Page 71 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
It never came.
In the darkened interior of the carriage, he strained his eyes to make out her reaction. Only when Alicia turned her face to the window did scant rays of light touch on her cheeks, highlighting her reserved expression.
“I refuse to be locked away in the countryside.” Her tone was soft. Dangerously so. “Lindsay kept me stowed away on his estate for the majority of our marriage. I was an afterthought, a doll that was stored in the attic until he could be bothered to play with me. When he died, I vowed it would never happen again.”
“Do not be absurd, Alicia. Of course you wouldn’t be locked away.” Niall growled in the back of his throat. “But I currently have too many problems on my plate to worry about a wife who has proven herself to be troublesome and intrusive.”
She slapped her hand on the leather seat, the sound causing him to jerk his head back in surprise. “Do not think to call me troublesome, sir. You are proving correct all the reasons why I told myself not to tell you my secret. Do you believe I don’t know what it means when a husband sends his wife to the countryside? He wants to keep her isolated and friendless. It’s much easier to control a headstrong woman that way. And you believe I’ve been a headstrong wife, don’t you?”
The old earl had been a disgrace for keeping his young bride locked away…yet their situation was in no way the same.
Niall wiped his damp palms on his trousers. “Not headstrong, but definitely idealistic. How could you be so foolish as to meet with Miss Assan in person? Where anyone could recognize you?” He leaned toward her. “In your quest to do good, you have brought ruination to our doorstep. Surely you see that?”
Again, silence reigned. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper; he had to lean forward to hear it. “I’m sorry, Niall. I am sorry this has happened because I was not more circumspect. But can we not figure out a way to work through this together?”
“Don’t speak to me of working together when you have been a solitary soldier until now.”
Of all the troublesome feelings her secret had unleashed, her lack of faith in him hurt the most. That his wife thought she couldn’t depend on him was a wound that would not easily heal.
She was quiet for a pregnant moment. “Soldier? Do you consider this war? Is winning your only goal? Championing the defenseless, protecting those most in need is just a claim you make when the quote can win you positive coverage?”
Indignation fired his blood. “That is grossly unfair.”
“But is it really?” Alicia tucked an escaped curl behind her ear, and a passing gas lamp revealed how her hand trembled. “Time and time again legislation has found its way to your committee, and time and time again it’s become nothing but meaningless talking points. My essays were written to rally England’s leaders to do more for the common people, but you’ve made it abundantly clear your priority lies with the titled and wealthy. All your claims to the contrary are merely a passing talking point.”
Before Niall could respond, the carriage jerked to a halt. Without waiting for assistance, Alicia wrenched the door open. Under the glow of the streetlamp, she looked back at him, her mien pale. Haunting.
“I’ll leave, not because you ordered me to, but because I don’t have the energy to wage this battle any longer.”
With those words, she disappeared through the door.
Niall stared after her.
He’d known she wouldn’t go quietly. Not his fierce Alicia. But how could she argue that it wouldn’t be easier to deal with Matthews with her safely ensconced in Scotland? Niall had seen red when he’d found the viscount manhandling her, and only his well-honed self-control kept him from challenging Matthews to a duel.
With a bone-weary sigh Niall followed her into the silent townhome.
The door linking his chamber to Alicia’s was locked when he tried it later that night. Niall pressed his brow to the cool wood as he absorbed the blow. She had physically sealed herself away from him. He should be grateful for the distance she created between them, but his very skin ached to have her in his arms again.
Sitting in his darkened study, nursing a dram, did nothing to assuage his stormy thoughts. Niall still had a bid to secure and electors to win over. Matthews had revealed himself to be a villain, and he had no notion of how to protect his wife from the man…and now he had made an enemy of her. Niall tipped his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose, completely at a loss for how to make anything right.
This was how his secretary found him several hours later.
“Your lordship,” Murray whispered.
Niall cracked open an eye from where he dozed in his leather chair. “What is it?”
“I thought you should know that the marchioness has departed.”
All fatigue fled his mind. Dropping his feet to the ground, he propelled himself upright. “What do you mean she’s left? It’s the middle of the night.”
The man nodded. “A fact she was aware of, as she apologized to the driver several times. But she and Miss Jane departed not ten minutes ago.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Why would she leave now, well before dawn? Was she so hurt, so frantic to flee from him that she would put herself in danger? That possibility sent a tidal wave of shame crashing over him.
Niall needed to go after her, if only to escort her to Kilmorow himself.
Yet…he had an important meeting with key electors on the morrow. With Medlinger losing Grey’s support, now was the time to show himself to be the reliable candidate party electors could count on. Plus he would see Matthews again, and he still had no notion of how to deal with the man and the threat he represented.
