“Shouldn't I?” He asked silkily, exuding a different kind of menace.
“N-no. Of course not. He doesn't matter. The things he said, well, it’s pure nonsense.”
“Oh, but is it? I think he was, in fact, pretty accurate. After all, I am a freak and you were in adisadvantagedposition when you accepted to marry me.”
She flinched at his cruel words. Almost as if he had slapped her.
No. She wouldn’t let him drive her away like this. Reduce what they had to a sordid arrangement born out of need. He was upset and not thinking clearly. She had to make him see. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. To make him turn to her, look at her.
But he jerked his arm out of her hand. His reaction was sudden and unexpected. She flinched and raised her arms in an instinctive defensive gesture. A gesture she had not made in almost six years.
For a moment, he just glanced at her, perplexed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he shook his head and walked out. “I need to get the hell out of here.”
“Where are you going?” she called after him.
But he had already left. Slamming the door in his wake.
CHAPTER 30
WHAT A BLOODY MESS. Where was Wang when he needed him? Haring off to Bath with the countess! What was going on there? Yes, he had asked him to help her, but how does that translate to eloping with the woman? And without telling him anything...
But Wang didn’t have to give notice. He wasn’t a servant, despite the apparent position he held in the household. Besides, it would be useless to berate him for it. He would just spout some philosophical words of wisdom that somehow seemed to justify leaving your friends without explanation or previous warning.
And why the hell was he fixating on Wang, anyway? He was not the problem. Oh no. The problem here was his feelings for his wife. Feelings he shouldn’t have. Feelings she couldn’t ever reciprocate.
Quimby’s taunt came back to torment him. ‘You must have been in desperate circumstances to marry this freak.’ He knew Quimby was an idiot. He shouldn’t pay any mind to his words. And yet, he had believed them. And reacted.
He could still see Abigail’s horrified expression. And now she would leave him. If not today, maybe next month, or after she had the baby. The point was, it was over.Over. And his idiotic heart couldn’t recognize that.
He was walking without direction, but his need to unburden had him turning his steps towards Gabriel’s house. With any luck, he would be in. If not... he was out of ideas. He had no more friends.
He knocked at the door several times. Where was the butler? A footman? Any servant? He was already despairing of finding anyone home, when Gabriel himself opened the door, coatless and with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up.
“Colin.” his friend said, surprised at the impromptu visit but standing aside to usher him in. “This is unexpected. Come in, come in”
“Thank you. I’m glad to find you. For a moment there, I thought there was nobody home.”
