“So you might imagine how desperate I was.”
“Were you truly working as a nurse? I find it difficult to believe. You were always so fastidious about your clothes and your surroundings.”
“I lost my dandified ways fairly quickly in the army. When you’ve been covered in another man’s blood and body parts, you forget such niceties.”
Carys squeezed his sleeve. “I’m sorry. As you said, it is hard for me to remember that you have changed as well.”
They crossed another road and reached the corner of Bond Street.
“Gareth asked me about my work as a nurse last night. I told him that my father taught me how to live like a gentleman and the army taught me how to kill like a savage. Indirectly, I learned how to save lives. When two of my options were denied me, I decided to make use of the third. Somehow, healing people seems a lot more worthwhile than idleness and murder.”
Carys was still contemplating his quiet words when they drew to a halt outside Llewelyn House in Great Portland Square. She glanced up at the imposing doorway. “Would you like to come in? The family is not in residence.”
“I think not. The last time I was here, I was abandoned by everything that was dear to me. I have no intention of entering my father’s house whilst he still lives. Good day to you.”
Carys stood, open-mouthed, as he saluted and strode away. She watched until he turned the corner and was swallowed up in the glare of the sharp morning sun.
Chapter 8
HELL AND DAMNATION! What on earth had possessed him to kiss her? Jack negotiated the busy road, ignoring a swearing hackney driver, and returned to the safety of the park. He’d mouthed his meaningless platitudes about wanting to be Carys’s friend, and then pushed her up against a wall and kissed her as if she were a tavern wench.
He groaned out loud, startling an elderly matron who drew her brood of children away from Jack’s shadow. Jack scowled, and one of the children began to wail. Just one taste of Carys had made him hard. If he’d continued kissing her or if she’d made the least effort to touch him, he doubted if he’d have let her go for a lifetime.
His footsteps slowed and he looked unseeingly at the busy walkway in front of him. The tentative spring-like sunshine had tempted many to take a walk in the park. She’d definitely kissed him back but she hadn’t truly responded to him. Had he frightened her? Had his touch been unwelcome?
Jack found himself at the bottom of the steps leading up to his father’s solicitor’s office, Tufnell, Tufnell and Tubbs. His father, had left a message with his lawyer that he wanted to see Jack. That had been several weeks ago, and Jack hadn’t bothered to respond.
He stared at the solid black door and brass knocker. If he managed to make things right with Carys, he might need to communicate with his father. He put his foot on the bottom step and then paused, his father’s cold features fixed firmly in his mind.
If
he made things right with Carys… He turned sharply and retreated back into the park.
What did he want? He’d thought it would be easy, that Carys would be waiting for him with open arms. He’d forgotten that she would change too. Her cool veneer of sophistication and her hidden strength fascinated and appalled him at the same time. She was not the sweet, biddable girl he’d left behind, which served him right.
And then there was the added complication of Lord Oliver Rice. Jack had heard rumors that Rice’s intentions toward Carys ran to marriage and that betting in the clubs said she’d take him.
Jack sat down on a vacant bench and snorted. Funny how everyone seemed to conveniently forget Carys was married to him. He’d become as invisible and unwanted as the beggars who haunted the
ton
’s doorsteps. He gazed at the clear blue sky and decided to head for the Duke of Diable Delamere’s townhouse. If Carys intended to meet with the duchess later in the day, he needed to be gone
“Were you truly working as a nurse? I find it difficult to believe. You were always so fastidious about your clothes and your surroundings.”
“I lost my dandified ways fairly quickly in the army. When you’ve been covered in another man’s blood and body parts, you forget such niceties.”
Carys squeezed his sleeve. “I’m sorry. As you said, it is hard for me to remember that you have changed as well.”
They crossed another road and reached the corner of Bond Street.
“Gareth asked me about my work as a nurse last night. I told him that my father taught me how to live like a gentleman and the army taught me how to kill like a savage. Indirectly, I learned how to save lives. When two of my options were denied me, I decided to make use of the third. Somehow, healing people seems a lot more worthwhile than idleness and murder.”
Carys was still contemplating his quiet words when they drew to a halt outside Llewelyn House in Great Portland Square. She glanced up at the imposing doorway. “Would you like to come in? The family is not in residence.”
“I think not. The last time I was here, I was abandoned by everything that was dear to me. I have no intention of entering my father’s house whilst he still lives. Good day to you.”
Carys stood, open-mouthed, as he saluted and strode away. She watched until he turned the corner and was swallowed up in the glare of the sharp morning sun.
Chapter 8
HELL AND DAMNATION! What on earth had possessed him to kiss her? Jack negotiated the busy road, ignoring a swearing hackney driver, and returned to the safety of the park. He’d mouthed his meaningless platitudes about wanting to be Carys’s friend, and then pushed her up against a wall and kissed her as if she were a tavern wench.
He groaned out loud, startling an elderly matron who drew her brood of children away from Jack’s shadow. Jack scowled, and one of the children began to wail. Just one taste of Carys had made him hard. If he’d continued kissing her or if she’d made the least effort to touch him, he doubted if he’d have let her go for a lifetime.
His footsteps slowed and he looked unseeingly at the busy walkway in front of him. The tentative spring-like sunshine had tempted many to take a walk in the park. She’d definitely kissed him back but she hadn’t truly responded to him. Had he frightened her? Had his touch been unwelcome?
Jack found himself at the bottom of the steps leading up to his father’s solicitor’s office, Tufnell, Tufnell and Tubbs. His father, had left a message with his lawyer that he wanted to see Jack. That had been several weeks ago, and Jack hadn’t bothered to respond.
He stared at the solid black door and brass knocker. If he managed to make things right with Carys, he might need to communicate with his father. He put his foot on the bottom step and then paused, his father’s cold features fixed firmly in his mind.
If
he made things right with Carys… He turned sharply and retreated back into the park.
What did he want? He’d thought it would be easy, that Carys would be waiting for him with open arms. He’d forgotten that she would change too. Her cool veneer of sophistication and her hidden strength fascinated and appalled him at the same time. She was not the sweet, biddable girl he’d left behind, which served him right.
And then there was the added complication of Lord Oliver Rice. Jack had heard rumors that Rice’s intentions toward Carys ran to marriage and that betting in the clubs said she’d take him.
Jack sat down on a vacant bench and snorted. Funny how everyone seemed to conveniently forget Carys was married to him. He’d become as invisible and unwanted as the beggars who haunted the
ton
’s doorsteps. He gazed at the clear blue sky and decided to head for the Duke of Diable Delamere’s townhouse. If Carys intended to meet with the duchess later in the day, he needed to be gone
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