Page 26 of His Wicked Secret
Audrey smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”
Once Audrey was ready, she helped Sarah put away her clothes but paused when someone pounded on her door.
“Yes?”
Gillian burst into the room, her face red. “He’s here.”
“Who?” Audrey asked, though she suspected she knew the answer.
Gillian’s face went from red to white, and she looked close to fainting. “Lord Pembroke. He’s here.”
Audrey had to fight off a grin and look concerned instead. “James? Really? Oh dear, you will have to see him, won’t you? That does complicate matters…”
Her maid’s lips parted as though to protest. “You…we—” Gillian paused. “You didn’t invite him here for me, did you?”
Audrey composed herself to look as innocent as possible. “What? No, of course not. You told me you wanted to forget, to move on. We are friends, and I respect that.” It was true she respected her friend, but that respect did not extend to allowing Gillian to run away from happiness at every turn. If she married at all, Audrey feared it would be to someone who would treat her the way she believed she should be treated. And that would not do. She had no intention of keeping her dear friend from the happy marriage she deserved. And if that required a bit of deception, Audrey was happy to suffer the consequences.
“Yes,” Gillian muttered. “Of course.”
“I suppose we will have to make doubly sure that he believes you are a lady, won’t we?” She pressed her fingertips together as she pretended to think.
Gillian leaned against the closed door in defeat. “Perhaps I should feign illness for the remainder of the party?”
That was a dreadful idea. “Nonsense! We should face this head-on. You saw him? Let’s go and have a little meeting and get it over with. You can say hello, he can say hello, and then we can return to the house.”
“I don’t think—”
“Fetch your shawl and let’s go,” Audrey commanded. If there was one way to get Gillian to fall in line, it was to take on the air of a military general and issue orders. Besides, Audrey did not wish to face a house party alone. Horatia had contacted her yesterday by letter, informing her that Jonathan had not replied to his invitation to the party, and Audrey did not know how to feel about that.
She waited while Gillian rushed back to her room to fetch her shawl, and then they left to find him.
“Where did you see him?” James could have been in any number of places in the large house. It was quite like Gillian to run off and hide, and no doubt that was how she saw him.
“In the gardens. I think they were playing croquet.”
“They?” Audrey asked. “Someone was with James?”
“Yes. He was with Mr. St. Laurent.”
Audrey jerked to a halt, her heart pounding. He hadn’t planned on being here, or else he would have replied to his invitation. In the last week she had not heard from Jonathan about the lessons he had promised to give her, and she had begun to fear that he had changed his mind. There had been disappointment, but relief there as well, because sleeping with him,onlysleeping with him was dangerous enough, even if it was only once a week. The last time, she had woken in his arms and thought her dearest wishes had come true, that she and Jonathan were together, married and happy, deliriously happy. Realizing that it was only a dream had crushed her. And now he was here, and she wasn’t at all prepared.
I might make a fool of myself. Given how she acted whenever he was around, she knew it was only a matter of time before she did something reckless, like beg to be kissed again. She’d done her best in the last seven days to forget the thrilling events of the hellfire club and how alive she’d felt for the first time in months in the aftermath.
Her friend eyed her with open concern. “You didn’t know he was coming?”
“No, I was told hewasn’tcoming.” She took a slow, deep breath, praying it would help her master her nerves. “Very well. We shall face the meeting together.”
“Yes.” Her maid’s face was ashen. “We shall face them and run back to the house with our tails tucked between our legs.”
That was true, but Audrey didn’t want to own up to it. “Nonsense. We are ladies of quality, Gillian. We do not flee. We walked briskly away from that which distresses us.” She declared this with a rather pompous and dignified air, yet it barely masked the panic she was feeling.
Audrey focused on the walking path in the gardens, where some succession houses had been built. Horatia loved fresh fruits, so the houses had plenty of melons, grapes, peaches, and her own favorite, nectarines. As they passed by the houses, they came upon the large green lawn behind them. Jonathan and James were close to a small garden shack, putting away their croquet mallets. Ignoring Jonathan completely, she spoke to Lord Pembroke. “James!”
Jonathan straightened from his bent position and hit his head on the shed. With a curse, he spun around, a scowl upon his face. Her pulse quickened as she saw those jade-green eyes flash like fire, and for a second she forgot to breathe.
James ignored Jonathan’s plight and dusted off his palms on his trousers. “Ladies! Miss Beaumont, I’m pleased to see you again, and looking so well.”
“Thank you,” Gillian said with a blush. For a moment Audrey forgot she was worried about meeting Jonathan. She was too overjoyed to see the warm looks between Gillian and James. It was destiny. The best she could do now was leave the two lovebirds alone.
