Page 42 of Victorian Bride

“Maybe he did receive something from her.” Lottie took a sip of tea. “Or gave something to her, if you take my meaning.”

“You think she's pregnant and that's why they're not going out in public?” Mya didn't even want to think about that. She stabbed the sausage again, ripping off a piece and taking a bite that didn't taste like anything except frustrated disappointment. “I don't think she is. And I don't understand it. He wanted me. I know he did. And we—”

She cut herself off. They had been over and over his interactions with her and how they meant he felt. Mya wasn't in the mood to rehash them.

“Anyway. I do not honestly see why we're having this discussion. None of it matters. We're not going to a party hosted by the Auteberrys, and Kayden can do whatever he pleases so long as it doesn't involve me.”

“I suppose I just have a difficult time letting things go,” Lottie said, lifting one shoulder and letting it fall again in a shrug. “I like to know what is going on, and why people do what they do.”

“So go ask Kayden why he's an arse. I don't care, though. And I don't want to hear about what he has to say.” Mya stood, leaving her hardly touched plate behind, and went back to her room. Behind her, as she left, she could hear a discussion starting that undoubtedly had something to do with her and Kayden. Let them talk about it. None of it mattered to her. She had other things to do.

***

It was raining the day after they received the invitation to the Auteberrys’ ball. Mya looked out at the gray drizzle and sighed. It perfectly matched her mood, but the rain wouldn't be much of a boon for waking. She had hoped to get out of the house, and away from the looks that Lottie and Ella were still occasionally exchanging over her head, like they were worried about her but weren't quite sure how to approach the issue.

In the end, Mya decided a little rain had never done much harm, and dressed up in some of her warmer things to go walk in it anyway. At least it would give her something to do

The coat she wore kept the worst of the water off her, and Mya found she actually enjoyed wandering through the field all full of fog and water falling from the sky. There was a deeper scent to the heather, and the cool breeze was refreshing. Somewhere, there were frogs croaking softly, and Mya thought of the pond where she and Kayden had gone that day they rode up into the hills.

He had been so attentive to her there. Had looked at her as though she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, touched her as though she were something precious. How could he go from that to what he had done when she had walked in on him and Miss Auteberry? Had it all been an act, or had something somehow changed between them that she wasn't aware of?

Mya sighed, and dipped her head a little lower as the rain fell heavier, watching the toes of her boots move through the wet grass. She was glad she had worn the high ones, though the hem of her skirt was going to be soaked. She gathered up a little of it in each hand and tried to keep it from the worst of the mud.

“Mya?”

She stopped in her tracks. Kayden was not supposed to be there. It was not his land, and Lottie and Ella had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to keep off theirs. Mya had seen with her own eyes the message that they sent.

“Go away,” she said, keeping her eyes on the ground. She started walking again.

“Mya, please. I just want to talk to you.”

“And yet, I have no wish to speak to you. Go home, Kayden.”

“I didn't kiss her!”

Slowly, Mya turned around to face him. “What was that?”

Kayden, who was standing in front of her not wearing any sort of protection from the rain at all, leaned closer, his eyes pleading. “I didn't kiss Miss Auteberry, Mya. I know what you think you saw, but she kissed me, not the other way around. And I pushed her off.”

Mya laughed bitterly. “Do you really think I am going to fall for that lie? It is as old as time. And I was standing right there. You didn't push her off. And you didn't even speak to me. If you didn't kiss her, why didn't you come after me when I walked away?”

“My hand was on her arm to shove her away. She was clinging to me like a limpet!”

“Why don't you tell this story to someone who cares?” Mya asked, turning away to continue on her walk.

Kayden's hand on her arm stopped her. It was gentle, not the clutching desperation visible in Blanche's touch when she had grabbed Kayden after the kiss.

“I swear, Mya. I didn't kiss her. I didn't want to. You are the only woman that I want. Ever. Always.”

She wrenched her arm out of his hold. “Then why didn't you come after me when I left? You just let her follow and berate me, tell me how poor and worthless I was and how I was no good for you? If you really cared, you would’ve stopped her. If you truly cared, Kayden, you would have tried to stop me. But you didn't.”

“I did try to come after you,” Kayden said. “Her maid came up out of nowhere and grabbed me, babbling about some kind of emergency with the stable and one of my servants. By the time I had been dragged out to see that nothing was actually wrong, you were back home, and Lottie wouldn't let me in.”

“Lottie wouldn't let you in because I asked her not to. Because you're an ass, and I didn't want to see you.”

But the words didn't hold the venom of her earlier accusations. Had Kayden truly tried to come after her? If he had, if he was telling the truth, that meant Blanche and her maid must have somehow planned the whole thing. Had one of them seen her coming up the walk? She supposed there were enough rumors about her and Kayden by now that someone must have figured out what was going on, and it had gone back to Blanche.

“How can I be sure you're telling the truth?”