Page 55 of Lord of Fortune
Then she’d kissed him.
And that was all Amelia had been able to tolerate. She’d closed the door—quietly so as not to alert them to the fact that she’d opened the door in the first place. She regretted it entirely.
What had she expected? Penn’s reputation with women was apparently well-known. Culley had told Amelia all about it after hearing quite an earful from Penn’s housekeeper. It seemed women flocked to him, finding him irresistibly attractive. For the most part, he kept to himself, but he was a man, after all, and conducted discreet liaisons from time to time.
Had he turned to Henrietta after deciding it was best to keep his relationship with Amelia professional? It was her own fault for insisting they do that. Except, she’d made light of it when he’d kissed her in Oxford, and… And what? They hadn’t discussed any expectations and whether they would kiss again. Then he’d asked her last night, and she’d felt certain they were of a similar mind.
Apparently, she’d been wrong. Or he’d changed his mind. Perhaps she was just really skilled at driving men away.
Gritting her teeth, she turned from the glass. Culley had just finished buckling up her valise. She gave Amelia a bright smile, blissfully ignorant of the turmoil rattling in Amelia’s head.
“Ready, then?” Culley asked.
Amelia took a deep breath to cleanse her frustrating thoughts. “Yes. I imagine someone will fetch our luggage—whoever brought them up.”
“That was Egg,” Culley said.
Giving Culley a nod, Amelia departed the chamber and made her way downstairs. As she descended, her body tensed. She didn’t particularly want to see Penn this morning. Perhaps she could go directly to her coach. He did say they wouldn’t be lingering for breakfast.
But no, there he was standing near the door speaking with Mr. Jessup, his hair combed back from his handsome face, and his shirt and cravat almost blindingly white against his dark tan skin. He smiled at something the innkeeper said, and Amelia’s insides twisted with want.
Damn him.
How many times had she thought that curse in reference to Thaddeus?Too many. But at some point, she’d realized she was better off without him, even if his abrupt departure had been devastating for a time.
A thought occurred to her—she ought not carry on any sort of liaison with Penn Bowen. She was, legally, still a married woman. Thaddeus had to be missing seven years to be declared dead, and it had only been five.
Did any of that really matter? It wasn’t as if her marriage to Thaddeus had turned out all that well. Aside from the fact that he’d left her, their union hadn’t been the grand love affair she’d hoped it would be. He’d swept her off her feet when she’d been barely twenty-one, and for the first few months, she’d believed he loved her in return. Then he’d stopped coming home at night. Then he’d stopped coming home for days at a time. Then he’d stopped coming home at all.
Then the creditors had come and taken most of what they’d owned.
Oh, she knew marriage could be a happy estate—her parents and grandparents had demonstrated that. Still, she wondered why hers had gone so horribly wrong.
Grandfather had said she chose poorly. Well, she didn’t mean to dothatagain.
Penn’s gaze found hers, and his mouth lifted at the corners in a half smile. It didn’t reach fruition, however. Instead, his eyes darkened and his brow creased.
Perhaps because she hadn’t returned his expression of happiness.
Extricating himself from Mr. Jessup, Penn came over, his gaze now wary. “Good morning.” The greeting held a bit of a question.
“Good morning,” Amelia said, hoping she didn’t sound as stiff as she felt. She didn’t want things to be awkward since they had to work together.
He lowered his voice to a near whisper. “Are you upset with me?”
She blinked at him and kept up an air of nonchalance that was quite at odds with the thundering of her heart. “No. Should I be?”
Yes.
He hesitated before slowly answering. “I hope not.” He pressed his lips together. “I apologize for last night. I got carried away, and that wasn’t well done of me.”
Just as she suspected, he regretted it. “Yes, well, we won’t do that again. We’ve behaved professionally for the majority of our association, and I expect we can do so again.” She squared her shoulders. “Are we ready to depart?”
“Nearly. I’m just waiting for Henrietta to bring our breakfast so we may take it along with us.” His gaze tripped past her toward the back of the inn. “Here she comes.”
Anger flared in Amelia’s chest. Rather than turn and see the woman Penn preferred to be kissing, she said, “I’ll be outside.” She stalked quickly from the inn. Outside, the summer morning was bright and warm. She inhaled deeply, willing the scent of grass and wild rose to banish the ire burning through her.
Their two coaches were ready and waiting in the yard. Amelia’s coachman, Horatio, stood speaking with Culley, while Egg leaned against Penn’s coach, eating an apple.
