Regency Collection 2013 Part 1. Louise Allen

she will use it against you. Once she finds a chink in your armour, she will strike there, to bring you all the pain she can. That is the only reason that she wants Adam back, now that he has finally come to his senses. It amuses her to drive a wedge between me and my oldest friend.’

      Penny seized on the only hopeful note in the speech. ‘So they are no longer together?’

      ‘Not for some time. But she is persistent, and I feared he would weaken. When he returned from Scotland with you, I was much relieved.’

      Penny shook her head. ‘It is no love match. Do not expect him to choose me, should there be a choice to be made.’

      ‘And yet, he says he did not marry for money, and I believe him.’

      She weighed the truth, and the burden of keeping the secret from one who could help her understand. At last she said, ‘We are married because I tricked him. I needed a husband to gain control of my fortune. When I found him, he was face down in a coach yard. It appeared he had tried to throw himself beneath the carriage and make an end of it. He said something about gambling and bad debts when he was sober enough to talk. But he was far too drunk to know what was happening at the time of the actual marriage.’

      ‘It was not binding, if he was too drunk to agree.’

      ‘That was what I thought. I offered to let him go. But he felt an obligation. I needed a husband, and he needed money. And since we were already married, we struck a bargain and came back to London.’ She looked sadly at Timothy. ‘I am sorry to disappoint you, if you were expecting a grand romantic tale. But that’s the truth of it.’

      ‘Nonsense. He is yours if you want him, and Clarissa has no hope. I know him better than I know myself. And I have seen the way he looks at you.’

      She laughed. ‘What way is that?’

      ‘Like a man in love. You are good for him, Penelope. No matter how things appear, you must not lose heart, for Clarissa is no threat to you.’ Tim caught her hand and held it in his.

      She laughed. ‘You are mad.’

      ‘Adam may be too big a fool to tell you, just yet. But not so big a fool as to pass you by for that harridan I am shackled to. What happened pains him greatly, and I am sick to death of seeing the guilt in his eyes when he looks at me. Make him forget, and you will help us both.’

      ‘But why do you bother, Tim? I am sure he would not blame you if you could not forgive him.’

      Tim smiled. ‘I know how much of the blame lies with my wife. Clare angled after him for years before she finally trapped him. It was a wonder he held out as long as he did.’

      ‘But she was not the only one at fault,’ Penny said.

      ‘True enough. And try as I might, I cannot help but forgive him. I’m sure you have noticed by now that he is a most likeable fellow, especially when you wish to be angry with him. Very persuasive. Has he told you what happened, to get him sent down when we were at school together?’

      ‘No.’ She tried to hide her curiosity.

      ‘It was all my doing.’ Tim shook his head. ‘I was a heavy drinker in those days. And one night, while deep in my cups, we got to brawling with each other in a public house, like common ruffians. That was over a woman as well, for it is the only reason we ever argue. Missed curfew. And gave him the worst of it. Blacked his eye and nearly broke that handsome face of his. It was all around the school that I assaulted Bellston’s heir. Added to my lack of academic attention, I deserved a one-way ticket home. But somehow, Adam managed to convince the deans that it was all his fault. Took the whole blame. Issued the apologies, paid the bills, put some ice on his black eyes and allowed himself to be sent home in disgrace to face his father. Told me, if I loved science so much, I had best get about proving it, for with no title and no money, I would need an education to secure my future. But since he was to be duke, he could be as big a fool as he liked and no harm would come of it.’

      Tim smiled and shook his head. ‘Couldn’t well be angry with him after that. You will see what he is like, if you haven’t already. When he tries, let him charm you. You will not regret it, I promise you.’

      There was a rather loud sound of someone clearing his throat in the hallway, and then the door opened and her husband walked into the room.

      Adam glanced at them, as though not noticing anything unusual, and said, ‘I was looking for a book, for the trip tomorrow.’ He looked at her. ‘Perhaps you could recommend something?’ And to his friend, ‘Or you, Tim. For I assume that is why you are secluded with my wife. So that you may talk books, without boring the rest of us.’ There was a touch of menace in her husband’s voice that she had never heard before.

      ‘Of course,’ Tim answered innocently. ‘For what other reason would one choose to be alone with such a lovely woman? Not making you jealous, am I?’

      ‘Do I have reason to be?’

      ‘I think I might have reason to be jealous of you. But that is between you and your wife. Good luck, old friend, as if you need any more. And goodnight.’ Tim let go of her hand, and rose to leave.

      Adam watched him with suspicion. ‘Close the door behind you, please.’

      He waited until his friend had gone down the hall and was out of earshot. And then he said without warning, ‘I will not let you cuckold me in my own home.’

      ‘Would you prefer that I do it elsewhere?’ She had almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it before she realised he was serious.

      He did not raise his voice, but she could tell that his temper was barely contained. ‘You know what I meant. I would prefer not to have to kill a man over you. Especially not that one.’

      ‘Kill Tim? Adam, listen to yourself. Have you gone mad?’

      She could hardly recognise the man before her, for his eyes were dark and his face more grim than she had ever seen it. ‘Do not be flip with me. If you do not set that young puppy straight, I will be forced to deal with him on the field of honour, the next time I wander in on the two of you.’

      ‘For holding my hand? That is rich, after what he has suffered from you.’

      ‘Which is another reason I do not wish to hurt him. He has not, as yet, done anything I cannot overlook. But I suspect it is only a matter of time before I will have reason to act. I beg you to stop it, to prevent me from having to do so.’

      She rolled her eyes. ‘As if it would matter to you. From what I gather, in talking to your friends, the nobles of your acquaintance have the morals of cats in an alley. Not one wife amongst them is faithful, and all the husbands have mistresses.’

      ‘That is different,’ he answered.

      ‘I fail to see how. It is not as if we married for love, unless that is a mandatory precursor to the level of infidelity I have seen. Ours was a purely financial arrangement, and I thought we were of an understanding on the subject of sexual attachments. I told you it did not matter to me.’

      ‘And do you remember my saying, in response to you, that what you did would not matter to me? Because I did not. I was under the impression that while you intended for me to find a mistress to deal with my personal needs, you meant to stay home alone with a good book.’

      ‘So the situation is agreeable, so long as it benefits you and not me?’ she said.

      ‘I fail to see how it does, since I have not yet taken advantage of the liberties you seem so eager to allow me.’

      She grew even more confused. ‘You have no mistress?’

      ‘Not at this time.’

      ‘Nor any other …’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Since we married, you have not—’

      ‘I said, no,’ he snapped.

      ‘I do not understand.’