She spun to face him, pinning a bright smile to her lips. “Lord Sidmouth. I confess, I am surprised by your call.”
He moved toward her. Slow, measured paces. Giving her all the time in the world to retreat. But she stood firm, holding her ground. It would not do to show him how much his mere presence affected her. She could be strong.
Strike that. She must be strong. She could not bear for him to know how much she loved him. Just how desperately her heart ached for him.
“Indeed?” he asked, studying her with his dark gaze that seemed to see too much as always. “Can you not fathom why I would wish to see you, Lady Southwick?”
Their formality was crushing her.
So, too, was the memory of the beautiful woman she had seen calling upon him not long ago.
“No, I cannot.” She remained where she was, the window at her back, the sun warming her through her layers of silk and linen. Even when he stopped toe-to-toe with her.
Even when his beloved scent washed over her, bringing with it an unadulterated rush of yearning. Of all the men she could have fallen in love with, why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be a man whose heart still belonged to another?
He watched her, his countenance impossible to read. “We left matters between us unfinished. Do you not think?”
“I think we left them quite finished,” she countered coolly. “We agreed to a fortnight. Nothing more.”
“We did agree to that, yes,” he said, his gaze dipping to her lips. “But there are other agreements we did not make, my lady. Agreements I cannot help but to feel it necessary to revisit.”
Gooseflesh prickled on her skin. There was something decidedly ominous about him. Something purposeful as well. When they had met as lovers, he had always been tender and sweet. The man before her now was guarded, the slash of his jaw clenched.
“I cannot imagine what other agreements you speak of, Lord Sidmouth,” she said, hating the tremor in her voice.
The arrival of refreshments was just the distraction she needed. Hastily, she sidestepped Tom and thanked the servant who had brought a tray of biscuits. She occupied herself with placing several on a plate as the door clicked closed, leaving them alone once again.
She was not hungry. Her appetite was nonexistent. But she needed something to do with her hands. Somewhere to look other than at him.
“Hyacinth.”
His voice made her freeze, as did his use of her given name. He had crossed the room without her being aware of it. Now, he stood within arm’s reach once more.
She extended the plate toward him. “Would you care for a biscuit, my lord? Shall I ring for tea as well?”
He shook his head slowly. “I did not come here for biscuits and tea.”
Of course he had not. She knew that. So did her rapidly beating heart.
“What did you come here for?” she asked.
“The truth,” he told her, grim.
His words seemed to hover, suspended in the air between them.
Surely he did not mean what she thought he implied? How could he know? She had told no one of her state save Lottie, and Lottie would never…
Dear, sweet heavens no.
Lottie would, she thought. Especially if Lottie thought it was for the best.
Still, she was going to brazen this out. She had no other choice. “I am afraid that all I have to offer today is biscuits, Lord Sidmouth.”
“Once, you called me Tom.” His voice was low. Laden with intimacy. “Will you not do so again?”
It was like a velvet caress over her body, warming her from the inside out.
She swallowed, tamping down unwanted sensations. “I do not think it wise to be on such intimate terms with each other now that our agreement is at an end. Our fortnight is long over.”
He inclined his head, still watching her, his stare impenetrable. “What if I want more than a fortnight from you?”
It was the same question he had asked before, that wondrous, awful last night they had been together at the Duke of Brandon’s home.
Hyacinth shook her head. “I am afraid my answer must be the same now as it was the last time you asked me that question, sir.”
“Why, Hyacinth?” He clasped his hands behind his back, studying her face.
“Because we are friends and neighbors, nothing more.”
Liar, said the voice inside her. The one she had been doing her utmost to silence. The one that told her to betray her pride