Page 61 of Cora
“Because you destroyed my one chance to thrive, but I have what I wanted now.Youare the one who feels the need to prove to the world that I can be something I am not.” She touched his arm, pleading. “I am glad to be your wife. I was wary of you, at first. But you’ve shown me that there is a good man behind this constant scowl. Why am I not enough for you?”
“You are. I want the world to see you the way I do.”
“You cannot erase what happened all those years ago by commanding me to give another performance. It is a fantasy, and one that will cost me dearly to indulge.”
“I am not commanding you to perform for anyone. I thought you would enjoy the idea. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It is certainly a surprise.”
She scooped up Titi. Gideon was suddenly jealous of a dog.
Hewanted to be her comfort.
“I’ll cancel it,” he declared. Doing so would only make things worse for her in the eyes of Society, though. Drawing attention to her performing was dicey. Why hadn’t he considered that before setting this course?
Because he had been in a risk-taking frame of mind. Once his first gambit to force her to the altar had paid off so spectacularly, he’d recklessly made a second bet without consulting her. She was right. He wanted to show off the prize he had won.
When all this time, he could simply have asked her questions instead of going to absurd, Machiavellian lengths to get her to do what he wanted. Gideon was beginning to feel like an idiot.
“Gideon, do you make snap decisions like this at your bank?” Cora asked with exasperation.
He felt his jaw twitch and realized he’d clenched it. He rolled his shoulders in an effort to release the tension. “I do not.”
“Then please give me time to process this momentous ‘gift.’ I would rather have been consulted first, but this is clearly important to you, and I am willing to consider it. Just give me a chance to think it over. Please.”
“If you talk it over with Miss Caldwell, the news will be all over London in no time. There will be no backing out.”
“I know how to handle Honora. Trust me, Gideon. I will decide in plenty of time to change our minds, if that is the direction we choose to go.”
Our. We.He kissed her, unable to put into words the way her choice of words made him feel.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
CORA
Trust.
Cora knew she had some gall in asking Gideon to trust her when she was keeping secrets from him.
Her visits to the House of Virtue, for example. She felt guilty, using Honora’s proximity to the Dove Street mansion to cover for her visits. Despite vowing not to let it happen, Martha had taken over her social calendar almost completely. When she wasn’t practicing frantically for her upcoming performance, she was being escorted around town to teas and luncheons with the kind of Important People who used to visit her half-brother Lysander.
She had barely spoken with Honora since the night of the Blumford’s ball. Martha had gotten her way on this matter, too.
Cora’s reasons for visiting the House of Virtue were easily covered by the fiction that she was supporting Countess Oreste’s supposed reform efforts. To say the Queen would not appreciate being associated with the countess, even for a supposedly charitable endeavor, was a massive understatement.
Would Victoria cut ties with the bank over it?
Probably not. Yet the risk of confirming Martha’s reservations about her sent cold trickling uncomfortably down her spine.
“Titi!” Honey exclaimed when Cora came into her front parlor. The Yorkie barked excitedly and ran in circles until Honey caught her for a cuddle. “Look at you! No jacket, freshly bathed, with a little bow in your hair. I am dying of cuteness.”
“Has your stepmother relented upon getting a cat yet?”
Honey made a dismissivepfft. “I feed the ones in the alleyway, but they aren’t friendly. Besides, I want a dog like Titi. Maybe a Cavalier King Charles. They have such soft ears and sweet eyes. Would you like a friend, Titi, dear?”
“I am certain she would, but I have come to give you a gift,” Cora said, producing a thick packet.
“Is this about your concert?”
