How the Scoundrel Seduces (42 page)

What if Dom
had
asked? What if he had blundered into her life again and wrenched her from everything she knew?

No, that couldn’t have ended anything but badly.

It had begun to drizzle. Since the phaeton top extended only so far, he pulled out a blanket to put over their laps to keep some of the damp off. When he took the reins in one hand so he could reach over to tuck the blanket about her, she froze.

So did he, painfully aware of his hand lingering on her thigh. He had half a mind to stop the phaeton, drag her into his arms, and kiss her until she softened and remembered what they had been to each other.

But she did remember. She’d made that clear earlier. She just no longer cared.

He drew his hand back and the moment blew away on the breeze.

A stilted silence fell over them. Mile after mile of dreary gray seeped into his blood, weighing him down. He didn’t know which was worse, being without her entirely all these years or being so close and not having her.

After a long while, she released a sigh. “Do you even regret what you did to end our engagement?”

“No,” he said tersely. He could feel her gaze on him.

“After all this time,” she said tartly, “you still think you and Nancy did the right thing?”

“Absolutely.” It was the truth. Wasn’t it?

Another uncomfortable silence stretched between them.

“Nancy regrets it,” Jane said at last. “She says she regretted it from the moment she agreed to go along with it.”

He was tempted to point out that Nancy had certainly hidden her regret well behind her triumphant marriage to George. But pointing that out would merely put Jane on the defensive again regarding her cousin. Jane seemed determined to believe Nancy some sort of saint, and until he
had more facts, he couldn’t dispute her view. Which was precisely why he had to investigate further.

“So,
are
you going to get to the bottom of Nancy’s disappearance?”

Good God, did the woman read minds? “I think I must. You made a valid point earlier. If Nancy
has
been duped by some fortune-hunting scoundrel, it would be unwise to let the matter lie.”

“You mean, because he might hurt her,” Jane said, her tone anxious.

“Because he could hurt Rathmoor Park and Nancy’s future along with it. Her dower portion comes out of the estate’s income. Any husband she takes on will want to look after her interests and won’t care what strain that puts on Rathmoor Park.” Or how much trouble it caused Dom.

Shock emanated from Jane’s side of the phaeton. “You know, Dom, whether or not I was better off without you, it’s clear that
you
were not better off without
me
.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You used to have a heart, to care about people.” She uttered a ragged oath. “Or perhaps I just thought you did. Perhaps you were always this cold-blooded, and I merely missed it.”

He bristled at the accusation. “And what is it that makes you think me cold-blooded? The fact that I questioned the need to rush off after Nancy?”

“The fact that you only seem to see the financial aspects of this. She’s a woman alone. That should secure your concern.”

“I lost my concern for Nancy the day she married George,” he snapped.

“So that’s what this is about. She married your enemy, and that made her your enemy as well.”

He tightened his grip on the reins, not sure what to say. “I suppose you could see it that way.”

“Well, she’s still my cousin and my friend, so I hope you
have enough . . . softness left in your heart toward
me
that you would search for her on my behalf if not on hers.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not so ‘cold-blooded’ as all that,” he said irritably. “Tristan and I will return to York tonight to speak with the ostlers at Ringrose’s Inn who weren’t there today. Then we’ll comb the town, see what more we can learn.” Dom shot her a hard glance. “You’ll only get in our way, so you should stay with Lady Zoe at Winborough.”

“That’s probably best,” Jane shocked him by saying.

So she was agreeing with him now? Was that because she feared he would attempt to kiss her again? Or because she’d learned what she wanted to know from him and now only needed him to find Nancy?

Either possibility chafed him.

They traveled farther without speaking, but when he caught himself humming some doleful notes from Mozart’s Requiem Mass, he winced. Damn it, there were things he wanted—he
needed—
to know from
her
. “Jane, have you been happy all these years?”
Was my sacrifice worth it?

When she didn’t speak, he looked over to find her regarding him with a stark gaze that chilled him. “You don’t have the right to ask. You didn’t attempt to find out or ensure that I was, so think whatever makes you sleep better at night.”

And she called
him
cold-blooded?

She squared her shoulders. “But I do intend to be quite deliriously happy from now on. I intend to marry Edwin and have his children and live to a ripe old age surrounded by people I care about. I assume that sets your mind at ease.”

It should have. But it damned well didn’t. Because for the first time, he saw his life laid out before him, devoid of Jane in a different way from before. And it made him want to howl and gnash his teeth.

© JESSI BLAKELY FOR TAMARA LACKEY PHOTOGRAPHY

SABRINA JEFFRIES
is the
New York Times
and USA
Today
bestselling author of the Royal Brotherhood trilogy, and the novels in the series The School for Heiresses, The Hellions of Halstead Hall, and The Duke’s Men.
Library Journal
chose her holiday Regency
’Twas the Night After Christmas
as one of the Best Romances of 2012. There are more than six million copies of her books in print worldwide.

Two of her beloved novels written as Deborah Martin have been brought back into print by Pocket Books: a revised edition of
By Love Unveiled
, available now, and the forthcoming
Silver Deceptions.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and son.

Follow Sabrina Jeffries on Twitter, join her more than 12,400 fans on Facebook, and visit
www.sabrinajeffries.com
.

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ALSO BY SABRINA JEFFRIES

By Love Unveiled

’Twas the Night After Christmas

THE DUKE’S MEN SERIES

When the Rogue Returns

What the Duke Desires

THE HELLIONS OF HALSTEAD HALL SERIES

A Lady Never Surrenders

To Wed a Wild Lord

How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

A Hellion in Her Bed

The Truth About Lord Stoneville

THE SCHOOL FOR HEIRESSES SERIES

Wed Him Before You Bed Him

Don’t Bargain with the Devil

Snowy Night with a Stranger
(with Jane Feather & Julia London)

Let Sleeping Rogues Lie

Beware a Scot’s Revenge

The School for Heiresses
(with Julia London, Liz Carlyle & Renee Bernard)

Only a Duke Will Do

Never Seduce a Scoundrel

THE ROYAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES

One Night with a Prince

To Pleasure a Prince

In the Prince’s Bed

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Deborah Gonzales

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