Treacherous Temptations(62)

“You do not stay with us?” Mary asked.

“No. James and I will go ahead to ensure the ship is indeed prepared to set sail as planned, but I will return within two hours. I advise you to stay within your chambers in case Sir Richard is looking for you.” He bent his head to kiss her mouth but Mary gave him her cheek.

“I’m sorry, my dear wife, but that will not do at all. I don’t care that your maid is present.” Before Mary could form a protest, he pulled her into his arms for a searing kiss and released her with a roguish grin. “Savor it my love, for that may be all you get for several days.” He swept out, leaving her whirling, and robbed of both breath and senses.

…

“What now, miss?” Jenny asked.

“I will inquire about hiring a coach to Leicestershire,” Mary said, but despite her best efforts, there was no vehicle to be had in such a lonely place at such a late hour. “I suppose we have no choice but to wait until morning, but if necessary we will walk to Gravesend to hire a conveyance.”

“But what will you do when Lord Hadley returns?”

“I don’t know, Jenny, but I refuse to go any further with this charade.”

When Hadley returned less than two hours later, as promised, his entry was barred by a chair lodged under the doorknob. “Mary, it’s only me. Open the door,” he demanded in a loud whisper.

“No. You are not welcome.”

“What the devil do you mean I’m not welcome?” he hissed through the crack of the jammed portal.

“Please Hadley, leave me be. I want none of you.”

“Mary, what the devil’s gotten into you?”

“You!” she cried. “The only devil is you!”

Several muffled curses followed. “I don’t understand what this is about, but don’t test me any further. Open the door now, before I kick the bloody thing in!”

Jenny’s fearful glaze flitted between Mary and the door. “Remove the chair, Jenny,” Mary ordered. “I believe he would do it.”

No sooner had the chair scraped across the floor than the door burst open to a blazing-eyed Hadley. “Leave us!” He commanded Jenny who had retreated to her mistress’ side.

“Jenny will stay.”

“The hell she will!” He glared at the maid. “Jenny will go to James. Now!”

“But—” Jenny’s panicked gaze darted between Hadley and her mistress.

“It’s alright, Jenny.” Mary reluctantly inclined her head toward the door. “You may go. He shan’t harm me for I am not worth a ha’penny to him…not yet anyway.”

“Out!” He demanded again, sending Jenny scurrying like a frightened mouse. Hadley took several paces to loom over Mary with a look of pained outrage. “What the bloody hell has transpired in two hours to make you believe I intend you harm?”

Although her stomach clenched with the effort, Mary steeled herself to confront him. “The truth is what transpired,” she bit back.

“The truth,” he repeated woodenly. “What truth would that be, Mary?”

“Your relationship with the countess, to begin with.” She noted the look of alarm that flashed in his eyes, the pallor that came over his face. “How did your father really die, Hadley?” She already knew the answer, yet dreaded to hear it from his lips.

“Listen to me. Please. There is no time for this now. We must depart. There is a packet waiting. It will sail on the next tide—with or without us.”

“No. Not us. You will sail. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I’m asking for your trust, Mary. I promise to explain everything.”

She laughed bitterly. “You ask for my trust and offer promises when everything I believed about you is nothing but deception!”

“I have never lied to you.”

“How can you look me in the eye and say that? You lie even now!”

He groaned. “There are a number of things I have not told you because I saw no need to dig up the sordid past, but I have never set out to deceive you. Even when you asked me if I sought your hand for your fortune, did I lie then?”

“But you also said you cared for me, Hadley.”

“I do,” he replied softly. “More than I’ve ever cared for anyone.” He tried to stroke her cheek but she jerked her head away.

“Don’t touch me Hadley. Ever again.”

“Please,” he begged. “There is so much you don’t understand.”

She stared into his blue-black gaze with a pain in her chest as real as if he’d stabbed her through the heart. She forced her gaze away. “I already understand more than enough—You told me that Barbara called you back from Italy.”

“Yes, she wrote me, but I came for my own reasons. I’ve already shared those with you.”

“You also told me that it was her idea for you to seduce me to obtain my fortune. At first I believed that she only wanted to help you recover your estates and titles, but that was not all, was it, Hadley? How would she stand to benefit? She had to have had a far more personal reason. One that would explain her jealousy, the veiled cruelty.” Mary clutched the back of the chair to fortify herself as the last pieces came together with dizzying rapidity. “My God! She is still your lover!”