Mary tilted her chin up. “I have never had to do so in the past. I do not even have to knock on closed doors… aside from your study that one time. But you were not cross about it.”
She smirked, and he heard Selina’s breath catch.
“Youwillannounce yourself from now on!” he snapped.
Selina half slipped out of his grasp, moving to the safety of the next step up. “Don’t mind me,” she bit out. “I do not care what you do, butIdemand respect if I am to be your wife. You should not be so… obvious.”
Before he could explain—though what could really be said?—she wrenched her arm free and, hiking up her skirts, ran off up the stairs.
Philip stared after her, bristling.
“I thought you might want to know about the new arrivals,” Mary said, her smile triumphant. “My mistake.”
His attention snapped back to her. Fists clenched and blood still pounding through his veins from smoldering desire, he strode down the stairs.
Standing over Mary, frustration a formidable fire in his belly, it took most of his willpower not to seize her by the collar or shake her for her jealous insolence.
“This is the last time I will allow this behavior,” he snarled. “Whatever familiarity we had is over. I will not repeat myself again! And I will not show you the lenience I showed before.”
Mary chuckled bitterly. “You say that, but you’ll soon grow bored of the novelty of that sweet little thing. She knows nothing of the world or how to please you.” She traced her fingertips down his lapel. “You will desire me again, Your Grace, and I will be right here, eager to satisfy what she can’t. You know you can’t resist m?—”
“You will not disrespect my betrothed,” he hissed. “I want you gone by morning.”
Mary flinched back. “What?”
“If you do not leave on your own, I will make sure to find you a place as far from here, as far from London, as possible,” he threatened. “If I see you near here again, you will not like the consequences.”
“Thisis all I am to receive after everything I have done for you?” Mary’s voice cracked. “I meant no disrespect, Your Grace, but… I know you. You will be looking for your next amusement within weeks of your wedding. You will tire of her. She has nothing to offer you!”
His lip curled. “Gone. By morning.”
“Your Grace, please… I meant nothing by it. I?—”
“I will not have you upsetting my betrothed,” he shot back. “And I knowyou. You meant everything by interrupting. You are jealous, and that means there is no longer a place for you here.”
He had hoped it would not come to this, that Mary would be reasonable and see sense after their recent encounter, but no such luck.
“Speak to the housekeeper about your final imbursement,” he added.
If looks could kill, he would have been dead in the center of his own entrance hall. Nevertheless, it had to be done. There was no room for jealousy in his life or his manor, not with a wedding coming and a reluctant bride to wrangle.
Upstairs in her guest chamber, Selina went straight to her bed and fell back onto the coverlets. Her chest rose and fell as ifshe had run a marathon, her hand coming up to feel the rapid movement.
From there, her curious fingertips traced higher to her throat. She touched where Philip had touched. Closing her eyes, she imagined his hand was still there, applying that light, exquisite pressure.
Am I mad?
Should she have been afraid of his hand around her throat? Had he been trying to tell her that he would strangle her if she didn’t obey, if she didn’t want him as he wanted her to? It didn’t feel like it, and despite what Lizzy had insisted, he still wasn’t a brute to her.
Was he showing me how things could be if I just gave in to him?
She thought of Mary, and her eyes snapped open again. Her hand fell to her side, and her thundering heart skipped a few beats, her chest overwhelmed with a tight feeling. Jealousy? Envy? More disappointment?
“How many other maids in this house is he familiar with?” she whispered, her jaw tight.
How many indiscretions will I have to suffer through?
Her eyes closed again until her heartbeat slowed and the thrill of his touch and his almost-kiss had all but drained away.
