temperament. While Miranda had yet to lose that youthful glow, Alice wore her experience in her eyes. Cunning, beautiful eyes. She was not to be trifled with.
Miranda had her faults, and she wasn’t one to shy away from gossip and petty arguments. But Lady Alice was a widow who had lived on her own for years. A woman who ran not only her own estate, but her own life. Unlike Miranda and many other debutantes, she needed no man. In many ways she reminded me of Ginny that way.
“You do realize there are rumors your fiancé is not a virgin,” Chris said quite calmly.
He meant to hurt me. Why? Jealousy? Did it matter? I certainly didn’t like the idea that people were gossiping about my fiancé’s sexual experience. But I would be a hypocrite if I cared. And so instead of reacting as he’d hoped, I merely shrugged. “As long as she’s not with child, I hardly see why it matters.”
Christopher continued walking beside me, quiet for a few moments. I’d surprised him. Good. “You don’t mind if she has an affair on the side?”
“After the birth of our child, I don’t bloody give a shite what she does.”
“Why are you marrying her then?”
He seemed truly bemused by my response. Did he think Miranda so special that he couldn’t imagine another man not sharing his obsession? “Same reason all men marry…duty.”
“How romantic.”
I released a soft snort. “Romantic? You spent too much time in France, Chris, if you think romance has anything to do with these contracts.”
He swung his walking cane back and forth as if he hadn’t a care in the world, but I could sense the tension in his form. “Ah, right, her father has land and money you want, so that you might expand your empire.”
“Her father has money so that we can pay off your and Father’s debts.”
He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.
Did he love her? No. Of course not. He’d been at Lady Murphy’s home just the other night, a woman known for her hedonistic sexual pursuits.
Chris bowed as we reached the women. “Ladies. How lovely you look. Even the beauty of this fine, autumn day does not compare.”
Miranda blushed, while Lady Alice merely smirked. But it was Miranda’s flirtatious glance at Chris from under her lashes that made my gut clench. Shite. Were they still sleeping together? I wasn’t sure why it surprised me.
“Why, Lord Beaucount. I’d heard you were back from the continent,” Lady Alice said. “Just in time for all the debutantes to be released into the wild.”
“My lady.” He smiled wickedly at her. “And I’ve heard you are still breaking hearts all over London.”
“Impossible.” Alice smiled back. “Men have no hearts.”
Miranda looked slightly startled by Alice’s flirtatious, yet blunt comment. She might be able to take down another debutante with a sly stab of words, but next to Alice, Miranda was a minnow in an ocean of sharks. “Not my fiancé.”
“Really?” Lady Alice drawled out, her attentions sliding to me.
Miranda was being loyal, yes, but also ridiculous. I could see the mirth in Lady Alice’s eyes. We were hardly great friends, but she had heard enough to know I was as ruthless as any greedy lord. My hands curled as I resisted the urge to reach into my pocket and take out my watch. When would this all be over? I was tired of the games. So damn tired.
Alice laughed. “Indeed. Wouldn’t dare suggest your fiancé didn’t have a heart.”
But the look in her gaze said that not only would she dare, but she had. I wondered briefly if I had offended the woman and didn’t remember. She didn’t seem to care for me, not that I minded. We’d barely spoken two words since my father had inherited his title.
Lady Alice’s gaze shifted to the path behind us. “Ah, there she is. Have you met my dear friend, Lady Whitfield?”
Blast, yet another friend to welcome into the fold. Giving into temptation, I pulled my watch from my pocket. When could I drop Miranda off and be on my way? I replaced my watch as the ladies fawned over each other. I felt restless in a way I hadn’t since I was a child, needing to do something, anything, yet finding comfort in nothing.
“Lady Whitfield,” Miranda whispered in awe. With manners perfected since she was a child, she curtsied. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
Automatically my mind went through the list of names I’d been forced to memorize years ago. Whitfield