Miss Winthorpe's Elopement (Belston & Friends #1)(65)

‘And now I wish you to leave.’

He stepped around her, and shut the door. ‘I am not through speaking.’

‘I have nothing to say to you. If you wish to talk to anyone, it should be Adam or your wife.’

Timothy laughed. ‘And now you will pretend that your husband’s affairs do not hurt you. I think this matters more than you care to admit.’

‘What business is it of yours?’ she snapped.

‘If your husband does not wish to be faithful to you? It can be very lonely, knowing that one’s chosen mate has little interest. Now that you have had a taste of what marriage might mean, you will find it is very difficult to content yourself with solitude.’

‘On the contrary, I much prefer to be alone.’

‘If that is true, you are likely to get your wish. But Adam likes company. He is not alone this morning, any more than my wife is. Perhaps it does not matter to you, as a woman, to see your vows tossed back in your face. But I am tired of standing alone while my friend makes me a cuckold again.’

It amazed her, after all they had said to each other, after all they had done, that her husband could be so cruel. ‘Challenge him, if you care so much.’

‘Do you want us to duel?’

‘No.’

Timothy sagged against the wall. ‘Strangely, neither do I. Our friendship is over, of course. But I have pretended for so long that I did not care, that it seems foolish now to reach for a sword.’ He was staring at her with a strange light in his eyes, as he had the night of the ball.

‘Do you mean to reach for me, instead?’ she asked.

He sighed. ‘There is nothing we can do to stop them, should they wish to be together. But there is no reason for us to be alone.’

‘We will be alone,’ she responded. ‘If we feel anything for them, we will be alone.’

‘But we could be together, in shared misery.’

She shook her head. ‘I am sorry. I cannot…’

He smiled, and removed a flask from his pocket, taking a deep drink. ‘I thought not. And it is truly a shame, Penelope. For I feel I could grow most fond of you, should I allow myself to.’ His voice was low and welcoming. ‘You are a lovely woman with a quick wit and a sweet nature. You are too good for Adam, my dear. He has many admirable qualities, and has been a true friend in many things. But he is proving to have no more sense than he ever did, when it comes to women. I thought that you brought a change in him.’

‘I hoped…’ She choked on the words. ‘I did not mean to, you know. It was all to be so easy. We both had what we wanted. And then I fell in love with him.’

‘There, now.’ He reached for her and drew her into an embrace that was more brotherly than passionate. ‘Do not cry over him. He is not worth your tears.’

‘Oh, really?’ Her husband’s voice from the doorway was cold.

She sprang back from Timothy’s grasp, and hastily wiped at her face with her sleeve.

‘It was nothing, Adam,’ Penny murmured.

‘Other than that you are making this poor woman miserable with your careless philanderings,’ Timothy supplied.

‘Hush.’ Penny cringed at the description of her feelings, hauled out into the light for all to see. ‘I was overwrought. It was nothing.’

‘Nothing?’ Adam stared at her. ‘When I find you in the arms of another man, it is not “nothing”, madam.’

‘She was crying over you,’ Tim goaded. ‘I could not very well leave her, could I? Although you seemed to have no problem with it.’

‘And I suppose, when it comes to comforting my wife, you are worth two of me?’ Adam glared at his friend.

‘Much as you are, when it comes to my wife.’ Timothy glared back. ‘Of course, you would have to be as good as two men, for you seem intent on keeping both women. It is hardly fair, old man.’ Timothy grinned, but the smile was cold and mirthless.

‘I do not want your wife.’

‘That was not how it appeared this morning, Adam. After you swore that it was over and you would not be alone with her again.’

Adam made to speak, but hesitated.

Timothy nodded. ‘You cannot look me in the eye and deny it, can you?’

‘I was with her,’ Adam admitted grudgingly. ‘But it was nothing. I swear it, Tim.’

The tears rose in her throat as her husband declared his innocence to his friend. But not to her. Never to her, for she did not deserve it. She had sold the rights to his fidelity for a pile of books.

‘Do you take me for a fool? I saw you plain, through the window. She was naked before you, in broad daylight.’

‘It was not as it appears.’

‘It never is,’ Timothy responded drily. ‘I believe you said that the night of the fire, as well. And I heard the whole thing clearly, although I did not see. Can you not, for once, favour me with the truth? I will at least admit that, given a little more time and the co-operation of your wife, the scene you witnessed, which was truly nothing, would have been exactly what it appeared.’

‘How dare you.’ Adam’s fury was cold. He appeared ready to strike and Penny rushed to his side to take his arm.

‘Adam, nothing happened. And no one knows of any of this. Please.’

Tim laughed, ‘So what are we to do, then? Do you wish to challenge me, or should I challenge you?’ And then he muttered something in Welsh that she did not understand, and spat upon the floor.