De Warenne Dynasty 10 - The Promise by Brenda Joyce

Author:Brenda Joyce [Joyce, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HQN
Published: 2010-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

She inhaled. She did not want to lie to Blair. “It must have slipped my mind,” she said, turning to study the crowd. She was surprised to see Ariella and her husband, then relieved to have a new subject to digress upon. “Ariella is here, with St. Xavier.” She was thrilled to see her friend. She had never needed her more. Ariella had actually called that afternoon, but in her exhaustion Elysse had fallen asleep, and Matilda had sent her away.

“Ah, yes, your sister-in-law.” Blair was wry. Then he murmured, “And I do believe that is your husband with them.”

Elysse tensed impossibly. Alexi stood with St. Xavier, dashing and handsome in a tailcoat, chatting pleasantly with a dark-haired woman. She was incredulous. What was he doing there? Had he come on purpose, to annoy and unnerve her? She had asked him to accompany her when she went out—not to appear separately at the functions she was attending! She had no wish to see him now. He would erupt when he saw Blair. And he did not look as if he had spent a sleepless night. His smile seemed genuine, his spirits seemed high. Apparently, their quarrel had not bothered him!

The ramifications of his presence struck her hard. She was with Blair, not with her husband. Was Alexi escorting another lady? She prayed not. In any case, everyone at the opera would remark this circumstance.

Blair murmured, “You seem distraught, Elysse.”

“Why would I be distraught?” she managed, unable to look at Blair, her gaze on Alexi.

He leaned close. “Because he is with someone else and you are jealous?”

She jerked around to face him. “I am not jealous, Thomas,” she said, but her tone was high and those closest to them turned to look at her. She flushed. She had been overheard, and that would add fuel to the fire. “Alexi does as he pleases—he always has. I am quite used to it.” She took his arm possessively and smiled brightly at him, recovering her facade of composure. Or so she hoped.

Blair seemed dubious. “He is hardly ever in town, so how can you be accustomed to anything he does? I thought your marriage solid, but your reunion yesterday was one of the most anxious I have ever witnessed.”

She did not know what to say. “We have an unusual marriage,” she managed at last. “But it is solid, Thomas, very solid,” she lied, desperate to convince him.

The look he gave her told her that he did not believe much of what she claimed. “I hope,” he finally murmured, “that you have begun to have real affection for me, regardless of any feelings you might harbor for Captain de Warenne.”

Her alarm knew no bounds. This was not the time to confess to any feelings at all—not with Alexi standing just out of earshot, not with the passersby noticing her and Blair standing together, apart from her husband. Of course she was fond of Blair. But her gaze shot back to Alexi. He had yet to notice her or Blair.

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