Page 42 of The Lord Next Door
Hadn’t the dressmaker said the same thing? But it didn’t mean anything in Victoria’s marriage. She was denying Lord Thurlow his legal rights as a husband—and he was denying her a real place in his life.
Victoria crossed the drawing room, nodding and smiling appropriately as she passed several people. Lord Thurlow was talking with two other men, so she waited where he could see her. When she finally got her husband’s attention, he smiled at her with an excitement she’d never seen before. But she knew it wasn’t about her—it was this Southern Railway business.
Was she actually jealous of an investment now?
“My lord, might I speak with you in private?”
“Of course.”
He gave their apologies to the other men, and then he took her arm.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
But he wasn’t looking at her as he spoke. His gaze was for the railway directors, and the success of whatever event this actually was.
She sighed. “Is there a place we can be alone for a few minutes?”
Now she had his attention. He watched her with the beginnings of a concerned frown.
“Of course. I know where the library is.”
He escorted her from the room, and soon the noise of two dozen people speaking at once faded away. The library was at the end of the corridor, and when they were inside, he closed the door and leaned back against it.
“What’s wrong, Victoria?”
She looked about her at the thousands of books lining the walls from floor to ceiling. She didn’t know where to start, how to make him understand her position without angering him.
But she was already angry enough for both of them.
She decided to be direct. “I just learned we’re to host a party for your railway directors.”
He nodded. “It was planned long before our engagement. My steward has everything under control.”
“But I will be your hostess. That was one of the reasons you married me. Am I correct?”
“That is true for any wife, Victoria. You’re saying I should have remembered to tell you about the dinner party.”
“Yes. Usually a wife does the planning, not the steward. I would have enjoyed helping you with something I actually know how to do.”
He linked his hands behind his back. “That never happened in my household, since my mother was so ill.”
Her anger slipped away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“I don’t mean to keep putting you in these positions,” he said.
His eyes were sincere as they stared down at her. They made her want to believe everything he said. She would gladly melt into his embrace—
And then he’d get away with not explaining the rest. She took a step back, and his eyes widened. Did he know how easily his face swayed a woman?
“I have more questions, my lord. All of these women know about the Southern Railway except me. I thought it was just an investment of yours, but that can’t be true.”
“It started that way, yes,” he said, beginning to pace back and forth in front of her. “But I discovered that I enjoyed the railway business, for the reasons I gave you when I first took you to the office.”
“It’s England’s future; I understand that. But why wasn’t investing enough for you?”
“Because when I had the majority shares, I thought I could make more of it. There are dozens of railways throughout England, all of them running their own little line with a different gauge track, their own little kingdoms. You haven’t ridden a train, so you don’t understand. Often, when you reach a town, you have to leave one train, cross town by carriage, and board another train from a different railway company. The time lost is ridiculous.”
“But surely the train saves so much time as it is.”
