Page 44 of When the Marquess Was Mine
Tom was still talking. “You left Hobbes in Macclesfield and went on alone. Hobbes sprained his ankle and took himself off to Salmsbury. Mother sent word to let you know, in case you needed a man, and Lady Winston replied with a note saying that you’d never been to Osbourne House, nor were you welcome to cross its threshold alive.”
“Right,” Rob murmured, his thoughts racing. Perhaps Georgiana’s fears had been justified. “Who is Sterling?”
Tom’s lips quirked. “Like that, is it?”
Rob glared.
His brother’s grin widened into an evil smirk. “Earl Pelham’s heir. He’s accounted a handsome bloke, charming and eligible. Very popular with the ladies—of all persuasions, from what I hear, and he very much enjoys them in turn. He’s got a bit of a wild side, which I’m sure Lady Georgiana has never seen. Chaps like him always hide it. He’ll be some competition if you mean to steal his fiancée.”
Rob had some very rude thoughts about this Sterling fellow. “What now?”
Tom shrugged one shoulder. “Mother’s been frantic with worry since she got Lady Winston’s reply. She sent me out in a lather, convinced that you’d already been murdered and buried in the garden. Quite relieved I am, not to have to dig you up, West.”
He grinned a little at the name. It did feel good to have his own name back. “Quite relieved not to be interred.”
“I’ll get a carriage,” his brother went on. “We can be at Salmsbury by nightfall.”
He thought of Georgiana, sitting outside the room now, waiting for his response. She’d known his brother would tell him everything, in unsparing detail, revealing that she’d brazenly lied to everyone. And yet she’d driven over here with her hand in his, trying to comfort and reassure him.
He believed that Georgiana had not lied to humiliate or harm him. It was a ridiculous thing to do, but she had believed it necessary to secure Lady Winston’s aid, and she was honestly sorry for it. She’d read to him and laughed with him and talked to him. And he couldn’t bear the thought of hurting her.
“No,” he said in reply to Tom’s proposal. “Not just yet.”
Chapter 14
Georgiana sat on a narrow bench near the taproom, feeling curiously distant from everything around her.
Rob was hearing, right now, all the truths she had kept from him. Major Churchill-Gray was filling in the gaps in his memory, restoring his family and friends to him. Rob must be enormously relieved, she thought wistfully. His frustration at not knowing had been palpable, and for his sake, she was glad he would wonder no longer.
What he would think of her after this conversation, she did not care to contemplate. No matter how she told herself she had acted from good intentions, it was indisputable that she had lied to him and prevented him from remembering sooner.
If she had kept him from reverting to his arrogant, rude ways... Well, she couldn’t be sorry about that. It would happen soon enough. How would Sterling react if she’d told him such a lie? She squeezed shut her eyes as she thought of her fiancé for the first time all day. In just a week Rob had come to dominate her entire attention.
She took a deep breath and straightened her skirts. That was wrong. Rob was not her fiancé. This was the best possible solution, she told herself. Rob would become the Malicious Marquess again and she would go back to town, humbled and chastened by this misadventure. In fact, it would be easiest for everyone if Rob turned on her in fury, and gave her a scalding dressing-down before storming out of her life in disgust. Hopefully he would be gentlemanly enough not to spread stories in London, but she supposed she should be resigned and prepared for anything.
And if Sterling got wind of this and declared himself unwilling to marry her... Georgiana found that the thought didn’t alarm her very much. Most likely because she was exhausted from trying to keep her stories straight, and numb from fighting off her growing attraction to Rob.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. How on earth had she made such a mess of her life, which had been rolling along so blissfully?
The door down the corridor opened, and she flinched.Time to face judgment, she told herself, and got to her feet.
“Georgiana.” Rob gazed at her, that wavy thatch of dark hair flopping over his brow again. “Won’t you come in?”
So your brother can help you strangle me?she thought, but still she nodded and went into the room. She noted that this time, Rob made no effort to touch her—in fact, he drew back a little as she passed him. Her heart twisted in sorrow, but she ignored it. Any part of her heart that yearned for Rob had better die a quick and fiery death.
“Lady Georgiana.” The major pushed forward a chair. “Please, be seated.”
“I’m very happy standing, thank you.” She clasped her hands.
“I’m not.” Rob lowered himself into the chair beside the one designated for her, his breath hissing between his teeth. Instinctively she started to reach out to help him, but stopped herself in time. Rob’s hazel eyes flashed her way, and he made a small motion with his head toward the chair.
Reluctantly she took the seat. Her skirts brushed his boots, and she tried to twitch them away without anyone noticing.
“We’re in a bit of a fix, it seems,” said the major. Unlike the two of them, he did not sit, but stood leaning his elbows on the back of the opposite chair. “And we both wondered how you planned to get out of it.”
Georgiana jerked. “I?”
The major nodded, his eyes never leaving her. “What’s your plan?”
