Page 63 of A Troublesome Circumstance

Josephine stopped dead.

He answered to the name. Why?

“Where have you been?” Lady Gwendolyn demanded. “You toyed with my affections and then vanished!”

Jude flicked his gaze towards Josephine—the briefest, apologetic glance. “Can we speak somewhere private?” he asked.

“No,” Lady Gwendolyn said, her voice rising. “I demand an explanation!”

“I was at my father’s estate,” Jude replied calmly.

Josephine stared at him, cold prickles running down her spine.

This couldn’t be.

If what Lady Gwendolyn said was true—if Jude responded to the title—then she had been terribly, humiliatingly deceived.

An earl. Posing as a gamekeeper.

And she had been made a fool.

Tears burned in the back of her eyes and Josephine spun on her heel, heading for a place that she could be far away from Jude.

11

Jude watched Josephine turn on her heel and swept out of the ballroom. His heart lurched. He took a step after her but was stopped by Lady Gwendolyn.

“What do you have to say for yourself, my lord?” she demanded.

Not now. Not her. Not this.

“I do not owe you an explanation,” he said tightly. “Now, please excuse me.”

Her eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint. “You humiliated me.”

He gestured towards the small groups of guests who were not-so-subtly watching them from behind their fans. “I daresay you are doing a rather fine job of that yourself.”

Her lips thinned to a white line. “I had it on good authority that you were going to offer for me.”

He nearly groaned aloud. “Yes, well, I changed my mind.”

He moved to brush past her, but she spun and followed him with more determination than grace.

“You led me to believe you cared for me,” she accused.

“I did,” he admitted, though the words tasted like ash. “But I do not wish to have this conversation now.”

His eyes were fixed on the rear of the ballroom where Josephine had exited.

Lady Gwendolyn grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. “Why won’t you speak to me?”

“Because I need to speak to someone else.”

Her expression darkened with understanding. “Lady Josephine?” she whispered, almost scandalized. “You have replaced me… with her.”

“I did not replace anybody.”

She dropped his arm. “Fine,” she said coldly. “Go scurry after your Lady Josephine. Just know she could never make you as happy as I would have.”