Page 456 of Wicked Highland Heroes

“Surely you can see for yourself. I grew up and learned that those feelings were not the feelings of a long-lasting love,” she said. “Isn’t your marriage offer nothing more than you trying to revive a boy’s dream?”

“When I was at sea, I often wondered if it hadn’t been a dream,” he said in honesty. “But the moment I learned you hadn’t married I realized you were the most real thing in my life. I have loved you since you were a girl. And I recall you telling me that you have loved me since you were thirteen.”

“Thirteen!” She rolled her eyes. “Do you hear yourself? How can a girl of thirteen love a man?”

“Your kisses tell me you love me.”

“Don’t be a fool,” she said. “A woman’s kiss can lie.”

“Aye, but that does no’ mean she is convincing. And you are not a liar at heart, Jo. Only this afternoon, your father told me that he regretted not letting us marry when I came to him those years ago.”

Her mouth parted in surprise.

“Would you have regretted marrying me then?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You know I would have married you but, as I said, I do not feel for you what I did then.”

“What of our encounter earlier?”

“You are a man of the world. Don’t act as if you have never experienced passion without love.”

“That I have, but it was nothing like what just passed between us.”

“Then you are a fool,” she retorted.

“Perhaps. But I am an enlightened fool. You just confessed that you harbor no ill will toward me for leaving. You say you understand we were young and that you knew I planned to return.”

Josephine waved a hand in exasperation. “What of it?”

“I now know that your actions this last month are not because you are angry at me. Therefore, something else is wrong.”

She scowled. “That is a ridiculous conclusion. Just because I don’t hate you does not mean I love you.”

“You have forgiven me for leaving. I recognize a woman in love when I see one.”

“My God, you are arrogant. Were you always so? This is a fault I do not find attractive.”

He laughed. “I agree, we have much to learn about one another. But fifty years of marriage will cure that.”

“If you have any feelings for me at all, Nick, let me go.”

“Nay,” he said.

Something flickered in her eyes, then the look was gone, and she muttered, “You will be sorry.” She whirled and stalked toward the great hall.

Nicholas watched until she stepped from view, and knew what he had to do.

* * *

Josephine took several steps toward the sideboard sitting against the right wall where champagne waited, then stopped short. Half a dozen guests clustered in the center of the room around the last man she expected to see at the party: Lord David Wylst. The room swirled around her and she feared she would swoon. She remembered the chair located against the wall near the balcony doors and forced herself to turn and walk the few paces back, then sit down.

Her heart hammered. Her blackmailer here? What could this possibly mean—and how had he managed an invitation? Lady Allaway was a kind woman, but she was a product of society and did not deign to include in her parties anyone beneath her socially. Someone else must have invited him. But who?

Jo cut her gaze to her mother, who stood near the long dining table with Annabel while talking with Lady Croft. The Marchioness of Montagu was one of the few people Lady Allaway would be unable to refuse such a request.

Shock rolled over Josephine. Why would her mother invite her former lover to a place where she was surrounded by family? The answer slammed into her and rage threatened the control she had struggled to maintain the last month. What better place to rekindling an old affair than at a house party? Two weeks of getting lost in an ancient castle filled with alcoves and private rooms was perfect for illicit encounters. Like the one Nicholas had caught her in when she’d straddled Lord Beaumond’s thighs—or the seduction that followed where Nick had brought her the kind of pleasure she’d only heard whispered of by other women.

Another, more terrible thought doused the heat the memory elicited. What if her mother and Lord Wylst weren’t rekindling their affair, but were continuing an affair that had begun upon his return? Josephine’s mind raced with the possibilities. Had her mother been unaccountably absent any afternoons, or slipped away from any parties they’d attended? Jo racked her brain but could think of nothing suspicious. Yet the possibilities were endless. Was Lord Wylst fool enough to think she would sit idly by and watch her mother cuckold her father?