Page 87 of As the Earl Likes
“I came to ask whoever was in this chamber to please be quiet.”
He laughed at her sardonic reply and then wondered why on earth he was leaving her in the corridor. “Come in!” He opened the door wide.
She wore a garnet-colored dressing gown, and her sable hair hung in a plait against her shoulder, tied at the end with an ivory ribbon. Her expression was tentative as she stepped inside.
Somehow, Sheff resisted the urge to sweep her in his arms and swing her about the room. He was just so happy to see her. “I missed you,” he said softly.
“I missed you too.” She sounded almost…shy. Which was not what he would ever have expected from her.
“I’m glad to hear it. Since you only sent one letter, I thought you were pleased to be rid of me.” Reality cut through his glee. She’d written about the dissolution of the betrothal. Because he’d been seen with a pair of women.
Sheff sobered completely. “Jo, I must tell you the truth of what happened in Weston.”
She arched a brow. “I don’t know that I need to hear it. I’d rather focus on the future.”
“But it’s important. I have remained celibate—in all ways. I haven’t so much as touched any women.”
“The gossip that you were seen with two women in your arms wasn’t true?”
“In part,” he said. “They had put their arms around me, and that was when we were seen. I hadn’t yet had a chance to extricate myself from them. And I think you must know about another woman. Mrs. Ingram—the housekeeper—said she wrote to Min about seeing a woman outside my chamber. She stayed there—outside, I mean. She thought I would be amenable to her attention.”
Her brows drew together. “But you were not?”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I haven’t thought of another woman, let alone wanted one, since I left you in London. I’ve been a fair mess, if you want to know the truth.” He attempted a smile, but feared it came out rather lopsided as he nervously awaited her response.
Response to what? He hadn’t asked her anything yet.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked.
“Why should I be? You executed the plan we discussed. Things happened sooner than I expected, but now it seems that you didn’t execute anything at all.” She searched his face. “You weren’t with any of those women? You didn’t try to stir up a scandal?”
“No. My father had a party at the Grove. I thought I would join in, that it might cheer me up. It did the opposite. It only made me miss you more. I retired early. Then I was disturbed by that woman.”
“Why did you need cheering?” she asked quietly.
“Because my heart was breaking,” he whispered, his gaze holding hers. “I fell in love with you when I wasn’t supposed to, and I was waiting for it to go away. Only, it did not. It has not. And I don’t think it ever will.”
She put her hand to her chest, her lips parting. “You love me?”
“Desperately.” He couldn’t keep from smiling, then, or taking her hand. But he stopped short after reaching for her. His conversation with Mrs. Ingram rose in his mind. “May I touch you?”
Jo took his hand in hers. “How can you love me? You have been adamant that you could not love anyone.”
Sheff moved close to her and pulled her hand up to hold it against his chest. “I love you because you are brilliant and witty, and you have stood with me through a ridiculous time. I am so sorry that I put you through everything with my stupid fake betrothal scheme. But I don’t want it to be fake.”
She held up her hand, halting anything further he might have said. His breath stalled in his lungs. She didn’t want him to continue.
She didn’t want him.
“Please stop,” she said, sounding almost breathless. “I need to tell you something before you can go on. I was on my way to Weston. Or did you not think it strange that I was here in Froxfield? That we are here on the very same night is astonishing.”
In truth, he hadn’t stopped to think about why she was here. He was simply too overjoyed to see her. “You were coming to Weston? To see your mother?”
A smile lifted her lips as she gave her head a slight shake. “Can you not believe that I was coming to see you?”
Sheff’s brain froze for a moment, and he struggled to find words. All he could manage was “You were?”
“Yes. I have something very important to tell you.” Her hand moved to her abdomen. Sheff continued to feel as though he were not entirely in working order. “We were not careful enough in London. I am going to have a baby. I am not telling you to prompt a marriage proposal, but that would be best for the child. I also needed to tell you that I love you, and if you wanted to marry, I am amenable.”
