If they were ever there in the first place.
It was an unsettling thought. Alex could allow that she had made a youthful mistake. But it was far more difficult to accept that she had been entirely taken in by this man whose behavior now read as so obviously false to her, even from across the room. It was as if he was looking for something to manipulate in every person he spoke to. Had he always been that way or was this a characteristic born out of necessity? She couldn’t for the life of her remember. Nor why she had given him so very much of herself in the first place.
It had been the actions of an entirely different person. A lonely girl away from home and unused to the attentions of men. Alex hated that she had been such a cliché, but there was nothing to be done about it now. She had made her choices and paid a price.
What remained to be seen was what on earth he was doing back in London and at the LaSalles’ salon, of all places. They had an agreement. Granted, it had been five years since then, but the terms had been very clear.
I never want to see you again inanycapacity.
Don’t flatter yourself, Alexandra,he bit off.You aren’t the sort of woman men cross oceans for.
She scowled even harder as Benjamin laughed too loudly at something Mr. Wright had said—and he wasn’t very funny. Perhaps the money had finally run out, or the packet of ideas and letters of introduction she had given him were lost. Well, if that was the case it wasnot her problem. Alex had done everything within her reach at the time to send him off with every advantage. If he hadn’t amassed a sizable fortune by now, that was due to poor planning on his part.
But he could still make demands of you.
A few weeks before, Alex wouldn’t have been the least bit cowed by any possible threats. How quickly things changed.
“Are you all right?” Lucien asked by her side and Alex forced her gaze away from her former suitor.
“Yes,” she said, managing something close to a smile. “Only I’m afraid I’m more tired than I realized.”
“Well, you did spend all day at the office,” he remarked.
It was true enough, but that didn’t excuse her behavior. She didn’t deserve his sympathy, nor his understanding.
“I’m afraid I’m not very good company this evening,” she said instead.
Granted, she was never very good company. She recalled the easy smile on his face earlier when he was in Freddie’s far superior company and a sense of deep, sudden regret bubbled up through her. Oh, what amessthis all was. A remarkably stupid idea born out of her own hubris.
“Let’s get you home, then,” Lucien said gently.
For once, Alex allowed herself to be led, and while Lucien fetched their coats and her father, Marguerite approached.
“Leaving already?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Alex said with a tired smile.
Marguerite leaned in. “There was a miscommunication with my supplier and they sent double the amount this month,” she murmured. “So you may need to store some of the product for a bit. I will send a note tomorrow.”
Alex gave a single nod. “Not a problem.”
Apart from running a weekly salon and publishing economic papers under her husband’s name, Marguerite LaSalle also imported German-made Dutch caps from a contact in France and, with Alex’s support, covertly distributed them to women’s groups across the city, as both access and knowledge of how to use such devices was limited. Since Mr. LaSalle was entirely unaware of his wife’s activities, Alex occasionally had to store the caps in her room.
“Excellent,” Marguerite said with palpable relief. Then she gave her a conspiratorial smile. “I quite like your Lucien, you know.”
Alex ignored the urge to explain that he did not belong to her. “I thought Benjamin Chisolm was in America.”
Marguerite’s eyebrows rose at the abrupt subject change, but then, that wasn’t much different from how Alex usually spoke. “I believe he returned to London because his father is ill. You know him?”
Alex had to turn away from her friend’s curious gaze. “I’ll explain later,” she said gruffly. The polite thing to do then was express some kind of sympathy, but Alex couldn’t force the words past her lips.
Not for him.
Luckily, Lucien returned then with her father. They all said their good-byes and Marguerite elicited a promise from Alex that she would visit soon with Lucien. Then they stepped into the cool night and Alex released a breath.
“I think that went rather well, don’t you?” her father said once they were all in the carriage.
“Yes, very,” Lucien replied while Alex managed a grunt.
