Chapter 15 #3
Sliding a surreptitious glance in Lily’s direction, he examined the woman he’d once intended to spend his whole life with.
The years of bearing children to a wealthy merchant had been oddly kind to her.
Thin and blond when he’d fallen in love with her—or thought he’d fallen in love, anyway—Lily was now fuller and a little less blond, but still pretty in that way certain women had of keeping their looks despite their age.
Yet she had a pinched look about her eyes and mouth. Had that come from being unhappy with her rich husband, the man she’d chosen instead of him once she’d realized Heathbrook might not come home for a while? Or had resentment over her situation eventually made her that way?
Why the devil was she even here? She had to know he wouldn’t wish to be around her after what she’d done to him. If she didn’t, he would make that quite clear to her.
He waited until the next dance began, and then through another one so he could avoid any gossip.
Then, looking as if he merely wanted another glass of champagne, he strolled over to where Lily stood in the shadows, picked up a nearby glass, and said, “Choose another door to the terrace, but follow me. We need to talk. Do try not to be noticed by anyone.”
Without a word, he went on and waited for her outside. Making sure no one had come after them or was watching, he took her down some steps and out to the gardens before rounding on her angrily. “Why are you here, Lily? I thought I made it perfectly clear that I didn’t wish to see you ever again.”
“Ingram, please—”
“Not Ingram anymore. Heathbrook. The Earl of Heathbrook. You could have been the Countess of Heathbrook if you’d bothered to wait for me.”
“Wait for you! And what was I to do all those years? How dare you criticize me when you left me to your mother’s tender care?”
“It wasn’t my choice, as you know perfectly well.”
She sighed. “I know.” She stepped forward to lay her hand on his rigid arm.
“But once you returned you wouldn’t see me—or even invite me to this.
As if we meant nothing to each other. So, I sneaked in when your staff were busy with the receiving line.
” Her tone turned sarcastic. “You’d think you would at least make time for your ‘one true love.’ ”
He winced as she threw back at him the words he’d written to her years ago.
“But I couldn’t just sit around,” she went on, “and twiddle my thumbs waiting while you—”
“So that is who she is to you?” said a voice he recognized only too well.
His stomach sank. Oh, God, Giselle. Damn.
He whirled to find her staring at them both, eyes wide.
“She is your mistress,” Giselle said in a heart-wrenching voice.
“Of course not!” he told her. “It’s not how it looks.”
Lily faced Giselle with a haughty demeanor. “This is none of your concern, Miss Bernard.”
Damn the woman for not denying it. “Giselle—”
“How can it not be my concern?” The hurt in Giselle’s voice cut him to the bone.
Then she gazed at him. “Heath, you should at least have had the courage to tell me what she meant to you instead of lying to me about it and telling me she was nobody. If I had known the truth when we first began this, I would never have agreed to become . . .”
She caught herself in time. “Well, I do not know what I would have done, but you must realize I cannot continue . . . I will not . . .” She folded her arms over her waist. “Never mind. I should not have followed you out here at all.” Turning on her heel, she hurried away from them.
“Giselle, wait!” he cried, but she had already disappeared inside. Only then did he realize Lily still had her hand on his arm.
He snatched his arm away. “Damn you, Lily, now look what you’ve done.” He started to head after Giselle.
“Wait,” Lily called after him, “you and I need to talk. It’s important.”
“Not now,” he snapped. “I have to—”
“Yes, of course,” she said coldly, “please go tell your wife-to-be that I am a respectable married lady and not your mistress. But I still have to discuss a matter of great importance with you.”
He gritted his teeth. “Fine. Come tomorrow evening, and I’ll see you then. But only if you leave now, do you hear? I won’t have anyone speculating about your presence here.”
“No one knows about us, Ing—Lord Heathbrook. Nor do I wish for anyone to know. But you left me no choice. You refused to see me.”
“Obviously, with good reason.” He sketched a bow. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
He made no answer to that, just strode back up to the terrace and into the ballroom. He scanned the hall but didn’t see Giselle. Damn it, where had she gone?
Kit marched over to him, followed closely by Evan. “What did you do to Giselle?”
God, not this again. How had Giselle managed to get his brothers on her side so damned effortlessly? “I didn’t do anything to her. I want to talk to her. Do you know where she went?”
Looking a bit uncomfortable, Kit stared at the floor. “She said she wasn’t feeling well. That she ate something earlier that didn’t agree with her. Her mother was with her and asked me to make her excuses to you and tell you Miss Bernard will see you in the morning.”
“The hell she will,” he muttered under his breath, and started to head for the hallway.
Evan blocked his way. “Not yet, Heath. If you go now, everyone will think something is wrong between the two of you. At least stay around long enough to make your excuses for her. You can—I don’t know—explain to people that she is feeling unwell after something she ate.
Then when you say you’re going upstairs to make sure she’s all right, they’ll expect it. ”
His every impulse was to say to hell with the ball and run upstairs so he could impress upon her that she was wrong about his relationship with Lily. But he’d followed his impulses over a decade ago and they hadn’t served him well.
Perhaps it was time to let cooler heads prevail.
Odd that the cooler head should happen to be his younger brother’s, but Evan was right.
The best thing to do—the thing that would hurt her the least—was for him to act as if this were just an unfortunate occurrence that he meant to explain to his guests before hurrying off to see to his ill fiancée.
Yes, he could do that. He could wait a few minutes more to tell Giselle everything. But he had no choice now. He had to reveal the truth.