Dinner was a stilted affair, and although the endless courses of delicacies would have tempted a saint, Kate could do no justice to the repast.Instead, she pushed a few bits of food around on her plate while sipping sparingly at her wine.Grayson seemed to be as strange as the rest of the household, and the conversation that had flowed effortlessly between them during his convalescence was now strained and sparse.
When Kate excused herself from the table and the evening, pleading tiredness, he nodded his agreement.“I’m sure you are weary from the journey.However, it is still early by London hours.I think I shall look in at White’s.”
His eagerness to desert her chafed at Kate’s raw senses, although she was not sure what she had expected.She felt as if her usual optimism had been left behind at Hargate and her grand scheme to win his affections was a hopeless venture, doomed from the start.Too tense to argue with him, she let one of the footmen lead her back to her room, where she waved away the startled maid to attend herself.
Although more luxurious and well-appointed than any of those at Hargate, her new suite felt cold and lonely.Everything was lovely and new, but nothing held meaning or sentimental value.Kate laid out her mother’s silver brush and comb, but she had few possessions that would make this place feel like home.
And already she missed Tom and Lucy, and even Cyclops, the one-eyed cat.The feline would be able to fend for himself, but she worried nonetheless, and her spirits sank even lower at the knowledge that none of them needed her anymore.
Once dressed in a more demure version of her wedding night garment, Kate walked to the connecting door to Grayson’s room.She had no key to lock it, of course, so she tucked one of the shield-backed chairs under the handle.
It wouldn’t hold indefinitely, but the makeshift bolt would tell him that he was not welcome.Let him complain about her presence in his bed, then, Kate thought, but her triumph was bitter, and when she slid between the cold sheets, she lay awake for a long time.
Married two days, and while most people would still be celebrating, she felt more alone and miserable than she ever had in her life.
Grayson had no interest in visiting White’s.He went simply to prove that he could, that he was a normal man in control of his actions and his body—and because he knew that if he looked across the table at his wife any longer, he would have seized her right there, disregarding both the servants and her own weariness.
He had hoped to distract himself from the woman who seemed to have taken over his life by joining some deep play, for he always gave his complete concentration to the tables.But before he could reach his destination, he was hailed by several acquaintances demanding to know where he had been for the past few weeks and whether the rumor of his engagement was true.
The announcement that he had already wed raised some eyebrows, and Grayson could have cursed his normally facile tongue.For what man would be at White’s, instead of enjoying his marital rights, so soon after the ceremony, unless his wife was a hatchet-faced she-dragon?
Grayson’s mouth tightened, for he would hold with no talk about his wife.Deferring any questions with a cold gaze, he sent all but the most tenacious scurrying back to their own business.
“Wroth!Here now, Smythe, let me through, will you?I’ve need of private conversation with our newly married man,” drawled Raleigh, waving a languid hand, as if to brush aside the others.
Although Grayson was accustomed to holding court and fielding difficult queries, Raleigh’s antics were a welcome diversion, perhaps because, for once, Grayson was not entirely comfortable with the topic under discussion.
In arrogant dismissal of the others, Grayson followed Raleigh to a pair of chairs in a secluded corner and let the viscount call for a bottle of champagne, even though he was in no mood to celebrate.He would have preferred something more substantial, but when Raleigh lifted his glass, Grayson joined him, swallowing the bubbly liquid with a grimace.
“I understand that congratulations are in order,” the viscount said, lounging back in his seat.Grayson was not fooled by the careless pose, for he was well aware of Raleigh’s studied gaze.“Did you bring her with you to London?”
The question both surprised and annoyed Grayson.“Of course, I brought her,” he said.“Did you think I would leave her buried in the country?”
Raleigh shrugged and took a sip of champagne, eyeing him over the rim of his glass.“I don’t know what to think of a man who’s dallying at his club a day after his wedding.”
Instead of facing down his friend, Grayson let his gaze slide away, for Raleigh’s perception had surprised him more than once.He did not care to admit why he was here or how the need for Kate drove him, consuming him.
He had thought to vanquish it in bed, but it had only grown stronger, until he ran from it, as he had nothing in his life.For the first time in his assured existence, Grayson felt a coward, and although he did not like the sensation, he refused to be dependent upon anyone for anything, including Kate.
“Where is she, then?”
Raleigh’s soft question brought Grayson from his sober thoughts, and he shot the viscount a sharp look.“At the town house.In bed.”
“Alone?”Raleigh asked, with a casual flicker of interest.
Grayson tensed and strained to keep himself seated when he wanted to lunge for Raleigh’s throat.“Alone.”
Raleigh shrugged again, as if unaware of the dangerous ground he was treading.“But for how much longer, I wonder,” he mused, swirling his champagne.“A beautiful woman like that let loose in London, andtonmarriages being what they are…” With a sardonic look, he let his words trail off, allowing Grayson’s imagination free rein.
Grayson knew damn well that most lords and ladies changed lovers as often as they bathed, but he had never intended his union to be like that.He planned to be faithful and expected the same of his wife, and he did not care to be likened to those he held in contempt.
“Do not compare anything I do with that of my contemporaries, lest I take insult,” Grayson warned.“If I wanted that sort of arrangement, I never would have chosen Kate.”
“Really?”Raleigh invested the single word with a world of skepticism.“Then I suggest you do not leave the lady alone very often or you will have to wade through a crowd simply to get to your rooms.As soon as the male population of London discovers she is available, they will stumble all over each other wanting to be the first to cuckold the great marquess.”
Grayson’s fingers tightened around his glass.
“Of course, that is not to say that they won’t want her for her beauty.She is lovely.Refreshing.Untouched, so to speak.Yes, she will be a prize, not only for the first, but to the very last of the lovers she will take.”
