He beckoned her back toward him with a crook of his finger, but she didn’t move. She merely raised a single eyebrow.
“Ah, not so desirous of my company now, are you?” he asked with a small smile.
“I do not do what any man tells me, least of all the man that would try to call me to his side as he would a dog.” She mirrored his action with a crook of her finger, bringing a wry smile from him. “You want to speak to me, Your Grace, then you can come to my side.”
Edward strode forward, not once hesitating. He came to a stop in front of her, ready to speak his mind.
“My family cannot stand another scandal,” he said in a hushed whisper, glancing to and fro in case anyone else had returned to watch them together.
“What do you mean?” she said, her nose wrinkling. “You have been called a rake for years.”
“Called it, but it has never been known to be absolutely true. Tell me, have you ever seen a lady admit to an association with me? Anything at all?” he asked, watching her reaction. Her lips parted and closed, but no words passed them. “I have been discrete. Any slander against my name has always been hearsay. That is why I have not been condemned by society. Now…” He held his hands out, gesturing to his own body. “Thank you, Lady Julia, you have well and truly seen to my demise.”
“I did not think…” she paused, lifting a hand and passing it over her face before lowering once again. “Gentlemen always survive such things better than ladies. Your involvement will be shrugged off in a matter of months, mine never would be. I can remain unmarried, that is all I want.”
“Perhaps it could pass in a few months, but that is a few months too long.” He couldn’t afford for his name to be held in contempt for that long. If people discovered his other secret in that time, he would be cast out of thetonfor good. “Thetonforgive men one scandal, but no man can be forgiven for two.”
“Two? What is your other scandal?”
“That is not for discussion at this moment.” He shook his head madly and turned in a circle, thinking quickly. “What is for discussion, is what we do from here.”
“We do nothing.” Lady Julia stepped toward him, earning his gaze once again. His eyes flicked down to those lips, thinking of that kiss.
To have another stolen moment…
It was hard to tear his mind away from such a thought on this occasion. He couldn’t abandon thinking of that kiss. It was all to do with the press of her lips, the heat and the way she had mewled into that kiss. The mere thought made his body stir in wanton ways.
“Are you listening to me, Your Grace?” Lady Julia’s words made his attention snap to her conversation.
“Yes.” His lie was plainly seen through, for she narrowed her gaze. “Very well, no. I was distracted. I was thinking of that kiss.”
“Do not think of it!” she pleaded, holding up her arms. “It served its purpose. It is not to be repeated.”
“You surprise me. From the eagerness of your kiss, not only were you the one who started it, but you seemed to rather enjoy it too,” he added the latter as a whisper, watching as her cheeks blushed a deep shade of red. “Your blush would agree with me.”
“I did not enjoy it.”
“Not at all? Then why did you kiss me like that?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, making an appearance of fidgeting with her shawl. She fidgeted so much that it dropped to the ground.
As she bent down to retrieve it, Edward did too, grasping it before she could. As she stood straight, he draped the shawl around her shoulders, being careful to wrap her in its warmth.
“I mean you could have kissed me with no feeling, and still earned the ruined reputation that you wanted. You did not, My Lady.” He leaned toward her, still holding onto the ends of that shawl. “You kissed me back with passion.”
“It was not passion.” She took the shawl out of his grasp. “Thank you for…” She gestured to the shawl. He nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks. “As for what we do now, we do nothing. Your scandal will pass, and I have what I want. Our association is at an end.” She turned on her heel and marched away from him.
It cannot be. For Esther, I must stop one scandal. Or our family will be ruined for good.
“Not quite, My Lady.” His words pulled Lady Julia to another stop. “You do not know me as well as you think you do, for I am not willing to bear this scandal. There is nothing else for it, something must be done.”
“What must be done?” she asked with exasperation, turning back to face him.
“We must say that we are to be wed, My Lady.”