Page 22 of His Scandal
“Of course not. Naturally Sir Alexander did not wish to be found, either.”
“Then he might have had to marry you,” she said, wearing an impish smile.
Emmeline’s mouth suddenly went dry as a hot summer day. Marriage to a man like that? Forever knowing that he’d beenforcedto marry her? Even spinsterhood was a better option.
“I certainly would not let such a thing happen,” Emmeline said in a tight voice. “I could never hurt you like that.”
“Dearest Emmy, your happiness could not harm me. Losing one suitor of many would be a small price to pay.”
“It is of no consequence, because we were not discovered. We were able to leave the stable unseen.”
Blythe nodded, then caught her lip between her teeth. “Was Alex angry that I did not come to meet him?”
“Of course not. He understood that our father had newly returned and wanted your company.”
After a quick kiss to Emmeline’s cheek, Blythe walked to the door. “Thank you, Emmy. I will return the favor the moment you ask.”
“You will waylay strange men in the stables for me?”
Blythe giggled as she opened the door, looked carefully both ways down the corridor, then closed it behind her.
Soon Emmeline lay in bed watching the patterns cast by the fire across the beamed ceiling. But she could only remain still so long. She rolled over on her side and punched the pillow into a new position. After a moment, she groaned and rolled onto her stomach, but still her rambling thoughts would not allow sleep to claim her.
Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered Alex’s cheek against her hair, his body pressed to hers. He was so large that he made her feel delicate.
She pulled the coverlet over her head. What could he have been thinking? Surely he was just making sport of her.
But when she was with him, she felt like the only woman alive. Truly, he was gifted with this unique ability to make a woman feel like the focus of his every thought.
But he focused oneverywoman, not just her.
Emmeline covered her face with her hands. Why did he have to be intelligent? Why was there so much more beneath the surface he showed everyone? He intrigued her, and that wasn’t good.
She thought again of the poem he’d created soquickly. She wanted to giggle—she wanted to sigh at such talent being lost on a man who could not appreciate it except for its ability to seduce women.
Clifford had known the true beauty of poetry. Clifford had never abused its power.
But Emmeline had been forced to send him away.
