Promise Me by Dee Julian Page A

home.” She turned. “I have to tell him.”
    “ I wouldn’t. Not under these circumstances.” Anne picked up the vial of laudanum and rolled it thoughtfully between her thumb and forefinger. “Leah, do you suppose this is enough to put a grown man to sleep for several hours?”
    “ You cannot be serious.”
    “ Why not?”
    “ Because...it’s wrong.”
    “ He’ll come to no harm.”
    “ No.”
    “ He’ll sleep like an infant in his mother’s arms.”
    “ How can you even suggest such a thing?”
    “ How?” Anne tossed the vial to Leah. “Because Nicolas brought this upon himself.”
    ###
     
    Nicolas recognized Adrian’s penmanship on the letters written to his mistress, but strangely he never referred to her by name. Instead he used the term ‘dear heart’. In each, he expressed his desire for her body, and his anticipation for their next liaison. Often using crude and vulgar language. Something he had never known Adrian to do.
    Anger and resentment filled Miss Sheridan’s letters. The first few blamed the mistress for confusing Adrian. The rest betrayed Leah’s shame and remorse. In those she promised to pay the woman to take the child and raise it as her own. Leah also never referred to the mistress by name, and there were several misspelled words in her letters. Too many for a highly educated lady.
    Nicolas rubbed his eyes and set the letters aside. After supper, he relaxed with a glass of brandy, but his thoughts never strayed from Leah Sheridan for long. He couldn’t imagine a more beautiful woman. One glance from her soft green eyes and his breathing quickened. On the night of the Harvest Ball, he’d meant to annoy her with his bold scrutiny of her enticing body. A grand miscalculation on his part, for his manhood had promptly stiffened.
    Was it improper to think such thoughts about his dead brother’s fiancée? Probably. To say she affected him emotionally as well as physically was an understatement. He just wasn’t sure what to make of it. Or her. And there was Adrian’s son to consider.
    Had Adrian abandoned his fiancée and her child?
    No, that was not at all like Adrian. But did Nicolas really know his brother? And where was the child?
    A soft knock sounded upon his door. When he opened it, he found Leah Sheridan standing in the corridor.
    “ I’m sorry to disturb you, your Grace, but I wonder if I could speak with you.”
    “ Is it Annie?”
    “ No.”
    “ Thank God.” He briefly glanced down the dimly lit hallway. “Miss Sheridan, please don’t take this the wrong way, but…it’s late. If someone sees you enter my room, you can well imagine the gossip.”
    A trace of amusement came to life in her eyes. “But you and I would know the truth, would we not?”
    Nicolas hesitated. Finally he stepped aside and ushered her in.
    She marched to the center of the room but kept her back to him. “First of all, I wish to apologize for my rude and abrupt behavior during lunch this afternoon.”
    “ There’s no need to apologize.”
    “ Yes, there is. And second...the night of the Harvest Ball, you asked me why Adrian and I had argued. I didn’t tell you because...” She faced him, her eyes liquid pools of green. “I lacked the courage.”
    Nicolas motioned her toward a chair next to the window. After she sat down, he chose the chair across from her. “Did Adrian end your betrothal?”
    “ That’s the second time you’ve asked that.”
    “ It seems I repeat myself much too often,” he remarked. “Did he?”
    “ No. Your brother’s acquisition of a mistress ended it.” Her tone softened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt.”
    “ That’s quite all right. I already knew.”
    Her eyes rounded. “He told you?”
    “ No. My grandmother.”
    “ Lady Chase? How?”
    “ A chance conversation she overheard.”
    Confusion swirled in her eyes.
    He leaned forward. “Tell me about the argument.”
    She stared, her gaze distant now.
    Nicolas could sense her