Used his rampant desire for her against him to take control, and heaven help him, but he couldn’t fail to be impressed by that despite the inescapable fact that he had been a goddamn fool for falling for it.
Bravo, Venus. Well played.
She really did wield the power to tie his head and body in knots. She really was that dangerous. That clever. He sighed at the queen of hearts, and because he had no clue what to do about it, he slipped it into his pocket to ponder.
Chapter Twenty-One
I learned two important lessons at my debut last night. The first was that simply because society deems a man to be a gentleman, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will feel obliged to behave like one. The second was that spectacles are, apparently, invisible to the male of the species if your bosoms err on the large side…
—from the diary of Miss Venus Merriwell, aged 19
Thanks to all the excitement of her new nephew and all the extra work that his arrival had entailed, it was the evening before Christmas Eve, a week later, when Vee finally had some spare time to visit the orphanage. Her sudden absence had left the reverend and Mrs. Witherspoon in the lurch, and although she had always intended to be away over Christmas and New Year’s to visit Shropshire, she had left too many things undone thanks to the unexpected birth, and that wasn’t fair.
A quiet evening tying up all the loose ends would be a more productive use of her time rather than trying to do them during the daytime.
At least that was what she had convinced herself and told Olivia to explain away coming here so late when she could have easily done so several hours earlier. That the lateness of the hour also helped her avoid a certain next-door neighbor she wasn’t keen on seeing anytime soon wasn’t entirely unintentional. The handsome cheat usually disappearedin a hackney to head to his hell in the docks well before seven o’clock so there was no chance of them colliding at five to the hour.
She’d seen neither hide nor hair of Galahad since the morning the baby had been born, thank goodness, as she still had no earthly idea what to say to him after her outrageous behavior at the dinner. At the time, she had justified it with:What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If he could take advantage of a person, seduce them to get what he wanted, and still sleep at night, so could she. Using that contentious building had seemed a fitting way to get some revenge.
Tit for tat, especially as that stupid building mattered to him more than she had. At least they now both had a good reason to feel embarrassed around the other. One that would go some way toward making her feel a bit better about her own pathetic enthusiasm to be seduced, even if it did nothing to fix her aching heart.
However, as she also firmly believed that two wrongs never made a right, no matter the circumstances or provocation, she didn’t feel the slightest bit better about her outrageous behavior yet. There was no denying that some of it had been caused by her mortification at Olivia’s matchmaking and Minerva’s implication that Vee was wearing her heart on her sleeve—again—and they all knew it was broken.
Neither excused her using her wiles to distract him from the game quite as shamelessly as she had. Worse—if indeed her behavior could have been worse that night—she had wanted him to want her, and not just to teach him a lesson. The first moment she had witnessed his eyes darken with desire, she’d wanted to see how far she could push him. To see if she could push him far enough for him to be compelled to act upon it the second he got her alone. Wanted him to want her more than he wanted those buildings. Wanted to matter so much to him that he would get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness. Not because she wanted to laugh in his face or slap it when he tried to kiss her, but because she wanted him to kiss her! Throughout the entire game, her lips had tingled with anticipation as the need in his gaze had caressed her body until she could hardly stand the wanting herself.
If all that didn’t bother her enough, the annoying, niggling voice in her head had joined her foolish heart and kept telling her that he hadn’t deserved it. That there was more good in him than bad. That she should, perhaps, try giving him the benefit of the doubt for a change. Try to forgive and forget—at least partially. His casual regard for her tender emotions in Brighton aside, was she really going to hate him for all eternity because of a building?
If she had been counseling one of her students on a similar problem, she would tell them to turn the other cheek. To rise above it. To find a way to love thy neighbor, or at least to coexist peaceably with him, because hate was a destructive and malevolent emotion that festered. It wasn’t worth the effort unless it was directed toward the most heinous individuals who threatened you or yours with real harm.
Galahad was a lot of things, most of them currently detestable, but he wasn’t Genghis Khan. Nor was he as awful as her father had been, and she couldn’t muster the effort to loathe that wastrel with every fiber of her being anymore because indifference seemed so much more fitting and comfortable. Indifference didn’t make her heart ache or her innards tense constantly. It allowed her not to think about it. Nowadays, months could pass before she gave her worthless sire even a passing thought, and when she did it was more like an April shower than a thunderstorm. A passing annoyance that dissipated quickly rather than a cause to batten down the hatches. Indifference toward Galahad would certainly be an improvement on the way she felt about the thoughtless wretch now—exhausted, worthless, wronged.
Wounded.
In many ways it would be easier if he was a completely thoughtless wretch to his core. He had previously been such a good egg regarding the unfortunate incident with the pigeons as well as refusing to press charges at Billy’s attempted theft of his watch. All evidence confirming her heart’s forlorn hope that he wasn’t quite as ruthless and selfish as her battered ego and bludgeoned heart wanted to believe.
Furthermore, to give credit where credit was due, Galahad’s calmpresence during Diana’s labor had kept Giles’s irrational panic in check—and unlike all the other gentlemen present, he had not needed to be told what to do or when to do it.
She supposed she had to thank his annoying business mind for that. His tendency to plan ahead and think on his feet.
Drat him for being a cool head in a crisis!
That morning, when they were all exhausted after the long night of labor, en route to her bedchamber to get some rest, Vee had accidentally caught sight of him visiting Diana before he left. Watching him, unaware of her presence, tenderly holding their new godson in wonder with unmistakable tears in his emotive green eyes showed her yet another side to his complex character she wished she wasn’t now privy to. All those seemingly conflicting facets made him difficult to dislike even though she desperately wanted to, and irrespective of how much the less rational parts of her still wanted him.
Double-drat him.
Galahad Sinclair was more than a puzzle. He was a much-too-attractive and appealing enigma, and she had never been more confused about a man in her life. The only thing she wasn’t confused about was her overwhelming desire not to have to face him anytime soon.
As she alighted from the carriage, she spied Tommy Claypole emerge from the darkness of Mercer Street carrying a large parcel.
“What are you doing out here in the dark?”
“’Ello, Miss Merriwell!” He offered her his best toothy grin. “You’re here late.”
“I have a mountain of paperwork and lessons to plan for the New Year.” She pointed at the parcel, recognizing the distinctive robin’s-egg-blue wrapping as coming from Fortnum. “What’s in there?”
“Fancy sheets, though sadly not mine.” He jerked the package upward toward Galahad’s attic, where she was surprised to see candlelight illuminating the windows. “For Mr. Sinclair’s new bed. He’s adamant you can skimp on most things, but good sheets should never be compromised.”
Fancy sheets? A new bed? “He’s moving in?Here?” That was news to her. Unsettling news. “Why?”
