ruining women, they often ruined their own illegitimate children as well.
The door closed. She had left and I hadn’t even noticed. Miss Lamier locked the door.
The room grew quiet.
“Ginny?” Miss Lamier asked softly.
“I asked if you’re well. You look pale.”
“Yes, fine.”
She hesitated. “Ginny, am I wrong in thinking that there has been something between you and Lord Chambers?”
“No,” I whispered. There was no use in denying it. Besides, I didn’t want to lie to Miss Lamier. Not after all she’d done for me. “You are not.”
She folded her hands primly in front of her. “Is there still?”
“No,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “I swear, there is nothing more between us.”
And starting today, that was the truth.
She didn’t look like she believed me. With a sigh, she strolled toward the side table and started picking up the samples. “I do despise a relationship that lingers. If there is something between you then get on with it, if there isn’t, end it.”
“There is nothing.”
She held the samples to her chest and faced me. “Ginny, do you know how I got this shop?”
I shook my head.
“I was the mistress to a man in France. A very, very powerful man. I never thought he would marry me. It was a business transaction. I liked him well enough. But I knew that it would end. I got what I could from him…this shop, and he got what he needed from me…sex. Don’t ever expect anything more from men. They’re not capable of more.”
I swiped at my cheeks. Damn, my emotions. When had I started to cry? “I was stupid. I’m sorry.”
“We’ve all been stupid, my dear. All you can do is learn from your mistakes.” She started toward the curtains. “The next time a man wants a relationship, make sure you get something out of it…other than a child.”
The heat that raced to my face burned. Miss Lamier knew the baby was Gabe’s, of course. She wasn’t an idiot. She disappeared into the back.
“Wonderful.” How had she known? Obviously, I had not hidden my reaction to the man well. I followed her.
She threw her cloak over her shoulders. “I must go. I’m going to be late for the opera. Au revoir.”
She shut the door, locking it behind her. The shop grew quiet. Still. Lonely.
“There is nothing between us,” I whispered to myself. “Not anymore”
And I almost believed it.
Izzy whimpered in her basket. “Poor dear.”
I picked her up, cradling her close to my body. Even with my child in my arms, I felt so utterly alone. I settled in a chair near the table. Would it be only Izzy and I until the end? Our small family of two.
A stiff wind rattled the shop. Evening was falling fast. I shivered. A storm was coming. It rattled the glass panes in the window, and made the branches of the oak outside scrape against the roof. The baby whimpered in her sleep, as if she sensed the unease of the world.
So sweet, so innocent. I would do anything to protect her. The problem was, I couldn’t identify our enemies. Mr. Wrolf? The Dowager? Gabe? I could trust no one.
I lifted Izzy close, and kissed her cheek. I’d been a fool. An idiot so many times over him.
Never again.
Never.
He hadn’t come.
No letter to explain his absence.
No carriage had arrived.
No Gabe.
He’d told me to wait. To trust him. Said he’d be here for me and Izzy. He hadn’t come. And it hurt. It hurt worse than it had a year ago. I would not cry. I would not bury my hands in my face and sob. I wouldn’t even curse his name. I would unpack, and pray I wasn’t pregnant.
The click of a door opening up front caught my attention. I froze. A soft creaking moan of a floorboard interrupted the silence. Had I imagined it? Was it merely a tree branch in the wind? No. It had been inside. I was sure of it.
Gabe?
My heart slammed wildly against my rib cage. I settled Izzy in her basket. I was halfway to the curtain when I remembered that the front door had been locked. Gabe didn’t have a key. Miss Lamier? Had she returned, perhaps to talk sense into me?
I glanced back at Izzy. She slept peacefully. Sweet, innocent child. Another creak of a floorboard told me I had not imagined it after all. A shiver of unease whispered down my spine. Miss Lamier would have called out in greeting. She would have stepped with a light, feminine step, not