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“You sent for me,” she replied hesitantly.
“Me?” He scowled down at her. “How did you know to come here?”
“I received your note,” Ursula asked.
Her stomach dropped in acute dismay when she read the denial on his face. She knew immediately that he hadn’t been the sender and his next words confirmed it.
“Let me see the note.” He held his hand out.
“It is nothing to do with you,” Ursula protested, still trembling from the force of what they had just shared.
“It has everything to do with me,” Trenton countered. “I promised your father I would keep an eye on you.”
She went cold and stared at him. “Is that why you followed me?”
He nodded. “I saw you coming this way and suspected you were meeting with someone.” Trenton scowled. “Who is he, Ursula?”
She wasn’t sure what to think, what to do now, except get away and shed her tears in private.
“I don’t need you to keep an eye on me. I am not some nincompoop,” she snapped, hiding her shattered heart behind a bold display of temper.
“Really? Then what are you doing arranging secret assignations in darkened conservatories?” Trenton growled making no attempt to restrain her when she wrenched out of his arms and took several steps away from him.
“I am not.”
Trenton glanced pointedly around them and looked askance at her.
“I received a note that told me someone wanted to meet me here. They had something to tell me,” she added weakly when the sceptical look on his face didn’t change.
“I am sure they did,” Trenton snorted.
“It wasn’t a secret assignation,” Ursula protested. She sucked in a breath and willed herself to remain strong until she could leave. She tipped her chin up and glared at him.
“Meeting someone in a darkened conservatory isn’t a secret assignation?” He looked sternly at her. “So, who is the note from? Who were you expecting; Brampton perhaps?” The very thought made his temper surge.
“It is nothing to do with you,” she protested. “Father had no right to ask you to look after me. I am not a child anymore.”
“He was worried about you because you are not used to London,” Trenton explained. The word ‘obviously’ hung in the air as he studied the conservatory pointedly.
His condescending manner struck a chord deep within Ursula, and she felt tears sting her eyes as her humiliation grew.
“I am sure you would know all about secret assignations in darkened places,” she snapped as she glanced pointedly toward the door. Jealousy made it impossible to keep quiet and her next words were out before she could stop them. “Where is that dark haired beauty you were cuddled up to in the main hallway for the world to see? Got bored with her, did you? Maybe she is still waiting? Or maybe she is talking to your fiancé?”
Trenton scowled. “Don’t change the subject, Ursula. We are not discussing me. We are discussing your wayward behaviour.”
“Wayward behaviour?” she gasped. “You kissed me!”
“You were here unchaperoned, in the dark, willing to meet with someone who s
ent you a mysterious note. You are asking for trouble,” he warned her. “You should be thankful it was me who came to see you, and not your secret admirer.”
He had a point, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. “What I do, where I go, and whom I talk to, is nothing to do with you.”
“Everything you do has something to do with me now. I promised your father I would keep an eye on you and that is what I intend to do.”
“So kissing me is keeping an eye on me, is it? I am not sure that father would agree with you on that one,” she replied with a sniff. “Are you going to tell him about what we have just shared? Given that nobody else has turned up, I can only assume that the note was given to me incorrectly anyway.”
“Where are you going?” he demanded when she walked around him and swept regally toward the door.
