He shook his head at her. “You must know I’ve never stopped loving you.”
Clara frowned. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You never loved me. You wanted my father’s money, and you got it when we parted—a great deal of it—so you had better leave now before he finds out about this, and takes steps to see you back in prison for blackmail.”
“I don’t wish to blackmail you,” Gordon replied. “I only wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve been thinking of you every night since we parted…every wretched night I was in prison. Surely you remember what we had together. How exciting it was.”
She slid away from him again, disgusted by his mendacity. “I remember nothing! You manipulated me and lied to me.” When he did not respond to those accusations, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you send that telegram to my husband on our wedding day?”
He considered the question for a moment. “No, that wasn’t me.”
“But obviously you know about it. Who did you tell? Who sent it?”
“To be honest, I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m here only to see you again for my own personal reasons, and to remind you of the love we shared.”
“It wasn’t love, and the only thing I am reminded of is filth. Get out of my carriage, Gordon, and do not ever contact me again.”
“But I don’t want to get out.”
He moved closer until she was pinned up against the side of the coach. He moved his face in slow circles in front of hers, so close she could almost feel his mouth touching hers. She turned her face away in disgust.
“I want to be with you again,” he said. “We belong together. Surely your husband of all people will be open to his wife taking a lover. Based on what I’ve heard about him, he would probably encourage it.”
Clara tried to squirm out of his grasp. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it isn’t true. Our marriage isn’t like that.”
He continued to paw at her, kissing the side of her head. “You’re dreaming if you think he isn’t taking lovers of his own. If nothing else, why not get revenge?”
“Let go of me!”
Just then, the coach bumped, and Clara glanced out the window. “We are almost at Rawdon House,” she said in a panic. “Get out of here, Gordon, or I will call my husband out to remove you himself, and I guarantee he won’t be gentle.”
Gordon glanced out the window as well. “Damn. I suppose I should hop out now before he finds out about us.” He slid away and picked up his hat. “As the English say,Cheerio.”
He opened the door and leaped onto the street, leaving Clara behind to still her racing heart.
“There is no us!” she shouted after him.
The coach reached Rawdon House and stopped. Clara bolted inside to tell Seger what had happened, for she had vowed on their wedding day that there would be no more secrets, and she intended to keep that promise.
Seger descended the stairs at his club. He had been informed that Quintina was waiting for him outside with an urgent message. She had never come looking for him at his club before.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, exiting the building and letting the door fall closed behind him.
Quintina was pacing back and forth on the pavement. “Seger, I apologize for interrupting you, but may we take a walk?”
He stared at her a moment, then met her at the wrought iron gate and offered his arm. “Certainly.”
“I have something to tell you,” she said, as they strolled down the street, “and I don’t know exactly how to say it. It has come as a shock to me, and I hope it will not be unduly painful for you to hear.”
“What is it, Quintina?”
She cleared her throat. “I have a friend in New York, and she has informed me that Clara was involved in some sort of embezzlement a few years ago.”
Seger glowered down at Quintina. “I already know about that. Clara explained what happened, and she is innocent. But I am curious to know how your friend came by this information, and if this is the person who sent me a telegram on my wedding day. Who is it, may I ask?”
Quintina glanced up at him. “An Englishwoman I knew a number of years ago. She moved to America to become a governess, and when she read about you and Clara in the New York papers, she felt a moral obligation to inform me of Clara’s background.”
