The Complicated Earl by Audrey Harrison

Author:Audrey Harrison [Audrey Harrison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nov. Rom
Published: 2013-02-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Tom travelled up to Hampshire by carriage. He had considered riding, but decided that he needed time to think and riding cross country for a few days did not give the same opportunity for deep contemplation. He had been surprised to receive James’s invitation and he had as James had thought he would, considered the marriage as a way of recovering from his disappointment with Sophie. Tom actually felt pity for Miss Leicester, being married as second best. He had at first been of a mind to refuse the invitation, but as he took out a piece of paper to write a reply, he found he could not refuse. Isabelle would be there and he could not waste an opportunity to see her for one last time before their lives became the separate entities that they had been before James had met Sophie.

As the carriage rolled along in the green lush Hampshire countryside, he thought over what had happened between them. The feel of her touch still haunted his dreams at night. He had been with women, but none that had stayed in his memory as she had. It had taken him days to calm down after he had returned to the inn to find her gone. He had never felt so lost and angry in his life, but he had dealt with it as he dealt with everything in his usual hard way. Part of his aim on this visit was to make Isabelle regret ever running away from him. He did not know why he felt so bitter towards her, but he felt as if her leaving the inn before he returned was a rejection. If he was honest with himself he knew he was being irrational, but not one used to feeling so out of control, he had no idea of how to deal with it and found himself drawn to what would be a torturous visit.

Isabelle had been listening out for the carriage all morning. She was on edge, but determined not to show it. She had dressed carefully, musing whether it was because she wanted him to see what he had missed, but then finally acknowledging that it was to give herself confidence when seeing him again. She knew it was not going to be a pleasurable experience for either of them and wondered for the hundredth time why he had accepted the invitation. She followed Mary into the hall to greet the new arrival. James was already there, shaking the Earl’s hand and welcoming him to their home. He was the first of the guests to arrive that day. Luckily for Isabelle there would be others and she hoped she would be able to lose herself in the crowd.

Tom greeted Mary and then turned to Isabelle. He bowed stiffly and she curtsied just as stiffly. She did not meet his eye, but it was an act of defiance, rather than subservience of which Tom understood immediately and felt the anger bubble up inside of him.

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