Page 24 of Their Brazen Countess
Jo nodded. “Strangely, he prides himself on keeping to his agreements. It is the one thing I cannot fault him for. So yes, I expect he will allow Becca to marry where she wishes. I just hope she is smart enough to marry well.”
“Jo,” Linc said before hesitating. “Is…your husband awful?”
Jo smiled a little. “No, he’s not awful. He’s just old and set in his ways. I don’t love him, not like I…” She let the words hang there unspoken. It would do none of them a spot of good to finish her thought aloud.
The moment grew thick with tension as the three of them stood there, touching, but not really touching. Not as they all would have preferred. They were connected one last time.
“We could take you and run away. To America.” Arthur offered, almost in a whisper, as though too afraid to fully voice the suggestion.
“No,” Jo replied, as a tear welled up and slipped down her cheek.This man. He broke her heart. “That’s not the woman I am. Not the kind of woman I hope you would want in your life. I took a vow, and I shall uphold it until the end.” She released Arthur’s hand and turned away from Linc’s touch. “Perhaps this would be easier if we did not see each other again.” She walked to the front window that overlooked the street. “I fear I find this far too painful to endure.”
There was a choking noise behind her as she watched the hustle and bustle of people going by on the street. A pained moan came low and mournful. Then finally, movement.
“Goodbye, Jo. If you ever have need of us, we shall be there for you. No matter what. No matter when.” Linc’s solemn words felt like the final blow to her heart, but there was nothing else she could do.
She was married now.
Linc led Arthur from the townhouse and out onto the street. After weeks of stopping by daily to see if she was at home, they had finally found her in. Hope had sprung eternal, only to be squashed by painful reality.
But he had little time to wallow, he had Arthur to consider. “White’s?”
“No. I think someplace more private is definitely in order.” Arthur looked fragile, as though he might shatter.
Or was Linc projecting his own state of mind on his friend? “Yes, probably best.”
A short while later, they were once again ensconced in Arthur’s study with multiple bottles of whisky, a roaring fire, and their mutual sorrow. For a long while they sat there drinking, neither saying a word.
Finally, Arthur broke the silence. “We knew her for such a short time, yet I feel as though a limb is missing.”
“It is an oddly physical ache for what is largely an emotional loss. Though she had spent so little time between us, perhaps it was more than a physical bonding than we realized?”
“So it would seem.” Arthur’s words slurred a bit.
Long after the sun sank and the whisky ceased to flow, Linc helped Arthur up to his bed. There they both stripped and lay together, holding each other as they tried to forget the woman they loved. The woman they’d lost.
The next morning, just as the sun had enough nerve to peek through the heavy curtains guarding the window, a knock sounded at the bedroom door.
Linc moaned and rolled over, reaching for Arthur. “Thank God I locked the bloody door last night.”
Arthur shoved Linc’s arm away and shot out of the bed while making an urgent shushing sound.
Confused, Linc sat up, suddenly more awake. “What’s the matter?”
“They might hear you!” Arthur whispered, panic making his eyes open wide as his gaze darted around the room as though looking for a suitable hiding spot.
“Who might hear me? Your servants?” Linc was still feeling a bit confused, between the too early hour and the aftereffects of last night’s over imbibing. In fact, there was a distinct headache forming right between his brows.
“Yes!” Arthur all but hissed the words. “I cannot be found with a man in my bed!”
Linc wanted to curse, having assumed they were past these types of pretenses—at least in Arthur’s own home. “My apologies.” He stood from the bed stiffly and began pulling on his clothing. “I had no idea we would continue to sneak around, even within these walls.”
“Hush!” Arthur snapped.
“My lord? The door appears to be locked.” Travers announced the obvious to all and sundry as he knocked at the door.
“Yes,” Arthur replied as he pulled his sleep shirt on over his head. “I didn’t wish to be disturbed last night.”
Linc finished gathering his things and moved to the door that joined the master’s chambers. It would have been the future countess’ rooms, but under the circumstances, it seemed a perfect place to hide until the servants departed.
