“Is that what you think?”
She met his fierce gaze unflinchingly.“I don’t know what to think, Grayson.Tell me.”
No.He refused to be a witless lapdog like Wycliffe.He was a man in control of himself, his life, his emotions, and he would not lay himself bare for anyone.Not even Kate.Without another word, Grayson turned on his heel and walked away from her, and he kept on walking until he was in his room.Alone.
Then Grayson closed the door firmly on his tempting wife and weakening, insubstantial nonsense like love.
Although she wasn’t hungry, Kate hurried toward the dining hall, in the hope that she might find Grayson lingering over breakfast.She had tossed and turned in the wee hours, only to fall asleep sometime after dawn.Now it was afternoon, and despite some genuine rest, Kate was tired and heavy at heart.
For the first time since their wedding, Grayson had not come to her bed, and she felt the lack sorely.Not only had she missed the soaring pleasure he gave her and the brief, exquisite closeness they shared, but she had been unable to close her eyes without his warmth cradling her afterward.
Worst of all, this change in Grayson’s routine chilled her.Perhaps she should not have forced the issue last night, but he was the one who had begun the argument by denigrating the most tender of feelings.It was as if he had taken her love and thrown it back in her face out of some unreasonable spite.
And yet… when she had accused him of treating her as a broodmare, Kate could have sworn that denial flickered in his face.In fact, for a moment, she had thought she glimpsed something so profound that it took her breath away, but then it had been gone, replaced by his usual cool disdain.And thenhehad been gone, as if to prove that he had no use for her whatsoever.
Kate drew in a shaky breath, trying to gather her resources as she stepped into the dining hall, but it was unnecessary.A swift glance told her that the long table was empty.Grayson was not there.She told herself it was late, and he might be waiting for her in the drawing room, so when a maid came in with some tea for her, Kate forced a smile.
“Thank you.Can you tell me where his lordship is this morning?”
“Yes, my lady.He said to tell you that he’s gone to his club.Left nearly an hour ago, he did.”
Swallowing the disappointment that stabbed through her, Kate nodded.Then she walked to the sideboard and began to fill her plate from the various dishes spread before her.Not until she heard the girl’s footsteps disappear through the rooms did she slump down in a chair, alone, staring down the length of perfect white linen.
Kate sat there a long time, contemplating her failed marriage and ignoring the food she once would have feasted upon.Lost in her maudlin thoughts, she did not stir until the sound of a voice jarred her from them.
“My lady.”
Kate straightened immediately at the words, surprised to find one of the footmen at her elbow.He held out a small silver platter with a folded piece of foolscap on it.“This just came for you.”
A letter?From Lucy?Kate snatched up the treasure and thanked the man, dismissing him with a nod.When he discreetly left her alone, she eagerly opened the missive, for Kate never would have expected her flighty sister to take the time to write.
She hadn’t.Kate stilled, her breath catching in her throat when she realized that the note was not from her sister.It was not signed at all, and the contents made the reason for that lack very clear.Still, Kate forced herself to read the message through completely before letting it drop from her cold fingers.
It was blackmail, plain and simple.
The author was threatening to ruin her by revealing certain information about her and her sister, including the details of Lucy’s hasty engagement.And the cost of silence was to be two hundred pounds.
To Kate, who had been scrimping by on next to nothing for years, the sum was a fortune.For one panicked moment, she felt like laughing at such an amount, but she had only to look around her at the luxuriously appointed town house to know where the villain expected her to get his blood money.To Grayson it would be little.
A hysterical giggle rose again to her lips, bitten off only by a ruthless struggle.Obviously, the blackmailer did not know everything about her, or he would have discovered that her marriage was a mockery.What would further gossip matter?Grayson was more likely to weather it than to give her two hundred pounds without question.
Nor would Kate ask him for it.He had wed her out of a sense of honor, and she had brought him nothing but trouble.The laugh that had threatened to escape transformed into a sob.Her mission to make him love her had failed abysmally, and now he would be forced to suffer even more indignities because of her,Kate thought, staring at the hated missive.
Who could do such a thing?Kate shied at the question, and yet she knew that London was full of bad people, some of them passing themselves off as gentlemen.Her breath caught again.Perhaps even Uncle Jasper was responsible.Having gone through her fortune, he might now hope to bleed her husband dry, as well.
Kate’s mouth tightened.He would not succeed.
It was time to cut her losses and go home.Perhaps Grayson could obtain a divorce.He was wealthy and powerful enough to manage such a rarity.The thought sent a bright shaft of pain darting through her, but Kate knew it was better to make a clean break than to prolong the misery that engulfed them both.
No longer should he pay for the folly of their union.Already he seemed to harbor a resentment that would only lead to more bitterness.And Kate could not continue her struggle against his indifference, or eventually he would ground her heart into dust.
Glancing down at the letter, she made a mental note of the time for the proposed meeting.Then she rose and tossed it into the fireplace.Transfixed, she watched as the flames licked at the paper and flared brightly, consuming both the note and all the hopes she had once held for her marriage.
Kate wasn’t sure what she had expected—a big man, burly and muscular or lean and wiry, perhaps with beady little eyes.Although unfamiliar with the denizens of London’s seamier side, she had seen the ruffians who weaved through the crowds picking pockets, and she pictured the man she was going to meet as cut from the same cloth.Perhaps he was rougher, but a fellow of some size and a bully.Even Jasper himself, whom she had never met, must look the part of a villain.
But when Kate reached the secluded part of Hyde Park where she was to meet her blackmailer, such a character was nowhere to be seen.She walked around the area twice before finally coming to a halt and squinting into the distance.She did not care to be kept waiting, especially when she had come, as instructed, without even a maid to attend her.
And then she felt it, the nagging, tingly feeling that she had known before, signaling that she was being watched.Kate turned, scanning her surroundings, but not a soul was in sight.Was he hiding behind some bush, ready to pounce upon her?Kate drew in a sharp breath, suddenly aware of just how vulnerable she was, even in such a public place.
