leave.”
“I’m afraid his lordship is correct,” the lady in question
confirmed in a sour tone. “Pray accept my most sincere apologies, Lady Pembroke.”
The apology didn’t sound sincere to Victoria’s ears, not in
the slightest. She pinned the interloper with a glare designed to let Lady
Strathmore know precisely what she thought of her and her apology both. “I’m so
very sorry to hear that you’re going to be on your way at first light tomorrow
morning, my lady,” she said with remarkable aplomb. Inside, she was seething,
but she wasn’t about to give Lady Strathmore the satisfaction of knowing it.
Letting the woman know she was no longer welcome was the only suitable way she
knew how to react.
Lady Strathmore looked as if she’d swallowed something most
unpalatable. “Thank you for your understanding. I bid you both good evening.”
With that, she turned and practically ran from Pembroke’s
chamber.
When the horrid woman was gone, having been neatly routed,
Victoria faced her scoundrel of a husband. He started toward her, but she held
up a staying hand. “Stop right where you are, Pembroke.”
“Christ’s sake, Victoria, I didn’t invite her to my bloody
chamber. Don’t glare at me as if I’ve just trounced your favorite puppy.”
“I don’t have a puppy,” she countered in a remarkably
controlled voice. “Unfortunately, however, I do have a roving husband who can’t
even be trusted to be beneath the same roof as another woman without having her
wind up in his bed.”
He grimaced. “I don’t mean to mince words, my dear, but the
Strathmore tart was certainly not in my bed.”
“She wasn’t far from it.” Victoria shook her head. “How
could you, Pembroke?”
“I didn’t, damn it. I’ll own I’ve done scads of awful things
to you in the past, but this time I’m completely innocent.” He stalked to her
then, close enough to touch. “She had taken up some wrong-headed notion that I
wanted to share my bed with her, but I was putting her to rights when you came
in.”
His explanation was far too convenient, and with his
penchant for straying as a precedent, she was not confident in his
protestations at all. Her gaze narrowed upon him. “Surely you don’t expect me
to believe that?”
He raked a hand through his hair, his exasperation seeming
genuine. “Do you truly think I’d be stupid enough to invite a woman to my bed
with my wife’s chamber mere steps away? No, don’t answer that. I can see very
well that you do. Victoria, I don’t want any woman save you, and that’s what I
told Lady Strathmore in no uncertain terms. Is it true that when I was in my
cups I made the mistake of inviting her here? Likely yes. Bastard that I am, I
can’t recall. But I stand before you as the man who has, somehow, against all
odds, fallen in love with you, and I’m not about to jeopardize that for a game
of slap and tickle with a woman of questionable morals.”
As the implications of his rambling speech sank in, she was
once more speechless. Had he just said he’d fallen in love with her? Her dazed
mind couldn’t even comprehend it. Pembroke didn’t love. Goodness, half the
time, he didn’t even care. Love? She’d been afraid to hope he would develop
more potent feelings for her than lust.
Still, she wasn’t altogether sure she could trust him. He had
always proved a wily intellectual opponent. What if he was only claiming he
loved her so that she’d forget about Lady Strathmore?
“There you have it.” He threw up his hands. “You’ve shredded
the remaining portion of my claim to manhood. I’m in love with you. Christ, I’m
a milksop.”
She frowned at him, more bemused than ever before. “Why
would you say such a thing to me?”
“Because I’m an evil villain out to bend you to my whims,”
he scoffed. “This isn’t a sensation novel, Victoria. I have no motive other
than that I want you by my side for the rest of my life, and I’m not about to
let a
“I’m afraid his lordship is correct,” the lady in question
confirmed in a sour tone. “Pray accept my most sincere apologies, Lady Pembroke.”
The apology didn’t sound sincere to Victoria’s ears, not in
the slightest. She pinned the interloper with a glare designed to let Lady
Strathmore know precisely what she thought of her and her apology both. “I’m so
very sorry to hear that you’re going to be on your way at first light tomorrow
morning, my lady,” she said with remarkable aplomb. Inside, she was seething,
but she wasn’t about to give Lady Strathmore the satisfaction of knowing it.
Letting the woman know she was no longer welcome was the only suitable way she
knew how to react.
Lady Strathmore looked as if she’d swallowed something most
unpalatable. “Thank you for your understanding. I bid you both good evening.”
With that, she turned and practically ran from Pembroke’s
chamber.
When the horrid woman was gone, having been neatly routed,
Victoria faced her scoundrel of a husband. He started toward her, but she held
up a staying hand. “Stop right where you are, Pembroke.”
“Christ’s sake, Victoria, I didn’t invite her to my bloody
chamber. Don’t glare at me as if I’ve just trounced your favorite puppy.”
“I don’t have a puppy,” she countered in a remarkably
controlled voice. “Unfortunately, however, I do have a roving husband who can’t
even be trusted to be beneath the same roof as another woman without having her
wind up in his bed.”
He grimaced. “I don’t mean to mince words, my dear, but the
Strathmore tart was certainly not in my bed.”
“She wasn’t far from it.” Victoria shook her head. “How
could you, Pembroke?”
“I didn’t, damn it. I’ll own I’ve done scads of awful things
to you in the past, but this time I’m completely innocent.” He stalked to her
then, close enough to touch. “She had taken up some wrong-headed notion that I
wanted to share my bed with her, but I was putting her to rights when you came
in.”
His explanation was far too convenient, and with his
penchant for straying as a precedent, she was not confident in his
protestations at all. Her gaze narrowed upon him. “Surely you don’t expect me
to believe that?”
He raked a hand through his hair, his exasperation seeming
genuine. “Do you truly think I’d be stupid enough to invite a woman to my bed
with my wife’s chamber mere steps away? No, don’t answer that. I can see very
well that you do. Victoria, I don’t want any woman save you, and that’s what I
told Lady Strathmore in no uncertain terms. Is it true that when I was in my
cups I made the mistake of inviting her here? Likely yes. Bastard that I am, I
can’t recall. But I stand before you as the man who has, somehow, against all
odds, fallen in love with you, and I’m not about to jeopardize that for a game
of slap and tickle with a woman of questionable morals.”
As the implications of his rambling speech sank in, she was
once more speechless. Had he just said he’d fallen in love with her? Her dazed
mind couldn’t even comprehend it. Pembroke didn’t love. Goodness, half the
time, he didn’t even care. Love? She’d been afraid to hope he would develop
more potent feelings for her than lust.
Still, she wasn’t altogether sure she could trust him. He had
always proved a wily intellectual opponent. What if he was only claiming he
loved her so that she’d forget about Lady Strathmore?
“There you have it.” He threw up his hands. “You’ve shredded
the remaining portion of my claim to manhood. I’m in love with you. Christ, I’m
a milksop.”
She frowned at him, more bemused than ever before. “Why
would you say such a thing to me?”
“Because I’m an evil villain out to bend you to my whims,”
he scoffed. “This isn’t a sensation novel, Victoria. I have no motive other
than that I want you by my side for the rest of my life, and I’m not about to
let a
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