Page 25 of Marry in Secret
Her cheeks heated. This wasn’t the boy she’d fallen in love with.
This was a man.
Thomas’s gaze devoured her. Her skin prickled with awareness. She couldn’t look away. Without the beard and the wild sun-streaked hair, she could see his face properly now: the long angular jaw, his cheeks hollowed and thin, so thin, the skin stretched tight across his cheekbones.
A pale, narrow scar ran down from his ear and curved around his jaw. Who had done that to him? And his nose, his once beautiful straight nose was now a little crooked, as if someone had broken it. Though she had to admit it didn’t detract from his looks at all. Quite the contrary.
And his mouth... Oh, dear God, his mouth...
A delicate shudder rippled through her as she recalled that mouth and what he could do with it. Fighting a blush, she glanced down, hoping nobody had noticed. Having just admitted to her female relatives that she’d lain with him—before marriage!—they were sure to be watching her closely.
“Well, Ashendon, don’t sit there gobbling sandwiches,” Aunt Agatha snapped. “Introduce us.”
Cal, recalled to his duties, introduced Thomas to everyone. Thomas responded politely enough, though in a curt, no-nonsense manner. Was he just going through the motions? Was all his awareness directed at her, as hers was to him?
Part of her wanted to rise from her seat and drag him off, to be alone with him, to talk, and touch, and know him again. Another part hesitated, dreading the explanations she was going to have to make. This Thomas wasn’t the same as her Thomas. He seemed so much bigger and tougher and somehow... remote.
Oh, Thomas. She’d let him down in so many ways. Her mouth wobbled. She clamped down on it.
George’s dog, Finn, rose and approached him, his claws clicking on the parquetry floor. He sniffed at Thomas’s boots. Thomas glanced down but otherwise didn’t respond.
“Please be seated, Mr. Beresford.” Emm indicated the chair next to her, on the opposite side of the room fromRose. She signaled to the butler who hovered in the doorway. “A fresh pot and more sandwiches please, Burton.”
Thomas took the seat offered. Finn followed him. Thomas offered his fingers to sniff, then absently fondled the dog’s rough head.
“His name’s Finn,” George said gruffly. “He doesn’t usually take to strangers.”
Aunt Agatha cleared her throat. “Well, Ashendon, I must assume since you have brought this fellow into your home that you consider there is some truth to his sorry tale.”
“Itoldyou there was,” Rose said. “And don’t call him ‘this fellow.’ His name is Mr. Beresford. And it’snota sorry tale!” She wasn’t sorry—well, she was about some things. But sorry she’d married him? Not at all.
“I do not recall addressing you, Rose.” Her aunt raised her lorgnette. “In my day, young misses spoke only when spoken to.”
“But I’m not a young miss, am I? I’m a married woman.” There, she’d claimed him.
Aunt Agatha thinned her lips. “That remains to be seen.” She turned back to her nephew. “Ashendon?”
Cal nodded. “I’ll investigate the claim, naturally—”
“Naturally. We cannot let Rose be brought to ruin by anadventurer.”
Thomas made no attempt to defend himself. His expression was flat and hard, his eyes unreadable. Rose looked at him, wishing he would deny the accusation—he wasn’t an adventurer, not the way Aunt Agatha meant it—but instead he sat there, looking grim and unapproachable, saying nothing.
Cal continued. “But it seems very likely that a wedding was performed, and I expect there will be evidence to support it. Do you have your marriage lines, Rose?”
Rose nodded. Did he want her to fetch them? Why hadn’t she thought to bring them down before? Her mind was so scattered.
“Documentation aside, I cannot believe such a ceremony can be legal, however,” Aunt Agatha said. “Rose was aminor at the time, and it took place without permission from her father or any other guardian. An annulment is the only option—”
A nerve flickered in Thomas’s jaw, but he still didn’t speak.
“Despite the fact that consummation took place—and worse,beforethe wedding,” Aunt Agatha finished acidly. “Did he tell you that, did he, this seducer of innocent gels?”
“I told you, it wasn’t like that!” Rose flashed. “If anything, I seducedhim.” She was shaking.
Thomas finally spoke. “I take full responsibility for what happened.” He didn’t even look at Rose. He seemed quite indifferent.
Aunt Agatha snorted. “I’m sure you do, knowing it will strengthen your grubby case. But no matter what you say, we will press for an annulment.”
