Promise Me by Dee Julian Page B

reluctance, and he appreciated how difficult this was for her. Then something happened. Her expression changed to regret, and slowly that frigid wall she’d erected between them the night of the Harvest Ball began to crumble until the last brick of mistrust fell away.
    “ That afternoon, I was sitting in the solarium with your grandmother. We were discussing wedding invitations when Adrian came home.” She sighed. “He didn’t even change out of his wet clothes before asking to speak to me.”
    “ Where had he been?”
    “ To see his mistress.”
    “ He admitted this?”
    “ He had to. The woman forced his hand by threatening to publicly expose their liaison.”
    “ Did he tell you her name?”
    The silence stretched.
    Didn’t she know by now she could trust him? If he showed her the letters, would she still deny Adrian’s son?
    “ Most women would not hesitate to demand her rival’s name,” Nicolas remarked.
    Her chin inched upward. “I am not most women, your Grace.”
    “ No, I can see that. Please...go on.”
    Emotion clouded her expression. “Adrian begged me to forgive him, but I couldn’t. All my anger rushed out in a flood of horrible words, and I ended our betrothal because I could not accept his betrayal. I didn’t know he’d followed me until I heard him shout.”
    Nicolas held his breath.
    “ When I turned my mare, I saw a frightening flash of light. Adrian’s horse reared, and he fell.” She shuddered. “I raced back to him, but...” She bolted from the chair. “There was nothing I could do.”
    He followed her to the window. “You visited the cemetery this morning and placed the rose on my brother’s grave.”
    She nodded. “Yellow was his favorite.”
    Nicolas wanted desperately to mend her broken heart, but there was nothing he could say to ease her pain or change the past. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but somehow she ended up in his arms.
    Her tears came softly, and she shivered as she clung to him.
    “ Miss Sheridan, my brother adored you. In the letters he wrote me, Adrian’s devotion to you was apparent.”
    “ Then…why did he take a mistress?”
    Nicolas lifted her quivering chin. “Because sometimes men do foolish things.” He caught the last tear before it rolled down her cheek. “Things they later regret with all their heart.”
    She bit her lip. “Your Grace…there’s something you must know.”
    Suddenly the door burst open, and a gentleman stumbled inside the room. He saw Leah and promptly halted. “Well, shoot,” he drawled. “This ain’t my room.”
    American. One of Irma Crandle’s spies?
    “ Wait here, Miss Sheridan.” Nicolas approached the man. “No, this is not your room.”
    “ Yeah, I can see that now. Well, I’ll leave you good folks to whatever you were doing.”
    “ Allow me to escort you out.”
    “ Thanks, but I can find my own way.”
    “ Can you?” Nicolas grabbed him by the collar and pushed him into the corridor, making sure the door closed behind him. “Do you know who I am?” He shoved the man’s face against the wall. “Do you?”
    “ The Duke of Chase?”
    “ Very good. And you are?”
    “ Trinity O’Connell, your Grace. I’d shake your hand, but you’ve got it pinned uncomfortably behind my back.”
    “ Is that a clever attempt at humor?”
    “ No, that was a hint that I’d like my arm back.”
    “ In good time. What you just witnessed in my room, Mister O’Connell, was a distraught lady in need of a friend. Do you understand?”
    “ Sure, at times I’m fairly needful myself.”
    Nicolas knocked the man’s forehead against the wall. “That lady is not a trollop.”
    “ I never said she was.”
    “ Tell Miss Crandle we had a bargain, and I expect her to keep her end of it.”
    “ Who?”
    “ You’re not very bright, are you, O’Connell?” Nicolas spun him around, this time banging the back of his head against the same spot on the