fester.
“I can almost hear the nonsensical rants racing through your mind.” Jane sat on the bed, her tone conversational but her gaze intent. While she was her maid, Jane had known Alicia longer than anyone, and sometimes offered her a friendly ear, especially because for many years she was without a friend. “Now tell me what his lordship did to aggravate you so.”
“His lordship was rude and vindictive, and he is most apologetic,” a masculine voice interrupted.
The women turned in unison to see Niall enter through the door connecting their chambers. He was clad in the same clothing he’d been in when she’d abandoned the dining room, although his cravat now hung loose about his neck and his dark locks were free of their queue, an unruly mass about his sharp cheekbones and jaw. Damn him, did he have to look so handsome when her resolve was a precarious thing?
Rising to her feet, Alicia bit her lip, unsure of how to take his apology. “You insulted my intelligence. You addressed me as if I had no notion of how laws are made, or as if I’ve had no experience in the world.”
Niall leaned against her bed frame, his arms casually crossed across his broad chest, his stance one of easy elegance. “I did, and that was wrong of me. Anyone with an ounce of sense in their head would know you to be an intelligent woman.”
“Intelligent?” Alicia placed a hand over her stomach, which fluttered about. “You did not make me feel intelligent downstairs.”
Pushing off the bed post, Niall advanced on her, pausing only when he stood directly before her. She glanced to Jane, but her maid had disappeared. Without an ally, Alicia clasped her hands in her lap and glared up at him, determined he would not intimidate her.
He studied her, his gray eyes a storm of emotions she didn’t dare try to decipher. “Of all my sins, of which there are many, making you feel less than the extraordinary woman you are is one of my gravest. Please know that I await, eagerly, every shrewd word that falls from your tongue.”
“I…I,” she swallowed convulsively, “I’m sorry for being rude. I may feel strongly about certain subjects, but that doesn’t excuse how harshly I speak to you.”
Niall reached out his hand, brushing gentle fingertips along her cheek. “I deserved your harshness.”
Her throat was uncomfortably parched. “I thought you were annoyed with me.”
“Iamannoyed with you. I’m annoyed all the time. But in this moment, I’m annoyed I have not yet had you in my bed.”
