Nina said faintly. She flushed just a little before rallying and raising her chin. “You’re younger than I thought you’d be. Prettier, too.”
The viscount grinned. “I might say the same, my lady.”
Nina snatched her hand away and huffed. “I’m not your lady, nor a lady at all, as you well know. I’m sorry for using your name so. It was a wretched trick and I know it. I shall repay what I owe you, I give you my word—for what that is worth. I was desperate, or I should never have done such a thing. Only, I had no funds, and I had to come here to meet Alvanly, or I’d never get my money back.”
“Alvanly?” Kline repeated, his voice hard and displeased. “You’re mixed up with him too?”
Phoebe stared at him in surprise. “Max told you?”
“Everything,” Kline said, his face softening as he gave her a sympathetic smile. “And you may trust me, Phoebe.”
Phoebe let out a breath and nodded. “Yes, I believe I can, Charlie. Thank you. And yes, Alvanly is a part of this too, though Nina was not involved in the theft, nor in what happened to me. She lent him money to escape some dangerous men and he can’t pay her back unless he sells the painting. He’s on his way to Paris now.”
“Aye, with Max in hot pursuit,” Kline observed, watching Nina with interest. “Well, we’d best go after them. If Max discovers Alvanly and no sign of you, Phoebe, there might well be trouble. It’s lucky there’s a good moon tonight. If you ladies can make ready, we had best not tarry.”
“You’ll take me too?” Nina asked, regarding Kline cautiously.
The viscount snorted. “My dear, I am not letting you out of my sight. Either of you!”
The next four and twenty hours were excruciating. Phoebe tried her best to sleep as the carriage jolted and bumped through the night, lurching over the dreadful roads, but it was nigh on impossible. Even if she’d had a feather bed and the most luxurious of sleeping quarters, she doubted she’d have closed her eyes. She wished she had not left Max so abruptly, though she was glad to have discovered Nina, whom she was coming to like very much. The woman never complained during the gruelling journey, and did her best to keep everyone’s spirits up. Phoebe noticed Kline watching Nina covertly when she was not looking, a curious look in his eyes, and she suspected he was rather charmed himself.
Phoebe sighed as she returned her thoughts to Max. As disappointed as she had been in him, she had behaved badly—recklessly as usual. No doubt he would be all too pleased to release her from their engagement after what she’d done. He must realise by now what a bad bargain he’d struck. She supposed that thought ought to comfort her for she could not bear to hurt him, but she felt too sorry for herself to find any relief in it.
Well, she would not marry. Nina had chosen not to marry again. Better that than make a disastrous mistake. She would be ruined, and her parents would be disappointed for her, but not surprised, she suspected. There had always been an inevitability about it, and there was freedom in such a state that would not be unwelcome.
Her illegitimacy had always tainted her as far of many of the ton were concerned, even if they feared the consequences of treating her with less than respect too much to ever mention it aloud. It was always there, in their eyes. It would not make so much difference, Phoebe supposed. The people she already knew disapproved of her would cut her. That seemed no dreadful loss. She could take lovers, and yet they would have no say in her life, no control over her. Unlike poor Nina, she was financially secure, and need not fear the future.
Her mind drifted back to the night Max had kissed her, the feel of his strong arms around her, the perfection of that moment, and regret filled her heart. She had believed she had found a man she could put her trust in, one she could count on and be proud of, and who would return the same feelings, but Max did not trust her wholly and completely, as she had wished to trust him. That she must leave him, cut him from her life, made her chest feel tight with misery and she wondered if perhaps she could persuade him to be her