Page 55 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
Doing so, she stared at the string of pearls.
“I couldn’t find a comb—” He scoffed. “I don’t remember what the comb looked like, to be honest, but if you could draw it for me, perhaps I could have one made for you.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “As I mentioned, they can’t be replaced.”
“Of course they can be. I realize they won’t be your mother’s—”
“But that’s what made them special.”
“So these will be special because I gave them to you.”
She supposed he had a point, and yet the reason he was giving them to her soured any sentimentality that might have accompanied them. “It doesn’t matter, Kip. Mick Trewlove returned to me what you lost.”
His jaw tautened. “He did, did he? And when were you going to mention that?”
“When an opportunity presented itself as it just did.”
“When did he return them?”
“Yesterday.”
“I spent all morning at a jeweler’s.”
She very much doubted he’d spentallmorning there. “I’d have told you yesterday, but you weren’t receiving when I went to your residence.”
He had the good graces to look abashed. “I was a bit under the weather.”
“I can well imagine.” Only she couldn’t, as she’d never imbibed to that extent. An occasional glass of brandy—and the cognac with Mick—was all she could claim.
Earnestly he leaned forward. “Did you say anything to my parents?”
“No.” A measure of loyalty to him had caused her to hold her tongue, but she’d also not wanted to explain doing something of which they’d heartily disapprove. “However, in exchange for my silence, I expect you to take me with you the next time you go gambling.”
He sat back. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I don’t think I am. The other night I saw a side of you I’d never known before, that I didn’t even know existed. I need to understand what I observed, Kip.”
“There is nothing to understand. I enjoy gambling. Granted, I usually have better luck, but that’s not something one can control—which is what makes it so thrilling.”
“You’re going to continue with it after we’re married?”
“Naturally.”
“Then I need to experience it with you so I can comprehend all the ramifications.”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“When you lose my valuables, it has everything to do with me.” Balling her hands into fists, she planted them on the table and leaned forward. “Do you not understand how much it frightened me to see you as you were the other night? You were a man I did not know, did not recognize.”
“What does it matter what sort of man I am at the gambling table when I behave as you expect at the dinner table?”
“Because how am I to know when that vile creature from the other night will suddenly make an appearance in my parlor . . . or worse, in my bed.”
“Vile?”
She swallowed hard, striving to stop the sudden pounding of her heart. “It was awful. I fear I’m on the verge of marrying a man I truly do not know, that what I know of you doesn’t go below the surface. That I do not know your true depths. That’s the reason I want to go with you, to see if the other night was an aberration or merely another side of the man I might wed.”
“Might wed? In the carriage you mentioned not marrying me, but I assumed you were being overly dramatic.”
