Read Online Silent Deception by Cathie Dunn - Free Book Online Page B

how far away from me you were?” Her tone grew sour.
    Gideon snorted. “Yes, Emmaline. And did you remember my last words three months ago? I meant them.” He paced the room, his mind whirling. Perhaps he should send a message to Trekellis, telling Minnie he’d come over later.
    Emmaline’s smile faltered. “No, you didn’t, darling. You need me.” She fanned her suddenly flushed face with a pristine white glove.
    He strode to the door and threw it open. “Wilfrid!”
    In an instant, the butler appeared. “My lord?”
    “Please bring cool refreshments for Lady Crowther.”
    “Right away, my lord.”
    Gideon turned back and stopped in his tracks. Emmaline had unbuttoned her riding jacket, revealing lacy trimmings of her underwear. The hem of her skirt also seemed to have ridden up her legs. “Good God, Em, please cover yourself. Wilfrid is returning in a minute.”
    Fury shot through him. Why now? Had he not been clear? A pang of conscience nudged him. He’d not gone away from their relationship entirely unrewarded. In fact, Emmaline’s reputation as a passionate mistress of one of his London friends had presented him with a challenge following the man’s wedding. Could he seduce the widow of a lord, the mistress of another? He had, in his selfish pride, and now he paid the price.
    Brushing away the memory, he sat on a chair, keeping his distance as Emmaline made no effort to cover herself.
    “Look–”
    “Wilfrid doesn’t know me, we’re hundreds of miles away from London, and I’m hot. So, no.” She watched him through lowered eyelids, a look he’d once found arousing. Now it simply disgusted him.
    “I meant every word, Em. I would have thought you’d have found another…benefactor by now.”
    She sat up, eyes wide. “What do you take me for, Gideon? A whore? I always insisted on us being honest, so–”
    “So you thought you could bed me into marriage, is that it? I’m afraid, you were wrong.” Shame rushed through him, yet her aggressive attitude irritated him. But it was too late in the day to send her back to London. Likely, she’d spent over a week traveling. “Why did you come here?”
    “I missed you.” Her gaze softened, her fingers running along the buttons of her jacket. “So much.”
    Gideon sighed. “I’m sorry, Emmaline. I never gave you any indication I wanted to marry. It’s not something I’d ever considered doing. At my last visit, I told you it was over, that you’d be better off seeking the company of a lord more willing to offer you marriage and security. You know all of London. It would be easy for you…with your charm, your looks.”
    “You mean my body? A body you–if I may remind you–couldn’t get enough of earlier this year.” Darts shot from her eyes as she slipped off her jacket completely. She approached him and knelt at his feet, her full breasts bursting from the lace trimmed bodice. One hand covering his, the other on his thigh, she resembled a nymph. Yet his body didn’t react. Anymore.
    “Don’t make a spectacle of yourself.” His fury had reached a point where he was close to forgetting his manners.
    A sharp knock sounded on the door. “Here’s our tea. Please get up. I don’t want Wil–”
    The door opened, and Gideon’s blood froze.
    Minnie.
    ***
    Tears sprung into Minnie’s eyes. Her vision blurred.
    “I…I’m sorry,” she muttered before she turned on her heel, dropping the diary from a limp hand. Half blinded by tears, she stumbled past a butler staring open mouthed. Her trembling fingers fumbling with the lock, she threw open the door to escape the picture in her head.
    Gideon with a half naked woman on his lap. How dared he?
    “Wait,” she hailed the stable boy before he disappeared into the stables with the mare. “I’m going back.”
    “Minnie,” Gideon’s voice hoarse, he almost ran across the hall.
    “Quick, help me up.” She urged the lad who lifted her into the side saddle.
    “Minnie, wait!” Steps sounded