Page 65 of Lady Beresford's Lover
“What?”He jumped back from her. “Why the devil would you think that?”
“Could you please moderate your language?” He hadn’t been this bad before. “My father told me.”
“Why, that wily old . . .” He reached out to take her hands, and she whipped them behind her, taking a step back for good measure. The last time he’d touched her, she had ended up kissing him.Thatwould definitely not occur again. Nick closed the gap between them. “Tell me exactly what he said.”
“Why do you want to know? Why do you even care?”
“Because the . . .he lied.”
To the best of her knowledge, her father had never told a falsehood, although he had prevaricated about his new wife. Fury shot from Nick’s eyes, but it did not seem to be directed at her. She had nothing to hide.
Why not tell him everything? “I saw one of the servants from the abbey, and she said the old earl had sent you away. I—I thought—You had made me believe you were in love with me, so I was going to find out where your unit was and follow you.” She blinked back the unwanted tears threatening to fall. “After all, you said you wanted to . . . well, never mind.”
“Marry you.”
Nick loomed over her, and Silvia tried to step back again but hit the hedge. “I went to the blacksmith’s because his son was in the same unit, and asked him. He was in the process of telling me when Papa came in with something that needed to be repaired. When we got back to the rectory, he told me about the woman, your woman.” She crossed her arms across her bosom and raised her chin. “What happened to her anyway?”
“Nothing.” He stared at the sky for a moment, then met her gaze. “There was never anyone else.” Nick’s lips formed a thin line. “I’m a blasted fool.”
Well, she wasn’t going to argue with him, and said with all the haughtiness she could muster, “You are just now making the discovery?”
“I should have known you wouldn’t make this easy.”
“Truly, I have not the slightest clue what you are talking about.” She moved to go around him, back into the house. The next thing she knew his arms were around her and he’d claimed her lips. For a moment she refused to kiss him, but God help her, she had missed him so much.
He growled and held her tighter, as if he would never let her go. She opened her lips, and he possessed her as he had done years ago. This kiss was even better than the last one. She felt herself melting into him, returning his caresses, running her fingers through his hair.
She could not allow this to continue.
Using all her will, she forced her head away. “No.”
He still held her, but touched his chin to the top of her head. “You don’t understand.”
“No,” she sobbed, unable to hide her hurt and heartbreak any longer. “You’re the one who does not appear to understand. You may not kiss me then walk out of my life. I could have been with child!”
“I don’t want to—” The pulse at his throat quickened. What had she said? Pregnant? “Silvia, did anyone else touch you?”
Nick heard the crack of Silvia’s palm against his cheek before the stinging set in.
“You are the only one.”
This didn’t make any sense. Not only that. No wonder she was so bloody angry with him all the time.
God Almighty! Pregnant!
She was turning to walk away, and he had to stop her. “I would never, never have left you if there had been even the slightest chance you could have been carrying my child.” She stopped and turned slowly to face him, tears streaming down her cheeks, but her gaze was militant. “Silvia, I loved you and I still do. I could never have abandoned you that way.” She stared at him as if he belonged in Bedlam. Maybe he did. “Please, tell me, why did you think you might be with child?”
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “My mother told me if I kissed a man I could become pregnant. Did you think I was so innocent I didn’t know that?”
Bloody hell.She really believed it. If this weren’t so damn serious, he could have laughed. The problem was, how could he convince her he was telling the truth? His plan to pick off all her objections one by one wasn’t going to work. It was time to counterattack, while he tried to think of who he could trust to tell her how one got with child.
At this point, Silvia needed to know the truth. All of it. “Your father saw us kissing and asked me to leave. He even prevailed upon the old earl to help with the promotion I’d been wanting so that I could support you.”
“But—but . . .” For a moment she looked as if she’d swoon. Silvia never swooned.
“Here’s the bench.” He made sure she didn’t fall off the thing when she plopped down on it. “Your mother had been gone less than a year. Your sisters were young, and he depended on you to run the house and take care of them. At first I thought he was being selfish, but he convinced me I was the one thinking only of myself. That your sisters needed you more than I did. I was a fool to have left without at least speaking to you. To have trusted him. He told me he would explain everything to you, but was afraid that you would insist on going with me if I told you.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “I wanted to marry you then, Silvia. I was a fool not to have taken you to the closest place in Scotland I could find. Please marry me now.”
Her open palm connected with his face, and he jerked back. Only one other person had ever landed two blows on him; he could barely believe he’d let his guard down with her. For Christ’s sake, he should have expected it. “What was that for?”
