“Eh?Beg your pardon,” he said, loosing a startled laugh.“Lud, but you are an unusual gel.Wonder if you are real.Should I pinch myself?Or you?”
“Neither, if you please,” Kate said, smiling in spite of herself.
“Demmed if I could have believed it, but you’re a match for him.They’re saying you are as cool as he is, a perfect companion for the great Wroth.”
“That’s not all they’re saying,” Kate said, her amusement fading.
The viscount laughed again.“But all the rest’s a hum, and we both know it.”
“Do we?”Kate stared out at the silent gardens, her thoughts upon the man whose motives for marrying her had never seemed clear to her.
“Lud, yes.Must say I never thought to see Wroth fall so hard.He’s a decent fellow, but more than once I’ve wondered if ice water flowed in his veins.Nice to know that he’s human.”
Was he?Kate wasn’t so sure.Nor could she easily swallow Raleigh’s claim that he had fallen hard, for Grayson did not have the look of a man who felt anything, least of all bruised.
There were things she could have said, but for all his amiability, Raleigh was a man, and she did not feel comfortable discussing such things with him.Slowly, she straightened.
“There now.I feel much better for the fresh air.Thank you, Raleigh,” she said.
“Dash it all, I’ve said something wrong, haven’t I?”he said, looking stricken.“My sister complains I’m a jaw-me-dead.”
Kate smiled.“No, you are just as you should be, and I’m glad you rescued me from those high sticklers.”
He did not look mollified.“Bah!You are worlds above most of them, so don’t give ’em another thought.”His boyish face turned somber.“I simply… You’ve got a difficult time of it, and I would be a friend, if I could.”
“You are a friend,” Kate assured him, reaching out to pat his arm.
He glanced away and then back at her, his features more serious than she had ever seen them.“Dash it all, but I want to tell you that you’re what he needs, though he may not realize it yet.He’s a stubborn one, used to having his own way since he got out of leading strings.”
“I know,” Kate said.Although touched by Raleigh’s efforts to put her marriage right, she was not ready to argue its state with him.
Taking his arm, she let him lead her back into the house, but her husband was still nowhere in sight.And when another gentleman hailed the viscount, she let him go, stifling the feeling of abandonment that assailed her, along with a healthy irritation with Grayson.
Once, she had been afraid of fitting into this world.Now she wondered why she had cared.Outwardly, she was at one with these people.Inwardly, she would never be.And where had her elegant clothes and manners gotten her?They had not won her husband’s affection, no matter what Raleigh said.
Lost in her thoughts, Kate did not at first notice the two women whispering behind their fans as they stared at her, but once aware of their scrutiny, she slipped away.Perhaps she could duck into one of the other rooms and sit down for a bit.She had just rounded a reasonably quiet corner when she heard her name mentioned, and although she knew that she would probably hear no good, she halted her steps.
“Oh, yes,” said a portly gentleman with thinning hair.“Only Wroth would go looking for a country gel and end up with a beautiful heiress besides.”
“I had heard he was in the market for a wife, but why a provincial?”
“Had a brief interest in Lady Wycliffe during her Season, as I recall, though I never pictured Wroth as the sort to embrace a vicar in the family.”He laughed loudly, and Kate stepped back.
“A fresh-faced virgin to set up his nursery.Bet she’ll be fat with the heir before long.”
Kate could listen no more, her heart sinking even lower as she turned away.Was she to be nothing except a broodmare?A graceless green girl who filled Wroth’s requirements for a mother-to-be?She frowned as another question pushed aside all the others.Who was Lady Wycliffe?
Fighting a surprising stab of jealousy, Kate did not see Lady Coxbury bearing down on her until it was too late.Swallowing a resigned sigh, she allowed the matron to present two gentlemen who immediately began spewing compliments at her head and fawning over her hand in a ridiculous manner.
They were not like Raleigh, for their eyes held no sincerity, only a lascivious hunger that told her just what type of friendship they were interested in pursuing.
Where was Grayson?How could he leave her to the attentions of wretches such as these?Kate looked around the room, wondering if he was paying court to some other woman, a sophisticated sort who was too exciting to be relegated to a life in his nursery.Had the future she envisioned already arrived?
Grayson wandered restlessly through the Coxburys’ lavish home, telling himself that he did not need to keep Kate within view.Already there was talk of how the great Wroth danced attendance upon his wife, and although Grayson had never been one to heed rumors, these came too close to his own concerns for comfort.
Naturally, he had stayed by Kate’s side since their arrival in London, for had he not promised to show her the sights?And if he had delayed their attendance at the inevitable balls and soirees, it was because he wanted to wait until the gossip about his sudden marriage died down a bit.
It had nothing to do with Raleigh’s sly predictions.
