Page 55 of A Bride for the Icy Duke
Oh,yes—it was because the man in question was who everyone had presumed she would marry, back when she lived in London. Never mind that he was old enough to be her father, thereabouts, and never mind that from what he had ascertained over the past year, Lord Scunthorpe hadn’t mourned her absence in the slightest. The very fact they were there, laughing and smiling together, made his blood boil!
What was Godwin thinking, inviting the man? And tonight, of all nights, when Alexander’s hold on control was so very thin…
Not that Godwin could have known that, but it made everything so much more difficult to bear. He gritted his teeth against the scrape of cutlery against plates and the clack of spoons against bowls.
Miss Parsons leaned in closer. “Is everything all right, Your Grace?” she asked.
“Fine,” he muttered.
“Samuel and I thought there might be a good opportunity for some dancing later,” she said, with a little smile that indicated she knew precisely what she was doing. “I suggest you ask dearest Lydia before someone else does.”
Alexander inhaled, forcing his grip on his fork to loosen. His head pounded. “Do you have a particular investment in the situation?” he asked, forcing the words out.
“I? What investment couldIpossibly have?”
“Are you conspiring with Lydia?”
Miss Parsons laughed lightly. “In what manner? All her actions are her own, I assure you.”
“But youdoknow the situation between us?”
Miss Parsons’ gaze hardened. “Of course. I am one of her closest and most longstanding friends. Of course I know of the situation, and of course I wish for her to remain married to you rather than have you cast her off. This is her home, and you of all people ought to understand that.”
He frowned at the mention ofhim of all people. Of course he understood the importance of a home, but what he didn’t know was why he would have a better understanding of the concept than most. Because he didn’t feel at home here? Because his past made him feel as though he had no home? Miss Parsons couldn’t have known that, so it had to be for a different reason.
Thinking of Helena and his father merely made him more frustrated, so he looked back at Lydia, who had turned her attention to the people on either side of her.
Nothing about her behavior made him feel as though she had any lingering feelings for Scunthorpe, but Alexander couldn’t stop himself from seeing the way she had smiled at him and the way she had patted his hand.
He spent the remainder of the meal saying as little as possible and watching Lydia, and the moment the gentlemen retired to the drawing room after dinner for light entertainment, he sought his wife out from where she was sitting with her friends.
Unfortunately, so it would seem, did Scunthorpe.
“Your Grace,” Scunthorpe said, stepping aside so Alexander could go ahead.
Alexander stalked to Lydia’s side, noting with irritation the amusement on her face as she looked up at them. That was the moment Godwin began organizing the dancing Miss Parsons had promised, coming to secure her hand for the first dance, and Alexander then had a reason to approach Lydia aside from thepossessive need to claim her in front of everyone. It didn’t help that all the memories of her naked, wet body all over him were constantly playing at the forefront of his mind, and he disliked having her bestow her smiles on anyone else.
Knowing what he did about the futility of his attraction to her and any relationship they might develop, once she learned the truth about him, did not make any of the feelings in his chest go away. If anything, they burned stronger. He had to have her now, claim her now, because later he would not be granted the chance.
“Dance with me?” he said, extending a hand.
Her eyes sparked with mischief. “Is that the best you can do?”
“I would be honored,” he added, irritation and amusement combining, “if you would dance this first with me.”
“Well, as you asked so very nicely, dear husband.” She placed her gloved hand in his. “As a tribute totrying.”
He’d said that perhaps they could ‘try’,to appease her, and now he wished he had not. Now she believed there was a chance things could work out for the best, but he knew better. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to deny her. Or worse, to allow someone else to take the first dance.
“I saw you talking to Lord Scunthorpe,” he murmured, feigning disinterest.
“Ah, yes.” She smiled up at him, but there was a determined glint in her eyes. “He very kindly said hello, and I apologized for the way I left things last year.”
“You were courting him.”
“I suppose the more accurate term is thathewas courtingme. But it was never a love match. I was perfectly satisfied with the situation—no one else had offered for me, and it was a relief to know that such a gentleman wanted me.”
Alexander snapped his jaw shut. “He has been married before.”
