Page 64 of The Lady's Last Mistake
Their argument last night had merely stoked their tempers and with their blood high, things had gotten out of hand. It didn’t mean anything. It certainly didn’t to Grant.
Gripped by sudden restlessness, Cassie rung for a maid. Though it was still early, the staff would be awake and preparing for the day. She needed to dress and go home. Grosvenor Square was so close, she could see the rooftops of its houses from the guest room window. Mr. Youngdale might have followed her home, but by the light of day, she didn’t feel nearly as afraid as she had after seeing that coach slowly roll past her own. She was safe, while Isabel wasn’t. There was work to do if they were going to find her.
The maid came to help her back into her gown, alreadyhaving freshened it, and she was bringing up Cassie’s hair when Audrey knocked upon the guest room door.
“Tell me you’re not leaving already. I thought we’d take breakfast together.”
Cassie sat still as the maid pinned her hair and avoided making direct eye contact in the mirror with her former sister-in-law. Surely, Hugh had told her what he suspected happened in the study.
“I’m not very hungry, and I should return to let my staff know I am safe. Thank you for allowing me to stay the night.”
Audrey came to stand near the maid. Several beats of silence passed. Finally, Cassie gave in. She looked into the mirror, and the viscountess’s brow arched with mischief.
“That will be all, Ann, thank you,” she said, dismissing the servant after the last pin was placed.
Cassie sighed as the maid left. “Hugh told you.”
Audrey moved to a set of chairs near the fireplace. She appeared more tired than usual as she sat, and Cassie suddenly felt guilty for having imposed on them last night.
“He suspected that Grant may have…” She waved a hand. Cassie spun around in her chair to face her.
“He kissed me.” The confession sent a surge of unexpected trembling down her arms and up her back. Thinking about it was one thing; speaking of it was another entirely.
In her chair, Audrey sat up a bit taller. “You gave him permission to do so?”
Briefly, Cassie recalled parting her lips and welcoming the thrust of his tongue. She’d moaned against his mouth, and while she’d at first been humiliated at making the involuntarysound, it had only seemed to make Grant clutch her more possessively.
She nodded. “I did.”
The viscountess blinked a few times and seemed at a loss for words. Though only for a moment. True to her style, Audrey got right to the point. “So then these courtship rumors are true?”
A spate of panic cinched Cassie’s throat. As close as she was with Audrey, she couldn’t tell her about Grant’s scheme to put off his father’s demands, or his threat to expose her involvement with Hope House if she did not go along with it. Not only would it reveal Cassie’s secret life, but it would cast Grant in an awful light. And well it should! Gracious, had she lost all her wits? The man was a reprobate for intimidating her into this entire fiasco. If he’d simply turned a blind eye to what he’d found at Hope House when he’d come to treat Dorie, none of this would have happened. Instead, he’d found a way to manipulate the situation to his benefit. Good lord,whyhad she allowed him to kiss her?
And despite everything, why did she so desperately want him to do it again?
Cassie shifted in her seat, then stood up. “I don’t know.”
It was a pathetic answer, and Audrey’s stern look said as much.
“Do you have feelings for him?” she asked. “Real feelings, I mean.”
Cassie frowned. “As opposed to false feelings?”
Did Audrey suspect something about the courtship ruse?
The viscountess stood, and though she was no taller than Cassie, she possessed a forbidding conviction. “No, as opposed to girlish infatuation. Years ago, before Hugh and Imarried, I suspected that you might have an interest in Grant.”
“I thought him handsome, yes,” Cassie said. “But all he had to do was speak a few times and I found I loathed him more.”
He’d been arrogant and sarcastic. Just being near him had set her nerves tingling with irritation. It wasn’t much different these days, only her tingling nerves now stemmed from something else altogether.
Audrey gave her an indulgent smile. “Yes, loathing was what it appeared to be. You certainly pushed him away with an abrasiveness you didn’t implement with anyone else.”
“What are you saying?”
“You put up walls around yourself whenever he was near,” she answered readily.
Cassie shrugged. “He was infuriating.”
