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An hour later, in front of a banked-up fire and feeling far more comfortable than she had with Araminta, Kitty stretched her legs out and smiled tearily at Lord Silverton.
“You’ve been awfully good to me, rescuing me, and then offering me a bed for the night. I really would have been sleeping amid the vermin on Mrs. Mobbs’s floor.”
“I’m sure you have more options than you imagine, Kitty, if you think about it. And that’s what we must do. Hit upon what to do with you, eh?”
“You really want to spend your time helping me when I’m completely responsible for my own disaster? I don’t know anyone else who would.” It was true. Her father had probably disowned her already; she had no intention of slinking back home to Mama, in any case, and she still had no address for Lissa. “I’m not going back to Nash yet. I can’t. I need to make him realize how terribly he’s betrayed me.”
“Will you forgive him?”
Kitty nibbled the top of her brandy glass and stared into the fire. Quietly, she said, “He is my destiny. I’m sure of it. Everything the fortune-teller told me—”
Silverton chuckled. “Coincidence and smoke and mirrors, Kitty. A gypsy who’s never laid eyes on you before cannot accurately foretell your future. You believed only what you wanted to believe. And yes
, Nash may be your destiny, but he is a philanderer, albeit a charming one who is, perhaps, madly in love with you. But that aside, he won’t stay true, and he won’t marry you.”
Kitty put down her glass and sent Silverton a beseeching look. “He may and he may not. He wants me to forgive him, but you caution me against taking him back.”
“Only to spare your poor heart. You will find happiness, but I don’t believe it will be with him.”
“Then what should I do?”
He stood up, crossed the room to sit down on the arm of her chair and stroked her hair. “I’ve told you what I think, but only you can make the final decision on how you act. Nor do I think that is a question that can be decided until you’ve had a refreshing long sleep, which you will need if you are to remember your lines for tomorrow. Now, come with me and I will personally show you to a chamber where the bed is made up, and you will be undisturbed until noon if you so wish.”
Kitty took the hand he offered and, like a child, allowed herself to be led to bed. Lord Silverton even returned, as he’d promised, with a night-shift and some tooth powder, courtesy of another female guest he’d once had staying with him, he told her.
Kitty was too tired to wonder about Lord Silverton’s female associations. She was soon fast asleep, dreaming about the ghastly scene she’d witnessed between Nash and Jennie before the whole was neatly wrapped up in a cloud of blue smoke, and she lost consciousness.
***
In the morning, she felt a little better, though still subdued. Soon she’d have to leave for the theater, but now Lord Silverton was pouring her coffee and advising her not to go rushing off to make up to Lord Nash “as you are right, he needs to be taught a lesson.”
“I had no intention of going back to him, just yet,” she bridled. “I was going to ask Mrs. Mobbs for my old room back.”
“Amid the vermin? You’re welcome to be my houseguest for a few days.” He raised an eyebrow. “Make him jealous, if you like.”
She hadn’t thought of that, but now she smiled her first real smile. “How could I resist your kind offer? It answers everything.”
A tumult of mixed feelings beset Kitty after the following evening’s performance when Nash arrived with six dozen red roses, an artfully delivered apology, and a tantalizing little velvet box, which he opened to reveal a ruby and diamond bracelet nestled on a bed of black velvet. There was some consolation to be had by the fact he raised the lid when they were still in public, by Kitty’s dressing table, and Jennie happened to be passing by. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the flare of feeling in the girl’s eye and, briefly, Kitty exulted in her triumph. But despite the offer of such riches, she was not going to give in so easily. If he could do it once, he could do it again, as Lord Silverton had warned. She had to accept that. No, she could not let Nash assume she’d be so easily mollified each time he strayed.
Dressing herself the day after, in the comfortably furnished spare bedchamber Lord Silverton had offered her, she sadly acknowledged the truth of her host’s prophecy, yet in the very next breath, while twisting her hair into a fetching cluster of curls, she qualified the unpalatable truth with the fact that he’d only strayed once. Surely, there was every chance he might have an epiphany and decide to make her his wife?
By the time she’d threaded a ribbon through her curls, Kitty had decided she would take him back. Despite what Silverton said, he was her destiny. Perhaps she’d been just a green girl wanting to believe everything the gypsy woman had foretold, but Kitty didn’t have much else to cling to. As a child growing up, she’d believed in destiny; as an adult, it was becoming clear there was sometimes a rocky road to navigate to achieve it. Yes, she would take him back.
Though not yet. The dewy-eyed look she caught sight of in the mirror reminded her that she’d always been susceptible to a soft heart. Lord Nash needed to suffer. He needed to know there were consequences to betraying her, and that jewels and roses and pleading words were not always going to gain him forgiveness.
As usual, Kitty slept in past noon, dressed, and appeared languidly at breakfast. She was dismayed to be greeted by Lord Silverton laughing at her. He’d just finished, and appeared to be about to leave.
“You really do need a maid to ensure you are respectable when you venture out in public,” he said, pointing to the mismatched buttons that fastened the front of her dress.
“A maid is a luxury I can’t afford, although Nash promised me I’d have one to attend to me and one to attend to the house.” Kitty sighed as she sat down. “He’s been at the theater every evening for the past five days, on his knees. Begging.”
“But you’re not ready to forgive him?” Lord Silverton’s tone was conversational, but he was at her side now, leaning to help her with the fastening, and Kitty was acutely aware of the faint whisper of his breath upon her cheek and the feel of his fingers deftly correcting her morning’s oversight.
Her heart rate sped up and she swallowed. “I have nowhere else to go.” She was glad when he’d returned to his chair, enabling her temperature to return to normal. She slumped over her hot chocolate. “Of course, I love him,” she added hastily. “And of course, I must yield soon otherwise he’ll slip through my fingers.” She tried to smile. “You’ve been so kind, my Lord.” It was true. She’d enjoyed their evenings playing cribbage in front of the fire and chatting about all sorts of silly things more than she cared to say. “Besides, what would your prospective bride have to say about you having a female under your roof?”
“Well, the servants have put it about that you’re my father’s ward, and we grew up together.”
“Imaginative,” Kitty agreed.
