Page 55 of Surrender Your Grace
“You’re livid. I’m not sure if I should.”
“Don’t insult me further by suggesting I’d harm her,” he snapped.
“It’s fine,” Cici said quietly. “Go.”
“I’ll see you both at dinner—with Mama.”
When the door clicked shut, silence fell like a shroud.
“You said you ended it?” Cici whispered. “Did you go to her?”
“Weeks before we wed, it was over.” His voice dropped. “I saw her once after. She sent a note implying she might harm herself.”
Cici looked up, stunned. “You went?”
“I couldn’t ignore it, but I took Duncan with me.” He stepped closer. “I can call him to testify if you’d like. I can also track downany of the dozens of passengers on the train yesterday, which is when I returned to London.”There was more than a little sarcasm in his tone at that last bit.
“Andrew, I—”
“You believed two jealous, vindictive women’s lies. Who will you believe tomorrow?”
Cici shook her head. “I believe you.”
“Now, maybe, but not at first. That stings.” Spine stiff, he walked to the window and looked out. “This was a rushed marriage, but I gave you my word. I can’t defend myself every time I speak to another woman.”
“She wasn’t just any woman,” she insisted. “You were intimate.”
“Were,” he replied sharply. “That’s an important distinction. Am I not allowed a past?”
That wouldn’t be fair. She swallowed. “Andrew, I—”
He held up a hand. “Go upstairs. Calm down. I’ll do the same.”
“What if I met with a former suitor at his residence?” she ventured. “Would you be so understanding?”
He turned, eyes dark. “Don’t test me, Cecilia.”
“It’s a fair question!”
“Go. Now.”
“You’re impossible sometimes!” she exclaimed then fled before she threw something else at his head.
Cici stormed to her room, pulse hammering, throat tight. She almost collided with Maggie just outside her door.
Seeing her tear-streaked face, she murmured, “Oh, Cici,” and opened her arms.
She collapsed into them, sobbing. Her friend helped her into her room and into a chair then sat on the arm and held her as she cried.
“What can I do?”
“Nothing,” she said, her voice raw. “Everything feels broken.”
Maggie paused, searching her expression. “I haven’t seen him that angry in a long while.”
“He was more than angry. He would hardly look at me when I tried to talk to him, then he sent me to my room. I really wounded him.”
“But that means he cares,” Maggie offered gently. “You don’t wound someone who’s indifferent.”
