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Richard nodded sharply, his breathing evening out.
Thank God for Adam.
He stepped away, sidling closer to the doors as people surrounded him, congratulating him on his nuptials. Suddenly he wished he had danced with his fiancée instead. The light seemed to have dimmed, and the air suffocated him.
He didn’t know if this was because he was anxious and out of sorts. Or perhaps without Jo, everything seemed dull, as if with her exit, she’d taken all that was lovely in the room with her. And with her beautiful, silent ire, she’d cut out his heart.
What have I done?
He couldn’t marry Jo. An actress would bring scandal to the title his father had built from the ground up. His sisters and their children would be avoided and claimed to be scandalous. His own children would be mocked for having an actress as a mother. And if they had daughters, they would be shunned and taunted. An actress for a mother doomed her children to be perceived as harlots.
What am I thinking?
He couldn’t marry Jo, and he needed to toss the idea out of his mind. Even if the aforementioned things were not true, he was betrothed. The marriage contract had been signed, the announcement had been made, and now only the bride herself had the option of crying off.
Richard swallowed.
What have I done?
* * *
Jo rushed out of the ballroom and into the gardens, Selena on her heels.
“He is betrothed!” Jo cried as she wiped her eyes with her wrists.
“Yes, I saw,” Selena said behind her.
Jo turned on her, her eyes wild, her breathing labored. “This kind of thing does not get decided in one day, Selena. He has been betrothed this entire time!”
Selena stepped closer, her arms outstretched as if Jo was a wild animal she was trying to befriend. And Jo did feel like a wild animal at this moment.
“You don’t know that,” Selena soothed.
“To hell, I do not know!” Jo hurled the expletive, not caring about her ladylike demeanor anymore. She was not a lady. And she would never become one.
“Why does it matter?” Selena reasoned. “The affair has ended anyway.”
Tears pricked at the back of her eyes again. “It matters because he lied to me,” she said quietly. “I do not care about our short-lived affair being ended so abruptly. It bruised my heart, yes. But when I just started to trust again, he had to come and ruin that for me.” She shook her head and sat on the stone bench. The bench they had made love on just a few days ago. “I shall never trust another man again.”
Selena slowly sauntered toward the bench and sat next to Jo. “Perhaps you shouldn’t.”
Jo turned and burrowed her face in Selena’s shoulder as she sobbed. She suddenly wished that she had left the house party earlier. He had asked her to stay away. Was this the reason why?
Jo wished she hadn’t listened to Selena. She wished she’d never let Richard close to her.
They sat like that for a few minutes. Just as her sobs quieted, and she wiped away the tears, sharp steps sounded around the corner. And then Richard called, “Jo?”
Jo raised her questioning gaze to Selena.
“Well, it’s not me calling you.” Selena shrugged.
“Jo, are you here?”
Jo grimaced irritably. She didn’t want to answer. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
But Richard rounded the corner just then and stopped, looking at her with a wild gaze.
Jo stood and turned to leave, but Richard reached her in two strides and put a hand on her shoulder. “Wait! Please, just hear me out.”
