Page 5 of The Baron's Return
If he’d said those words to any other woman present, she knew there would be a hint of teasing in his tone. But with her, there was an edge of mockery to the statement. She spared a moment to glance away from him, afraid someone might have overheard him. Fortunately, they were alone. Well, as alone as one could be in a room that was still filled with people.
She met his pale green eyes again. The same eyes that greeted her every day when she looked at her daughter, a constant reminder of everything she’d lost.
She held her hands at her waist and took a steadying breath. “I didn’t think you wanted to speak to me.”
“I don’t. But since it appears we now share a few acquaintances, I thought it prudent to get this first meeting out of the way.” His gaze bored into hers for a few moments. “It seemed you were thinking the same thing, or was I mistaken in that? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I was mistaken about your motivations.”
She felt this sting of his accusation and couldn’t deny him the right to level it at her. He was correct after all. And when he learned what else she’d kept hidden from him, he would be more than cold. He’d be furious.
She licked her lips and noticed the way his eyes zeroed in on that brief motion before he met her gaze again. Heat coursed through her as she remembered how much she’d loved kissing this man. How much she’d loved him. But those days were gone.
It was impossible not to dwell on past regrets about how she’d treated Gideon—they were an ever-present companion. Still, she needed to be strong. She’d wronged him once, and she needed to make amends. “We need to speak.”
“Is that not what we’re doing now?”
She lowered her voice. “In private. There are matters we need to discuss.”
He shook his head. “I have nothing to say to you outside of the polite courtesies I must show you when we are in public. And even then, I’d prefer if we agreed to ignore one another whenever possible. I’m only speaking to you now because I’ve caught the way the bride’s gaze has been traveling between the two of us all morning. I wanted to ease her mind and, by extension, that of a very close friend.” He took a step closer and his voice lowered further. “Do not mistake my attempt to ensure their wedding day remains a happy one for anything else.”
He started to turn away. In a panic, knowing she wouldn’t have another chance to speak to him, she reached out to touch his elbow.
Gideon froze in place. Several seconds passed before he turned back to her. Before he could give her a set down, she reached for a calling card she’d tucked into her glove after the wedding breakfast was over. She hadn’t expected to give it to him today but had wanted to be prepared for the possibility.
She placed it in his palm. “Please. If you ever cared for me, even a little… If there is some small part of you that is still the man I once knew, call on me tomorrow. I will be home all day. It is vital that we speak. There are things you don’t know about what happened all those years ago.”
A muscle pulsed along his jaw, but he took the card and placed it in a pocket of his tailcoat. “I make no promises.”
And with that, he turned and strode away to join the newly married couple.
He was correct in saying that Mary had been watching them. He said something that caused the slight downturn of her lips to lift into a smile. Then she laughed.
Abigail had to turn away from the sight. If Gideon hated her now, he would detest her tomorrow. If he even called on her. But he needed to know that the love they’d shared had produced a new life. He needed to know that he had a daughter. What he chose to do after she told him would be his decision. She had no expectations of him. She’d lost that right a long time ago.
Chapter 5
Abigail was already awake and dressed when the sun rose the next morning. She’d had a restless night and had long since given up trying to find peace in sleep. She’d called for her maid as soon as she heard the servants moving about the house.
She couldn’t stop thinking about seeing Gideon again yesterday and had gone over every word they’d shared too many times to count.
It was also impossible to forget the way he’d casually charmed every woman present, in particular the ones who were unwed. Some had made no effort to hide the way they followed his every movement.
It had unsettled her to watch how he’d moved from person to person with such ease. She couldn’t deny that she’d hated seeing how easily he smiled and laughed with those other women. A spark of jealousy had ignited within her that refused to go away despite the way she’d admonished herself for the emotion. She had no right to Gideon’s attention. Not anymore. She also needed to stop thinking about him as the young man who’d once loved her. He was Baron Cranston now and not Gideon.
The man’s popularity had helped her in one respect yesterday. If anyone noticed the way she’d paid him a little too much attention, they would think her just another woman who hoped to catch his eye.
She found it impossible to relax as she made her way downstairs, her thoughts going over what she’d do if he didn’t call today. She didn’t want to keep trying to accost him in public so she could speak with him. As a last resort, she might need to visit him at his town house. She’d have to be discreet, but society looked the other way when it came to a mature woman’s liaisons. She only hoped that if she had to go that far, she wouldn’t run into another woman leaving his home.
She smiled as her daughter bounced into the breakfast room, the little girl’s natural exuberance never failing to lift her spirits. Since it had always been just the two of them, Abigail had never bothered with the formality of having Gemma break her fast with the governess.
But as Gemma chatted away, Abigail became distracted and found it difficult to focus on what her daughter was saying. Every time she looked at the girl, she was reminded, yet again, of her father. How he’d looked at her with such cool indifference yesterday. So different from the way he’d looked at her when they were courting.
Holbrook had been furious when she’d begun to increase one month after they’d wed. The birth of her daughter five months later had confirmed what he’d already known to be true. That the baby she was carrying wasn’t his.
She considered herself fortunate to have given birth to a daughter even when Holbrook cast her out of his house shortly after her confinement. Oh, he’d enjoyed her body while she was still with child, but after Gemma’s birth, he’d sent her away to one of his lesser holdings. If she’d had a son, he would have made both of their lives a nightmare.
Before sending her away, her husband had told her that he wouldn’t reward her betrayal by providing her with another opportunity to sire his heir. He’d promised her that when he passed away—and since he was already sixty-five when they wed, they both knew that day would come sooner rather than later—she wouldn’t have any of the advantages that came from being the mother of the next Viscount Holbrook.
He’d meant it as a punishment, but sending her away had the opposite effect. Finally she was free. Her father had ensured she couldn’t marry Cranston and had forced her to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. But now she no longer had to suffer Holbrook’s odious attentions.
