first left. “No, there you are wrong. Do not be angry with him.”
“I have lost my bride and my future, yet you do not want me to be angry with the man who took them from me.”
“You do not love me, Judson. You wanted a mature wife, and I wanted a secure future for my family. No matter what has passed between us, it is finished now. Let us at least be honest with each other.”
Chesterfield nodded. “So be it.” He turned to the window. “You are in alt, I take it, that your true love has returned from the dead?”
True as the words were, Alex did not appreciate the way Chesterfield sullied the sentiment with his caustic tone. “Hawksworth is well liked by everyone,” she said. “Why do you dislike him so?”
“For that reason, I suppose. Because everyone else likes and accepts him, without question, while I see him as a spoiled boy, who takes and takes, but never learned to give. The very same reason he despises me. I see him as he really is. Selfish.”
Alex had learned long ago that Hawksworth disdained Chesterfield as much as Chesterfield disdained her husband, and where they were concerned, emotions ran high and animosity had festered too long to give credence to much one said of the other. But in her mind, it all boiled down to one thing. “You have always been jealous of Bryce, have you not?”
Chesterfield gave her a half-smile and shook his head, almost in wonder. “Yes, but that does not change the facts.”
“No, but it does color them. Let us be friends. Please.”
“The three of us? No. But I will not tell Hawksworth about the money, yet. That is as friendly as I can be right now.”
“Thank you. I will repay you before you feel the need to tell him. Why are you here? Is there something that I can do for you?”
Chesterfield cursed again, and sighed, as if in resignation. “I came to make certain you were all right. You had not come around by the time he took you away the other day, and I was worried about you. I came yesterday as well.”
“I am fine, but I was in shock then, I think. Anybody would be.”
He stepped toward her. “Anybody, except you, my strong one.”
Alex stepped back. “ Can we be friends?”
“If you find yourself in need of a friend, I would be a fool to apply for the position.”
Alex pulled her jilted bridegroom away from the door, where someone might hear them, and toward the center of the room. “I do need a friend, Judson. I need one badly. I need help.”
Chesterfield stepped closer and took her hand. “Tell me what I can do.”
“I need to stage a seduction and I do not have the least idea how, nor do I know anyone else I can ask.”
At the reverberating slam of the door, Claudia stepped from behind the drawing room curtains with a huff of frustration.
Alex exclaimed in surprise as she did.
“Drat,” Claude said. “I thought you had both left.” The seventeen-year old grinned. “You certainly set fire to his tail with that request.”
“You were listening,” Alex charged, partly in accusation, partly in admonishment, but mostly to hide her mortification. “You are worse than your sister.”
“I adore Chesterfield. He is my destiny. Of course I was listening, though I do wish he did not seem so broken by the loss of you. Do you not think that fate tore the two of you apart at the very last moment, so that I may still have him?”
“I think Hawksworth’s excellent recuperative powers were responsible, not to mention the little matter of our previous marriage.”
“Still I wish Chesterfield had been willing to discuss seduction,” Claude said dreamily. “I would dearly have liked to know how he would go about one.” Her gaze changed from otherworldly to worldly in a questioning blink. “Why do you need to seduce Uncle Bryce, anyway? I thought he was a master of seduction.”
“Who in the world told you that? Never mind, I do not wish to know.”
Claude giggled. “Do you want to know what I think you should do to seduce
“I have lost my bride and my future, yet you do not want me to be angry with the man who took them from me.”
“You do not love me, Judson. You wanted a mature wife, and I wanted a secure future for my family. No matter what has passed between us, it is finished now. Let us at least be honest with each other.”
Chesterfield nodded. “So be it.” He turned to the window. “You are in alt, I take it, that your true love has returned from the dead?”
True as the words were, Alex did not appreciate the way Chesterfield sullied the sentiment with his caustic tone. “Hawksworth is well liked by everyone,” she said. “Why do you dislike him so?”
“For that reason, I suppose. Because everyone else likes and accepts him, without question, while I see him as a spoiled boy, who takes and takes, but never learned to give. The very same reason he despises me. I see him as he really is. Selfish.”
Alex had learned long ago that Hawksworth disdained Chesterfield as much as Chesterfield disdained her husband, and where they were concerned, emotions ran high and animosity had festered too long to give credence to much one said of the other. But in her mind, it all boiled down to one thing. “You have always been jealous of Bryce, have you not?”
Chesterfield gave her a half-smile and shook his head, almost in wonder. “Yes, but that does not change the facts.”
“No, but it does color them. Let us be friends. Please.”
“The three of us? No. But I will not tell Hawksworth about the money, yet. That is as friendly as I can be right now.”
“Thank you. I will repay you before you feel the need to tell him. Why are you here? Is there something that I can do for you?”
Chesterfield cursed again, and sighed, as if in resignation. “I came to make certain you were all right. You had not come around by the time he took you away the other day, and I was worried about you. I came yesterday as well.”
“I am fine, but I was in shock then, I think. Anybody would be.”
He stepped toward her. “Anybody, except you, my strong one.”
Alex stepped back. “ Can we be friends?”
“If you find yourself in need of a friend, I would be a fool to apply for the position.”
Alex pulled her jilted bridegroom away from the door, where someone might hear them, and toward the center of the room. “I do need a friend, Judson. I need one badly. I need help.”
Chesterfield stepped closer and took her hand. “Tell me what I can do.”
“I need to stage a seduction and I do not have the least idea how, nor do I know anyone else I can ask.”
At the reverberating slam of the door, Claudia stepped from behind the drawing room curtains with a huff of frustration.
Alex exclaimed in surprise as she did.
“Drat,” Claude said. “I thought you had both left.” The seventeen-year old grinned. “You certainly set fire to his tail with that request.”
“You were listening,” Alex charged, partly in accusation, partly in admonishment, but mostly to hide her mortification. “You are worse than your sister.”
“I adore Chesterfield. He is my destiny. Of course I was listening, though I do wish he did not seem so broken by the loss of you. Do you not think that fate tore the two of you apart at the very last moment, so that I may still have him?”
“I think Hawksworth’s excellent recuperative powers were responsible, not to mention the little matter of our previous marriage.”
“Still I wish Chesterfield had been willing to discuss seduction,” Claude said dreamily. “I would dearly have liked to know how he would go about one.” Her gaze changed from otherworldly to worldly in a questioning blink. “Why do you need to seduce Uncle Bryce, anyway? I thought he was a master of seduction.”
“Who in the world told you that? Never mind, I do not wish to know.”
Claude giggled. “Do you want to know what I think you should do to seduce
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