‘And there you go again with your twisted notions of guilt and innocence.’ Nick looked at Harry again. The man appeared to be harmless, just as he always had. But, from the first, there had been a resolute glint in his eye that did not match the mild exterior.

‘He is wondering what we are arguing about.’ Rosalind flashed a bright, false smile in the direction of Harry, and nudged Nick until he did the same. ‘So, let us go back to the game for now. We will continue this discussion when there are not so many people present.’ There was something in her tone that said they would be doing just that, as soon as the guests were out of earshot.

He nodded in agreement and thrust the last clue to Elise. ‘Here, take this.’

‘I think it is Rosalind’s turn,’ Elise responded meekly.

‘Take it,’ Rosalind said with finality, transferring her anger to Elise. ‘The last clue.’ Rosalind gestured to Elise as she walked to the front of the room.

‘I certainly hope so,’ Nick replied, then looked at the other guests. ‘But it is a two-syllable word.’

Rosalind slapped his arm. ‘I said it does not matter.’

‘And I beg to differ.’

‘Shh.’ Elise stared at them, hands on hips, as though she were viewing a pair of unruly children, and they fell to silence.

Elise mimed reaching into her pocket and removing something.

‘Handkerchief?’ someone supplied.

Tremaine glared into the crowd. ‘And how many syllables might that be?’

Elise held the object up between her fingers, then made a great show of opening it and reaching inside.

‘Bag?’

‘Reticule?’

‘Purse.’

She gave an approving nod, and then removed something from it and counted objects out into her hand.

‘Coins.’

‘Pounds.’

‘Notes.’

‘Money!’ shouted Harry, rising from his chair. ‘No surprise that this clue should come from you, Elise. For it is the only thing you care about, is it not?’

Elise’s hands dropped to her sides and her eyes narrowed. ‘Harry, you know that is not true.’

His chin lifted. ‘And I say it is. When I offered for you, your eyes fairly lit as I told you my income. And what were we arguing about the day you left? Now that Tremaine has come into his inheritance you are no longer at my side but at his.’

There was a fascinated murmur from the crowd around them, as though they were finally getting the Christmas entertainment they had hoped for when accepting the invitation.

‘You still think this is all about money, then?’ Elise laughed. ‘And so you would like to think. For it removes any blame in this from you, Harry. You, who spent all these years trying to buy my affection. If you had been less quick to give of your pocket and more willing to share of yourself, then we would not be having this argument.’

He stood up. ‘I have given you everything I can, Elise.’

‘And I say you have not. For Nicholas is the one who has given me love.’

‘Because it cost him nothing.’

Nick took another step towards Harry. ‘First I was a drunkard, then a rake. And now I’m cheap, am I?’

Rosalind pulled on his arm to draw him out of the line of fire.

Elise stepped towards her husband. ‘Even though I chose another, he has given me love and faithfulness and honesty.’

‘Ha!’ cried Rosalind, unable to contain herself. ‘If you knew-’

‘Not now.’ Nick pulled her back. ‘It will not help, Rosalind, I swear to you.’

Elise ignored the interruption. ‘But for one misstep. And that was years ago.’ She turned back to him and said, as an afterthought, ‘It was a mistake ever doubting you, Nicholas.’

‘No, it wasn’t,’ whispered Rosalind.

But Elise had returned her attention to Harry. ‘And an even bigger mistake to marry you.’ She swept from the room.

Harry dropped back into his seat, shocked into silence.

Nick turned to Rosalind, gesturing wide to encompass the mess she had made of things. ‘There. See what you have done with your little game? She wants nothing to do with him now he has insulted her. I must go and see if I can mend the damage you have caused.’

She reached for his arm. ‘That is the last thing you should do, Tremaine. Let them work this out for them selves. For it is your meddling that is the cause of half their problems.’

He laughed and pulled away from her. ‘You dare to accuse me of meddling in the affairs of others, after the games you have had us playing? You have done more than I to tinker with something you do not understand. And a fine pass it has brought us all to.’

He was following Elise out through the door, even if his mind was telling him Rosalind was right. He would be better off to wash his hands of the whole affair.

‘Go, then,’ Rosalind shouted. ‘Follow her, if her happiness means so much. Follow her, just as you always do. I hope it brings you what you deserve.’

The words struck him in the back like blows, but his feet did not slow their pace. She was right. The last thing he should be doing was following another man’s wife down the hall to offer her comfort. If she was so in need of it then it was her husband who should provide it, not some other man.

And it was not as if Harry would deny her. He had been quick enough to sense her distress when he offered for her, and it had been plain to see from the man’s enraptured expression after the wedding that his offer had had nothing to do with seizing an advantageous opportunity, and everything to do with his hopeless love for Elise.

If Nick had had the sense to keep himself out of their way the couple would have been able to solve their problem on their own. But here he was, still insinuating himself into a situation he had no real desire to join.

He stopped at the open door to the library and turned to make his retreat. But it was too late. Elise had caught sight of him. She gave a watery moan of, ‘Nicholas,’ and held a limp hand out to him.

And, as he had always done, he sighed and went to her.

‘I swear what he said is not true,’ she sobbed. ‘It was never about your money. Or even about his. Perhaps at first it made a difference. It was nice that an earl had offered for me. And I thought, Oh, Nicholas shall be so jealous, when I accepted. For he could give me much more than you could back then. But mostly I was afraid that no one would want me at all.’

Nick nodded and sat beside her, putting an arm around her shaking shoulders.

‘But once we were married it changed. He was so good to me, and so kind. I could not help having tender feelings for him. I felt very guilty about it at first. For it seemed like a final betrayal of what we had together. And that is why I have worked so hard to see that we remained friends.’

‘And I have always been your friend in return.’ He gave her a small hug. ‘For I did not wish you to think you had been abandoned, just because your future did not lie with me.’

‘But now?’ She shook her head. ‘I wonder if it has all been a mistake. Does he really care about me at all?’

‘I am sure he does.’ But why was the ninny tarrying? If he wished to keep his wife he must come and tell her so. ‘Perhaps he is not good with words.’

‘He was good enough with them back in the drawing room.’ He could feel her tense. ‘I think he has finally given me the truth of it, just as I wanted him to. But why did it have to happen in front of all those people? He thought me a fortune-hunter, and in secret he regrets marrying me. He is wrong. But I love him enough to want him to be happy, and to have a wife he respects. And a family. And that is why I cannot go back.’

Nick held her as she composed herself, and silently damned her husband to seven types of hell. If he could not come and force some sense into his wife, then at least he might have given Nick more powerful ammunition to defend him. For after the debacle in the drawing room, her assessment of her marriage appeared to be accurate.

‘He cannot mind your spending too much. Even while you are away he supports you, does he not?’

‘He is obligated. And I have accepted it because I could not think of another way. But I certainly cannot take his money after what he has said.’ She paused, and then drew closer. ‘Whatever might happen in the future, I cannot live as a burden on Harry any longer.’ She paused again. ‘Nicholas, do you remember our discussion before we came to this house, and my promise to you?’

‘Vaguely.’ He felt a wave of disquiet.

‘When I said that if you did this for me there would be no more barriers between us?’

‘Yes.’ No. At least he did not wish to remember what he was sure she must be talking about.

‘I may never be free by the laws of the land, but my heart has no home.’ She paused again. ‘It is yours if you still want it.’

After all these years, how could he tell her that he did not? She had expectations of him, just as surely as if he had offered for her. If her husband would not have her, then it was his responsibility to take on her care. Even if they did not marry, he could offer some sort of formal arrangement that would give her security. It would make her little better than a mistress in the eyes of society, but that could not be helped. Perhaps if they left London they could leave the scandal behind as well. But wherever he lived, it would mean that he could have nothing to do with Harry Pennyngton’s sister, for the sake of all concerned.

‘Of course, darling,’ he said, closing his eyes and accepting the inevitable.

And he felt the relief in her, for she must have suspected by now that he did not want her either. He did not have the heart to tell her she was right.

She looked up at him, obviously expecting something. ‘Is this not worthy of a kiss?’

‘Of course,’ he said absently, and kissed her.

She was still looking at him in the same strange way. ‘A real kiss, Nicholas.’

‘That was not?’ He tried to remember what he had done.

She was smiling sadly. ‘It appeared to be. But it was an attempt to save my feelings wrapped up in a pretty package. Can you not kiss me as though you mean it?’

‘Now?’ There was an embarrassing squeak in his voice that undid all his efforts at urbane sophistication. Kiss her as if he meant it? Now was as good a time as any. It was long past time. For how could one tell the person that the world had decided was one’s own true love that one longed for freedom to marry another?

‘Yes, Nicholas.’ Her lashes were trembling, and there was a hitch in her voice. ‘I can never go back to Harry. It is quite impossible. But that does not mean that I must be alone for the rest of my life. On my darkest days, I feared that there was some deficiency in me that rendered me unworthy of true love. Perhaps there was some flaw in my character that had left me without heart. At such times it has been a great comfort knowing that your love remained true after all these years. I would tell myself, If my husband does not want me, then at least there will always be Nicholas.’

He closed his eyes, trying to look as if he was gratefully accepting the compliment that all but sealed his doom. Did she not recognise the difference between love and flattery when it was right before her? It was not possible that Harry was devoid of the emotion that she was so convinced he held for her in abundance.

She held out her arms to him and closed her eyes, looking no happier than he felt.

What had that imbecile Harry hoped to prove by behaving as he had in the drawing room just now? And why would he not swallow his pride and come and get his wife this instant? Tremaine had a good mind to find the fellow and punch him in the nose.

He stared at the woman in front of him, stalling for time. ‘Perhaps it would be better to wait until we are back in London.’

She searched his expression, trying to read the meaning in it. Then she leaned forward and touched the lapel of his coat, and dropped her gaze so that he could not see her expression. ‘If we are to do it at all, there is no reason to delay. I cannot wait for ever in expectation that things will change between my husband and myself. It will soon be a new year, Nicholas, time to put the past behind me. And I think things will be easier between us once we have jumped this particular hurdle.’

‘Oh.’ His hand shifted on her shoulder, and he could not help giving it a brotherly pat. It wasn’t terribly flattering to have the act of physical love viewed as a hurdle. If she would admit the truth to herself, she would see that she wanted this even less than he did.

‘Yes. I am certain of it.’ But her voice didn’t sound the least bit certain, and he feared there were tears at the edge of it.

‘If you are sure, then,’ he said, and waited for her to come to her senses.