Page 88 of The Dangerous Love of a Rogue
‘I will dress and then I am going out for a ride. I usually take one of the horses out before breakfast.’ He was running away from her again, coward that he was. But he did not know what else to do. He was disgusted with himself. Perhaps if he had not made such a mull of things yesterday and become angry, she would still believe him.
He turned to the basin and tipped in some water from the jug, it splashed into the bowl. She kept her back to him, searching through her trunks, while he washed and dressed.
Once dressed, he looked back at her. She had laid her clothes out on the bed. He supposed she missed having a maid to do such tasks. He ought to find them better accommodation as soon as he could, with space for staff.
He sighed. ‘I will leave you. What do you want for breakfast?’
She looked at him as though he was Cerberus with three heads.
He did not wait for her answer. ‘I’ll have some bread and cheese sent up.’ He left then.
When he returned over an hour and a half later the sitting room was empty, and the untouched loaf of bread and wheel of cheese stood on the table.
The door of the bedroom was open, but she was not in there.
Fear beat its drum in his heart. Had she left him?
He’d ridden his horse hard and fast across the open lawns of Hyde Park, burning off his anger and frustration, willing himself to work out how to convince her that he loved her. He’d found no answers, but he could not keep hiding and so he returned – too late…
Her belongings were in his bedchamber, though. Hairpins, her hairbrush and the mirror stood on his chest of drawers. She had not left him.
Her short corset had been thrown on the bed.
Damn, she’d asked him to help her dress. He had not.
He returned to the sitting room. A sheet of paper rested on top of her writing desk.
I have gone home to fetch some things.
Home. The word cut as deeply as her accusations this morning. Where he was should be her home now.
Hell. She must have walked alone, there was no one to accompany her.
He would hire a maid to come during the day. He looked at his watch. How long ago had she left? Perhaps he ought to go after her. But as the bread was untouched, she must have left early and would already be there.
This was a statement to him; that she would not be tied down. He heard it loud and clear.
He could follow, but he did not want to call at her brother’s house and subject himself to her male relatives’ spite. He could go out again and pretend he did not care that she had gone. Or he could wait for her return. He chose the latter option, slipping off his coat as he walked to the window.
The fine weather had broken today, the sky was hidden behind grey clouds… What if she was caught in a rain storm?
She would not be, though. Pembroke would send her back in his carriage, and curse Drew.
His selfish side wished her family had cut her. But that was a stupid thought, because he had always known they would not and that was to their credit.
Drew cut some bread and cheese, as he tried to learn patience.
She returned after three tedious hours in which he played a boring game of chess against himself. The minute the door handle turned, he stood, feeling like the child who’d craved his mother’s attention that he had never received.
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright beneath the brim of her straw bonnet. She had walked back. She wore a pale pink walking dress, the cloth decorated with cream flowers. The ribbon on her bonnet was cream too. She looked beautiful, as she always did.
She stood back and let Pembroke’s footman pass her, pointing to the table on which the half-eaten loaf rested. ‘Put them there, please, Tom.’
The young man did not even look at Drew as he set down a pile of books. There was a small bag on his arm, which he put there too. ‘Miss Marlow, if that is all.’ He bowed deeply, doubling over.
‘It is, thank you, Tom. And if you would call for me at two tomorrow, I would be very grateful.’
It appeared she had resolved the issue of accompaniment.
