Page 69 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

Grayson mulled over her words as he dealt. His tight smile might be the only outward sign that her admission had pleased him, but deep inside he felt an absurd burst of relief. Imagine having to compete with Nigel. “Well, it makes things easier all around, doesn’t it?” he said in an even voice.

“Things?”

“Other loves. Not mourning what we lost. I feel the same way about Helene, if you must know. I look at her now and wonder what on earth attracted me to her. Anyway, the only real question is, what will you do if Nigel comes back with his heart in his hand?”

“I don’t know.” She stared down at the cards on the table. “Nothing. What—”

“Are you prepared to forgive him?” he asked, his smile fading.

She searched for the strength to clear her conscience. “We don’t know yet if there’s anything to forgive,” she said after hesitating.

“Oh, you are a coolheaded one, Jane, my love,” he said with a deep laugh. “And, as I noted before, exceptionally honest.”

“Please stop making me out to be a paragon,” she said in a burst of irritation. “I am a remarkably flawed person if you must know. As you have to know by now.”

“Well, so am I.”

“No.” She swallowed over the knot that constricted her throat. “You aren’t awful at all. Not in the manner which counts.”

He grinned in an attempt to sweep aside her concerns. “I can be when I’m crossed, an event you are unlikely to personally experience unless I catch you cheating at cards.”

She picked up her hand, her mood utterly miserable. She knew she had to tell him, not merely flirt with the truth, but she was afraid. Afraid that the playful affection on his face would turn to contempt. Afraid he would walk out of this room and never return. Or that they had passed the point in this relationship when telling him what she had done could be forgiven.

“Grayson, I’m sorry. I cannot concentrate on a game of cards right now.”

“I’m sorry, Jane. I knew I should have left.”

“No, it isn’t that.”

“Then what is it?” His blue eyes scanned her face. “Do you feel you have betrayed Nigel?”

“You really make me out to be far nicer than I am. Please. I don’t feel like playing cards.”

“Then we can—”

The sound of voices in the entrance hall interrupted him. Grayson rose swiftly to unlock the door, sat back down, and rested his arm casually over the sofa. When the drawing room door opened, he and Jane presented a picture of innocent activity to the three people who stared at them in surprise.

“Sedgecroft.” Simon cast an experienced glance at his sister, satisfied that all was in order except for the satin pumps she had kicked under the table. “I thought the pair of you went to a play with my parents.”

“So we did.” Grayson had risen in deference to Caroline and Miranda. “And I offered to keep your sister company when we discovered you weren’t home.”

Caroline stared pointedly at Grayson, as if she knew in humiliating detail what had been going on a few minutes earlier. “What a gentleman you are to protect her.”

“Isn’t he, though?” Jane’s cool voice cautioned her not to pursue the subject.

Simon cleared his throat. “Would you like a drink, Sedgecroft?”

Grayson glanced down at Jane. “Thank you, but I’m meeting my brother early tomorrow anyway. I should be on my way. Ladies, I wish you pleasant dreams.”

Jane stared down at the cards that had fallen across the sofa. Pleasant dreams were unlikely—she wouldn’t sleep a second until she heard what else Heath had learned about Nigel.

“I shall walk you out,” Simon said. “I understand you are something of an expert on shooting, and I have been invited—”

Caroline closed the door the moment the two men made their exit. “You didn’t tell him, did you?” she whispered. “It was the perfect time, the two of you alone in the house.”

Jane moistened her lips. “I almost told him. I might even have gotten to the worst part if the three of you hadn’t barged in here like the Trojan army. Anyway, tomorrow is Friday. I said I would tell him then.”

“Are you frightened of him?” Miranda asked, sitting down on the sofa amid all the fallen cards.