“Tell me what’s going on and perhaps I can help you,” he said.
While there may have been a time when she’d have believed those words, that time was gone. “Ask your question and let’s be done with this.”
He sighed. “Did Lord Arland ever mention anything to you about The Circle?”
“The Circle? Like the shape?” She lifted a brow. “We didn’t speak about children’s geometry, my lord. Both he and my education were far past that.”
He frowned. “Then you’re useless to me.”
She was glad for it and hoped that meant she’d be seeing less of him.
Before he completely shut her out, she asked, “How did you find out about Judd?”
“I found one of his letters to you. I knew exactly where you’d hide your guilt, amongst the things that are important to you. Your music. Is that why you visit your parents? So you can go back and look through your deceased lover’s letters? That must be where you hid them throughout your affair.”
She wanted to tell him the truth, that those letters had been written before Matthew had come into her life, but… what was the point? Her future was sealed, be it by her own hand or that Vicar Myers’ if she refused after the baby was born.
She’d brought none of her letters with her to Matthew’s house for fear he’d find them and grow angrier, and her parents had promised to leave her room as it was. She knew they were aware of the tension between her and Matthew. Her father was likely waiting for her return, should Matthew cast her aside.
If only he would send her home once the baby was out. At least she’d have her parents. But he wanted her completely out of the way. She worried at the lengths he was willing to go to see it done.
“I might burn it when I’m finished with it,” Leo said.
She shrugged and looked away. “Good. Burn it. Burn them all.” She’d been a different woman when she’d hidden the letters. Since going to Matthew’s, she’d distanced herself from Judd. Burning the letters aided in further severing their connection.
“I’m serious, Madison.”
She despised her name on his lips. She didn’t bother to correct him though. She held his empty gaze. “Trust me, my lord. I’m very aware of just how serious you are. And believe me, I will not forget.”
∫ ∫ ∫
1 3
* * *
“Did you have a pleasant time with your family?” Matthew asked as he stroked his wine glass.
Leo could tell by his tone that he didn’t actually care if Madison had a good time. What he wanted was her gratitude.
She gave it without a fight. “I did. Thank you. I wish to go again tomorrow.” She had to speak over the crowd at the table. Matthew had invited his friends from the tavern. Leo hadn’t known there would be more than the three of them, but it didn’t seem to matter to Madison.
She was calm as she stirred her soup. Her eyes flickered to Matthew’s cup every once in a while. He was on his third glass. She sat across from Leo with Matthew between them.
He’d been aware of their interactions all evening.
Matthew was drinking more than he ate. Leo never would have noticed it had Madison not brought the issue to his attention.
She hardly consumed anything at all. Leo felt troubled by that at well. She was carrying another person. Surely, she and the baby needed more than two spoonfuls of soup?
He told himself it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. What were one child and its traitorous mother compared to all the lives he could save if he found out Arland’s truth?
Sadly, his conscience, as Madison so beautifully called it, was opposed to hurting children.
“I’m sure Lord Leo can take you?” Matthew said, sending a smile to Leo.
Leo nodded in his direction. “I see no reason why I couldn’t. I’ve a meeting with Lord Cumpterton anyway.”
“How did he react, seeing you again?” Matthew asked.
Leo shrugged and smirked. “I could be speaking to one of your classes very soon.”
Matthew’s eyes widened. “You?”
Leo sipped his wine. “I could teach the whole course if I wished.”
Matthew’s astonishment rose. “Could you? But don’t you need a doctorate for that?”
He noticed Madison glance in his direction. Her comment from earlier came to mind. “You studied philosophy. What sort of assistance do you believe you could offer me?”
“I’ve two doctorates from Oxford,” Leo shared. “I even studied biology.” He cut his eyes over to Madison and found her gaping at him.
But she hurriedly looked down at her plate again.
“Well!” Matthew slammed his fist on the table. “It’s a good thing you’ve already given us all the answers to the coming test. With you up front, I’m sure we’d pass with ease.”
They laughed, all of them completely unaware that Lord Cumpterton’s daughter sat at the table and had digested those words better than her meal. She looked at Leo and narrowed her eyes. Then she shook her head.
Leo’s heart pounded. He was ready to curse. He’d done so well to avoid these sorts of situations. He took pleasure in nothing. Nothing! And then Lord Cumpterton had come back into his life.
He remembered Leo. He thought well of him. He was proud of who Leo had become.
This was not good, because now Madison had leverage over him. She had power, for surely. she knew that Leo did not want to disappoint her father.
She stood suddenly. “No one stand. I’m the only lady here and I’m finished.” She smiled at the men. “You all don’t need me here. Enjoy your evening.”
They made comments about her beauty being a lovely addition to the table and begged her to stay, but everyone was aware it was all in good fun.
She left.
“She’s a terrible hag, isn’t she?” Matthew whispered once she was gone.
Leo was surprised.
Matthew frowned. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you two are at odds with one another. What did she do? Bore you to death? Snap at you? Forget her place?”
Leo thought of the best way to answer Matthew’s questions. He wasn’t ready to reveal that he knew about Madison and Arland and that he had in his possession a letter the viscount had written to her. The words had been written with great passion and longing.
They’d truly been in love, or at least Arland had been. Leo was still trying to see if Madison had a heart at all.
“She can get quite self-righteous,” Leo eventually said, remembering the tone Madison had used with him earlier that morning when she’d been ready to leave for her parents’ home.
Matthew nodded. “Yes, quite self-righteous, that one. You’d think she’d be a little more humble considering…” Matthew trailed off. “Well, we’re all human, aren’t we? Men make mistakes.” He looked down and then away. His entire demeanor became somber.
Was he thinking about himself? About his anger at Arland?
Leo wanted to help him, but at the moment, he had to help himself.
“I shall speak to her,” Matthew declared as he straightened his spine. His eyes met Leo’s. “I’ll make her regret her actions today.”
“Don’t.” Leo didn’t what was driving him to defend her, but he was doing it, nonetheless. “The baby. Let us wait until the baby.” It had to be the baby. The innocent had to be protected.
Protected in a way Leo hadn’t been by his own mother.
Matthew nodded and a small smile touched his lips. “Oh, I’ve much planned for her after that.”
Leo kept his mouth closed. He’d not tell Matthew how to run his marriage. Although, Leo hadn’t minded the heat in Madison’s words when he thought she’d been making an attempt to be faithful to Matthew. Now Leo knew she was a snake. And he would not allow her to slither away so easily. They needed to have words.
“Excuse me. I’m tired. Enjoy your friends.” Leo tapped Matthew’s chair and watched the young man smile before he stood.
Matthew’s friends
didn’t want to see Leo go, but he promised to see them again before he left Oxford.
He was rapping his fingers on Madison’s door moments later. Light spilled from underneath, and he watched her shadow move from one side of the room to the other, but she didn’t open the knock.
He parted his lips.
“Is there a reason you are here, my lord? Is there more you wish to threaten me with, perhaps?” She opened the door a second later. There was no surprise on her face.
“How did you know it was me?” he asked, taking in her appearance. She wore her night rail and a thick robe over that. The material swallowed her whole and lacked appeal of any sort.
Perhaps that was the point.
“Your knock. No one knocks like that.” Her face was pink from being freshly washed. She wore her hair in a severe bun at her nape. Her expression was dull, which he thought odd, considering she now had something to gloat about. She had the power.
But he wouldn’t tell her that.
“Actually, I did come to threaten you.”
She stepped back, making a path for him to enter.
He hesitated at her lack of fight. He pressed his lips together when the urge to thank her rose. He crossed the threshold and she closed the door.
He looked around and took in the striking difference of her bedchambers. While her former room had been full of color and personal items, this one held only the basics. It was spartan in comparison with a few baskets in the corner—one of them coming undone.
The room did not look lived in at all. Perhaps, she slept with Matthew.
He dismissed that thought immediately. Where were her things? Had she been living in this mute whiteness since the beginning of her marriage?
“I’d like you to start threatening me now, if you don’t mind,” Madison said. “Unless you want to talk about more shapes. We’ve talked about circles. Shall I help you identify a triangle or square next?”
He smiled, but he made certain to hide it before he turned to her. “Why the hurry? Is there something else you’d rather be doing?”
“No, but I’m sure you have a very busy evening ahead of you. Will you be getting Matthew drunk here or at a tavern?”
He stiffened at that. Was she naming him as the reason her husband drank to excess? How hypocritical considering all she’d done to him. He walked over to her and stopped. In the light, he caught sight of her mouth. “You’ve a crumb on your lips.”
She quickly covered her mouth and moved to the table.
Leo sniffed the air. The scent of roast meat was coming from somewhere. Was she like a chipmunk, stowing away food for winter? Why that thought pleased him so much, he didn’t know. He was glad she was feeding the baby, however.
When she was certain that the evidence was gone, she returned to her former position and cleared her throat. “Now, where were we?” If she was embarrassed about being caught with food, it didn’t show.
“You won’t tell your father about me giving the men answers to their coming examination. If you do, I’ll give Matthew the letter from Arland I plucked from your room.”
She stiffened.
He grinned. “It’s one thing to know about an affair and an entirely different thing to experience it.”
“And that is what you want?” She tilted her head. “You want to cause Matthew pain? You want him to grieve at the thought of his wife with his best friend?” She didn’t look troubled at all by his threat.
He’d clearly surprised her, but she didn’t seem to care. Perhaps she thought he wouldn’t do it.
“Matthew plans to punish you once the baby is born. Perhaps, with the letter in hand, he might find more creative ways to do so.”
She paled. Her eyes watered. And he knew he’d won.
A sickening feeling curled in his belly, but he kept it from his face. Leo didn’t usually pity women like her. They had led to the fall of nations and blackened the hearts of men.
“All right.” Her voice shook. “Are you done?” A tear fell from her eye, but she didn’t bother to wipe it away. She barely blinked. All she did was stare at him.
He nodded. “I believe I am.” He walked past her and told himself to slow his steps. He didn’t want to make it obvious that he was running away.
“I wouldn’t have told him anyway,” she said.
“What?”
“My father.” Another tear joined the first. “He likes you.” She swallowed. Her mouth trembled. “And since you won’t be here long, there's no reason to break his heart.” She cleared her throat and straightened. “There’s no reason everyone around here should be unhappy. I will be disappointed with him.”
He narrowed his eyes. Her disappointment meant nothing to him, yet he couldn’t help but know that in order for Madison to be disappointed now, she had, at one point, believed in him.
“Well, I see no reason we should continue to try and be friends.”
The comment had caught him off guard in the carriage. Was that what they’d been doing all day? He hadn’t thought so, and he didn’t want her friendship. She was untrustworthy, which made her value low in his eyes.
He didn’t need her or anyone else’s acceptance. Once this matter was done with, he’d move on. “I plan to go to Arland’s home tonight. I wonder... will I find any letters from you there? I wonder how Matthew will react to those.”
She gasped, and he closed the door at that.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 4
* * *
Madison stiffened at the sound of his knock at her private receiving room.
No one knocked like Leo. The rhythm was light. The notes were soft and charming.
He’d left her alone for three days and Madison had grown used to the bliss of not having to see him. Matthew hadn’t demanded her presence at meals either, even though he’d told her to make herself available to Leo. But perhaps Leo had told Matthew that she was useless.
Therefore…
The door opened and she glared.
“It’s a drawing room, not a bedchamber.” He wore a wide smile as he strolled into the room. He didn’t even bother to look around. Had he been in here before? His gaze fell on the object in her hands. “Matthew is at a lecture. I’m bored. What are you doing?” His smile fell.
She thought about lying or saying something witty, but then decided she wouldn’t. He didn’t deserve her wit. He’d not get another emotion from her. She’d be certain not to provoke him into anger. She’d like for her last days in Oxford to be less dramatic.
“It’s a basket.”
“I know that. What I’m asking is why you are unraveling it.”
She frowned. “I’m not.” She looked down at the spokes that sat ready in the bowl of water at her feet and then up at him. “I’m putting it together.”
“Why?”
She wouldn’t tell him that. “I would ask if I can help you, but you’ve already told me I am useless, so I can’t understand why you are here.”
He was staring at the basket still but slowly those blue eyes turned to her. “I thought you remembered the rules. I ask a question and you answer. Are you refusing to answer my questions?”
Her chest grew tight, and she felt her heart begin to pound. Why wouldn’t this man simply leave her alone?
He must have sensed her fatigue, because he said, “I’ve come to let you know that I’ve yet to get into Lord Arland’s home. Apparently, Judd’s replacement moved in and I’m having trouble breaking in.”
“I didn’t know you planned to break into the house.” She turned back to her weaving. “Though perhaps I should have.” He’d entered her room without permission.
He sat down across from her and exhaled. “It’s quite a simple thing to do. In a house as large as Arland’s, someone always forgets to lock a window.”
She didn’t want to hear about any more of his crimes. She could only hope he got caught.
That would please her. She smiled and imagined him being thrown into the back of the constable’s
cart and hauled off to jail. Prisons were terrible in winter.
“I’ve never seen you sneer before.” He leaned forward. “What horrible things were you imagining happening to me?”
She dropped her smile but held his gaze.
Her fingers trembled, and tears flooded her eyes. Her vision blurred.
“Madison, I am not here to threaten you. I’ve only come to talk.”
She closed her eyes. She’d heard him and yet once she started crying, she couldn’t stop.
She’d cried the night he’d threatened her as well.
At the moment, she sobbed over the basket. She hated feelings. She hated him for making her feel so weak.
She felt something soft land on her hand and she jumped.
A handkerchief was draped over her fingers.
Leo sat in his chair a few feet away, but with no one else in the room, only he could have given it to her. He looked tense. His jaw was tight.
She didn’t know what he was thinking. “Why are you like this? Why are you hot and cold? You despise me, but then you’re kind. Is this some sort of mind trick? Are you trying to see if I break?” It was far too late for that. She was already broken.
“Please, Madison, don’t cry.”
She sucked in a breath. “Why must you bother me?”
“I came to apologize.”
She stopped and blinked until her eyes could focus. “What?”
He sighed. “I’m sorry that I spoke to you as I did the other night. I’ve since regretted it.”
“You just threatened me not five minutes ago! Don’t pretend that it wasn’t your intention when you mentioned your inability to get into Arland’s house and thus find the letters I wrote him. Had you found them, you’d have likely waved them in my face before giving them to Matthew in the hopes that he would punish me. You came to threaten me. ”
“That’s not why I came.” He shoved his hands through his hair. “I… can’t help it.”
“You’re glaring at me,” she whispered.
The Long Awaited Lord Page 7
