A Rogue No More - Lana Williams Page 0,79

her expression was far worse.

~*~

Annabelle hurried out of the publishing house, telling herself to breathe, hoping the tingling numbness of her limbs wouldn’t prevent her from gaining the privacy of the waiting hackney. She didn’t look back to see if Lizzie followed.

Blast Thomas and his change of heart. While she’d been the one to suggest they postpone publishing her second novel until the murders were resolved, she hadn’t thought for a moment that Artemis Press wouldn’t publish it at all.

Did he not realize this threatened the fragile beginning of their life together? At least, it did for her. Had this been his attempt to tell her that he didn’t want her to write anymore?

Dear heaven, she thought as her breath caught on a sob. How could she marry him now?

“Is all well, miss?” Lizzie asked as she settled onto the bench beside her and the hackney lurched forward.

“No.” Not at all. She pressed a gloved hand to her lips to hold in a shuddering cry.

Had he decided the novel wasn’t as good as he’d originally told her? Had one of his brothers read it and disliked it? While she knew not everyone would enjoy it, that didn’t mean it was poorly written.

Ideas for stories flowed when she was happy and knew others enjoyed what she wrote. Those first moments of success with the chapters in the broadsheet had given her such joy and filled the well of creativity within her, spurring her on. She’d never experienced anything like that before. That was until she became involved with Thomas. He’d brought her happiness as well.

“Is there anything I can do?” Lizzie tilted her head to the side, concern wrinkling her brow.

Annabelle shook her head even as she held a hand against her aching heart. Books were something she and Thomas enjoyed together. At least, she thought they had. Without that common thread to bind them, what did they share? What would they talk about in the years ahead? How could she trust Thomas with any part of her life if he didn’t support one of the most important ones?

The thought shattered the delicate hope she’d held that they might have something special together.

She pressed her lips tight to hold back a sob. This was her worst fear come to life. The reason she hadn’t wanted to marry. With Thomas, she had begun to believe that worry was groundless. Now what did she do?

How could she marry a man who didn’t support her dream?

~*~

Thomas swirled the last of the port in the crystal glass, only to set it aside. Spirits had done little to ease his anguish in the two days that had passed since he’d seen Annabelle. Imbibing more seemed unlikely to change that. He glanced about Boodle’s with little interest. He had no desire to play cards or dice or any of the other vices he used to enjoy. It seemed he truly had lost his taste for his previous way of life.

All he wanted was to be with Annabelle, but he had the feeling she wasn’t ready to be with him if she ever would.

If only he could think of some way to resolve the mess. But each strand of the tangled knot he contemplated pulling on to loosen the situation would only worsen it. That was something he couldn’t risk. It seemed as if he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

The silence from Annabelle since he’d cancelled their contract made matters worse. The fact that she hadn’t argued or protested or sent a message suggesting they meet to further discuss it worried him. He’d thought she would insist he honor their agreement.

No doubt the circumstances caused her to reconsider their betrothal. He drew a deep breath to ease the sudden ache in his chest the worry brought, only to discover it did no good.

Losing her as his future wife was preferable to risking her life, but the realization brought little comfort.

The club wasn’t especially busy this evening. As if sensing his foul mood, his fellow members kept their distance, leaving him alone. Voices drew his notice from the doorway, and he glanced up to see Lord Thornton pausing to speak with others about Wellington’s efforts to lead the coalition to defeat Napoleon, something that was topmost on everyone’s minds.

From what Thomas had witnessed, the man rarely went anywhere without Sir Alexander. Now that Thomas knew what a despicable person the knight was, he had to assume Thornton was much of the same ilk. Did