She turned her face away.
“Before she was Lady Pennington, she did have a spaniel…I think.”
“Youthink.”
“Honestly, I had forgotten all about V—Lady Pennington’s damn dog,” he said harshly. He softened his tone. “Besides, Mercy is a puppy.”
“Damn dog,” she repeated. He’d not only raised his voice to her, but he’d also justcursedin her presence, yet another diminishing blow.
Harbury, meanwhile, seemed to be increasing in size. He filled the carriage until all she could see was him as he loomed over her in a threatening manner.
“Sit back!” she commanded, her narrowing eyes as menacing as her tone. “And don’t youeveruse such foul language in my presence again.”
Her father had also delivered each of his many disappointments in a booming voice with precise, hard-consonated, brutal words.
Only in private, of course.
Just as she and Harbury were now.
And she was reacting in just the same way. She couldn’t breathe. Her blood was roaring in her ears, her heart beating jaggedly in her chest. She hadn’t felt this disturbing melding of fiery anger and primal fear since…
Since before her father had died.
After her father died, she’d vowed she’d never allow any man to insult her in the same fashion. She certainly wasn’t going to make an exception for her husband, the person who was supposed to hold her in the highest regard.
“Nofoul language,” she repeated, louder this time.
“I beg your—”
“Stop!” The last thing she needed was another empty apology. Shesqueezed the bridge of her nose and willed away the sting. On her wedding night, her anger had turned to tears. She’d wouldn’t let Harbury humiliate her again. “Just stop!”
“But you’re not letting me get in a word!”
“And yet your mouth keeps moving.” She looked out the window. A gentle breeze rippled across a field of barley, giving her a moment of much-needed calm. “Earlier today, you intimated you were weary of apologizing to me. So, I release you from your obligation. Apologies can never excuse you…excusethis.”
“Cassie, please! I was such a young man then,” he said imploringly. “Younger, in fact, than my years.”
“You weren’t so very young last month when we visited the Royal Academy and nearly collided with Lord and Lady Pennington.” She shook her head slowly, remembering. “You were so shaken, I was alarmed enough to take you aside so that you might collect yourself. Do you remember what you said?”
“I know what I said.”
“You told me then your heart would always belong to her.”
His gaze bored into hers. “I was wrong.”
Cassie’s heart tripped. But a more vulnerable part of her refused to be moved.
“She lived here. Shelivedhere. She was Sarah’s governess, her companion. The pony cart. Oh, my sweet heavens. You must have taken her to the Priory, too!Ugh.” The gutturally expelled grunt wasn’t strong enough to embody even half her disgust. “Did you kiss me with my back toward you because you wanted to pretend I was Vivianne?”
A look of pure horror crossed his features.
Perhaps, she thought warily, she’d crossed a line.
For a long moment, they stared at each other in silence. Small capillaries became increasingly visible at the edges of his eyes. She didn’t know if he was about to scream or cry.
“I wouldneverpretend you were Vivianne,” he said with dangerous precision.
The force of his declaration took her aback, as did the ugly snarl accompanying his words.
