The Abandoned Bride by Edith Layton Page B

and stricken as the young woman who faced him. He had not slapped her with much force, but her delicate skin immediately showed a red weal where the blow had fallen. For though she now turned her head from him, he could see that her delicately made hand was too small to hide the flaming stain of his anger.
    Then the gentleman broke from his immobility. He held up his own shaking hand and examined it as though it were an alien thing.
    “I have never done such a thing before,” he said in wonderment, “never. Only a brute would strike a woman. Whatever the cause, no man can do such a thing and not feel shame. I can scarcely believe it of myself. I would never call such a man friend, yet now it transpires that I am such a man. There can be no excuse. Forgive me,” he said earnestly, “for I had no right. It was not right to do, and I am deeply ashamed.”
    She looked at him and then lowered her own hand so that the red mark up o n her cheek was clearly visible. There was a small flicker of light in her eyes as she saw him wince.
    “No,” she said clearly, “I shall not.”
    “But I offer you my sincerest apologies,” he said in bewilderment, “it ought never to have happened. Please understand that such deeds are repugnant to me.”
    “I understand that,” Julia replied steadily, “but I do not accept your apology. For it was not given to me, sir. It was, instead, given solely to yourself. You are deeply shamed,” she went on with cold mockery, “ you cannot believe it of yo u rself. You find such deeds repugnant to y ou rself. That is no apology to me. Forgive yourself, then, if you can, but I cannot.
    “But how can you even beg my pardon?” she asked, “when you do not know me? And what can that pardon be worth when you clearly hold me in such low esteem? I am only some insensate creature you have procured for your own purposes. If you could so readily deceive me, manipulate my future, and attempt to ruin my name, why should you stick at manhandling me? It is all of a piece,” she concluded bitter l y. “I see no incongruity in your actions, my lord. ”
    He dropped his hand to his side and shrugged his shoulders in an inchoate gesture of futility. Now, for the first time since she had met him, the baron did not seem so implacable, such a relentless figure of authority. For without his armor of surety and cynicism, he seemed somehow both more youthful and more human. Julia decided to put what seemed to be a momentary lapse upon his part to the test.
    “ Lord Stafford ... my lord,” she said softly, “may I go home now?”
    He hardly seemed to attend her words. But then he spoke. “Ah,” he sighed heavily, “I wish you could. But, no, no, you may not. I would wish,” he said quietly, “that Robin had fixed his attention upon any other female as earnestly as you do. But he did not. And so, while I know I have begun what, believe me, I hope will be a very brief association, upon the wrong foot, I cannot end it as yet. No, you must stay. But for what it is worth, I promise you no further injury. Indeed,” he said with a bit more of his former manner, as a skewed smile appeared on his lips, “you may have my word that if I forget myself so much again as to attempt you any harm, you may then leave immediately, at whatever time it may be, or wherever we may happen to be at that time. But more than that, I cannot give you. ”
    “Now,” he said more briskly, “I suggest you go to your own room. I will have you shown there, I believe it is a pleasant chamber. It’s been a long journey for you, and I imagine that you will be pleased to have luncheon alone in your room and then get some deserved rest.”
    Before Julia could think he was exhibiting uncharacteristic kindness, he added, “I shall expect you at dinner, however. We will dine together at eight, as we have travel plans to discuss. I expect you precisely at eight, Miss Hastings. Your failure to be there will, of course, result in my notifying