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“Three years ago, I saw her and fancied her. I more than fancied her, in truth,” he confessed. “I worshipped her from afar, too timid to approach such a glorious creature. Finally, one night after several glasses of champagne, I worked up enough courage to speak to her. I opened with a jest, thinking to impress her
with my wit, and she mistook it for an insult. She has disliked me ever since.”
And she had shamed him in front of everyone with her harpy’s tongue! Herrington could not control the tremor of impotent rage that ran through him at the memory.
“It was unwise of me, perhaps, to speak to her with such familiarity before she’d been given an opportunity to know me better and see that I meant no offense,” he continued. “I had no idea she would react so to my attempt at friendly banter. It was a simple misunderstanding. One I have never been allowed to correct.”
Indeed. It was a wound that had festered for three years, rotting in the darkest recesses of his soul. The bitch had scorned him, subjected him to public humiliation, and all he had done was make a simple witticism to try and gain her attention. She’d then proceeded to make him a complete laughingstock. Practically every female he’d met since that day had given him the cold shoulder or giggled at his approach.
The witch taunted him at every opportunity, as well, and he could not help but rise to the bait. She was a poison in his veins; even though he hated her, he still desired her. Every time he laid eyes on her he was stricken by almost debilitating lust. He would have her, and she would pay for his torment!
Charlotte placed a gentle hand upon his. “I can only imagine how truly awful it must be to know that she is now engaged to someone else.”
Herrington turned her hand palm-up and kissed it. She, at least, was genuine. “I thank you for your compassion, Miss Charlotte. It is a testament to your sweet nature that you can be so kind after having been the victim of such similarly cruel indifference.”
“In—indifference?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at Pelham.” He watched her cheeks redden. “And I’ve witnessed his careless disregard. He is most undeserving of your devotion.”
Charlotte stiffened and tried to pull back her hand, but he held it fast.
“It’s no use wasting your love on a man like him, Miss Charlotte,” he pressed gently. “He will never return it in kind. He is incapable of tenderness, being a shallow, heartless cad who would tear out your heart and tread on it with no remorse. I’ve seen him do so countless times with countless women.”
The fire in her eyes contradicted him even before her words. “He would never do that to me,” she said with all the confidence of a trusting child.
“Hasn’t he already?” he asked, giving her a penetrating look. “How many times has he ignored you? Passed you by without a second glance no matter how you’ve tried to gain his attention?”
“He can’t show his true feelings for me,” she justified. “Reggie would kill him if he was anything less than a perfect gentleman toward me.”
He pushed the knife a bit deeper into the wound. “If he loved you, he would be unable to hide it and would not care if the entire world saw it in his face. That you are Stanton’s sister has nothing to do with it. If he wanted you, he would have made it known.”
“He—he’s afraid his reputation will ruin me!”
Herrington laughed. “God forgive me, but I cannot allow you to continue in such ignorance!” Releasing her hand, he grasped her by the shoulders and twisted the blade. “Pelham ignores you not to protect you or to hide his unrequited love for you, Miss Charlotte. He ignores you because he finds your innocence boring.”
It was a deliberate goad, for any female dressed as she was tonight was out for blood. She would despise being referred to as even remotely childlike.
Just as he expected, Charlotte broke free of his hold and moved away. “I’m a woman grown, and he will one day see it.”
“For your sake I hope he doesn’t, Miss Charlotte,” Herrington said softly, folding his now empty hands in his lap. “The day he does, you will regret tempting him, for he will break your heart even more than it is breaking now. You must be told the truth, for your own good. He will ruin you for his pleasure and toss you aside. You think you know him, but I assure you—”
“I know all about David’s ‘adventures,’ if that’s what you’re referring to,” Charlotte cut in crisply. “I’m not as ignorant as you might think. And I know he would never treat me so! You’re wrong about him. I do know him, I’ve known him ever since I was born, and I know what I’m doing!”
“Do you really?” he asked. “Do you know what passion is? Have you ever felt it firsthand? Tasted it?” He folded his arms, sitting back. “Have you ever even been kissed?”
Charlotte squirmed. “What if I haven’t?” she threw at him. “Once I am his wife, he will teach me all I need to know.”
Herrington smiled at her naïveté. “You honestly believe that as his wife, you will fulfill the role of lover as well?”
“Why not?” she asked with unabashed hostility.
Striving to sound as patronizing as possible, he answered. “Unlike me, Miss Charlotte, most men believe a wife is merely a means to an heir. They don’t view the marriage bed as a place of passion, but merely as a place for fulfilling one’s duty to the line. A wife is expected to embody modesty, chastity, and motherhood, not lust and depravity! If you think Pelham will teach the future mother of his children to perform in the manner of his mistresses, I can assure you he will not.”
He leaned forward again, pinning her with his stare, hardening his voice. “Yes, Miss Charlotte. Mistresses. Pelham currently keeps not one, but three. I know this for fact. Do you think a man like that will deny himself the pleasures to which he is accustomed for the sake of a few vows spoken in a church? How can an innocent like yourself ever hope to satisfy a depraved monster?”
Charlotte flinched as though his words were physical blows.
“For innocent is what you are,” he murmured. “And you should value your innocence, for it is a prize without price, like your good and true heart. If you cast it aside to buy his love, he will view you as he does those who sell their bodies to him now and cast you off in the same manner as those unfortunate women. When he is finished with you, you will have gained nothing but his contempt.”
