Page 61 of An Arranged Marriage with a Mad Marquess
“Mm-hm. I saw you leave early last night, and I saw how distressed you seemed.”
Patrina bit her lip, glancing away. She remembered very little of her rush through the crowd the previous night. She must have been in quite a state – cold air coming off her in waves, her hem muddy and wet, her hair blowsy and dishevelled. She could faintly remember a few people trying to speak to her, but she’d only pushed past them, shaking her head. Her odd behaviour would certainly have been remarked upon.
She wondered if Neil had joined the party afterwards. Nobody had come up to Patrina’s room, and she wasn’t sure if she would have liked them to do so, or not.
Emma, of course, would have been busy making sure the party went smoothly. But what about Cynthia? Part of her had hoped, too, that Neil would come to find her, and they would talk things over and make everything all right again.
Childish, Patrina. Very childish.
“Neil did not return to the party, by the way,” Clayton said, almost as an afterthought. “I did not see him go, but at some point, I noticed that his chair was empty. That wretched steward was gone, and of course I gavehima good scolding when I saw him next. Cynthia took Neil up to his room, as it turned out. I think we ought to have cancelled the soiree after all, seeing as the Lord and Lady of the hour disappeared quite mysteriously. And yet, Lady Ashworth has invited us all to a dinner party. Foolish, I think.”
Patrina frowned, glancing up at him. “How did you know about that? Even I didn’t know about that.”
Clayton barely missed a beat. “I opened a letter addressed to Neil and you by accident. I do hope you’ll forgive me.”
By accident. A likely story.
Patrina carefully said nothing. She wished he would go. Without the sound of music filling the air, the room was deathly quiet, and entirely too still.
“You must miss London a great deal,” Clayton said, almost absently. As if it were an afterthought. “Nobody would blame you, you know, if you chose to return.”
Before Patrina was forced to reply, a figure appeared at the door. Lucy. Patrina bit back a sigh of relief, and leapt up from the piano stool.
“Ah, Lucy, there you are. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss, Clayton?”
The man’s eyes narrowed, just for an instant, but he rose gracefully, making her a neat bow.
“Nothing, I think. Good day to you, my dear cousin-in-law.”
He left the room immediately, pushing rudely past Lucy as he did so. Patrina bit her lip hard, swallowing back a sharp retort.
“I didn’t know you wanted me, your ladyship,” Lucy said carefully. “You didn’t ring the bell, and when I came to your room, I couldn’t find you. I’m sorry if you were looking for me.”
Patrina shook her head. “I wasn’t. I… I was just glad to see you.” She retreated to the padded window seat and gestured for Lucy to sit down beside her. “Tell me, what do you think of Lord Clayton Tidemore?”
Lucy’s expression tightened. “I don’t like him, your ladyship. I know he’s your relative, and Lord Morendale’s cousin, but Idon’tlike him. I’m sorry if that offends you.”
“It doesn’t. I find myself disliking him as well, though I cannot quite articulate the reason for my sentiments. He… he keeps encouraging me to go back to London. I believe that he and his mother are trying to cause a breach between Neil and me. Do you think I’m being foolish?”
Lucy thought for a long moment. “They’re a strange pair,” she said at last. “The other servants don’t care for them, not one bit. It’s odd, sometimes – they’ll say that a servant might walk into the room where Lord Tidemore and his mother are having a conversation, and they’ll stop abruptly, and look frankly rather shifty. Perhaps it’s just our imagination. But I’ve seen both of them watchingyou, your ladyship, and I’ve not liked what I saw in their eyes.”
Patrina swallowed hard. This was not particularly encouraging, but nothing that she hadn’t already considered herself.
“They might not need to try to create a breach between us,” Patrina found herself saying, voice wobbling.
Lucy’s mouth turned down at the corners. “Oh, your ladyship, don’t tell me that things are bad between you and Lord Morendale.Areyou going back to London?”
“No, no, it’s more complicated than that.”
Patrina drew in a breath, and then everything came out. The conversation she’d shared with Neil, the things he’d said, all of it. Lucy listened quietly, her expression softening.
“Oh, your ladyship,” she murmured, when Patrina had finished. “What a lamentable situation.”
“I had thought as much," Patrina sighed. "He… he all but confessed his affections for me. I desire him to hold me in such regard. I… I believe I am fond of him in return. Is that not a commendable sentiment? We are, after all, wed! And yet he seems to think that maintaining some distance would spare me heartache. Last night, I was too fatigued to contest his reasoning. My head throbbed painfully, and he appeared… he appeared so distant. I yielded to his wishes, and perhaps I ought not to have acquiesced. Oh, mayhap Clayton is correct. Perhaps I should return to London.”
Lucy pursed her lips. “You can’t leave him to his mother and aunt. You just can’t. Lord Tidemore is not a man to be trusted. He threatened Harry, you know.”
Patrina sucked in a breath. “Hethreatenedhim?”
