A Lady Never Tells(92)
When the lesson was over at last, Miss Dalrymple retired to her room for her customary nap, and Mary’s sisters headed out the door as well. As Mary started after them, Royce reached out a hand, not quite touching her arm.
“Mary, if I could have a word with you… .”
Mary stopped and turned to face him, her stomach sizzling with nerves. Royce’s jaw was set. If possible, he looked even stonier than he had earlier.#p#分页标题#e#
“I must apologize for my behavior last night,” he said, his voice formal and as stiff as his back. “What I did was reprehensible.”
Mary stood silently, not sure what to say. Was she supposed to agree? To forgive him? To admit that it was as much her fault as his? She was certain that she should not reply with the first thought that sprang to her mind, which was that last night had been the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her.
“I sincerely regret what I did,” he went on, clasping his hands behind his back. “If I could take it back, I would.”
Mary was aware of a pain somewhere in the area of her heart. “Pray, do not trouble yourself. It was not your fault.”
“But it was my fault. I behaved like a cad. Oliver would have my head if he knew about it, and rightfully so.”
“Oliver!” Mary’s eyebrows went up. “Just what, may I ask, does Oliver have to do with it? I don’t recall him being in the smoking room with us.”
“No, of course not. I only meant—well, you are his cousins, under his protection. And he placed you in my care. I should have been protecting you, not engaging in drunken debauchery.” A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he swung away, beginning to pace. “I am not the most noble of men, I admit that freely, but I do not normally go about seducing innocent young girls. Especially when they are placed in my care.”
“Would you stop staying that? You make me sound as if I were a—a basket of eggs, or a child.”
Royce grimaced. “Blast it, Mary, can you not even accept an apology without arguing? Obviously you are not a child, but I am older than you and more experienced. You are new to this world. I should be warning you about the dangers that men present to you, not be one of them. I was in my cups, and I lost control.”
The burning irritation that had been growing in Mary’s chest burgeoned at his words. He had kissed her, caressed her, indeed, ripped her gown from her, and was his excuse that he had been driven mad by her beauty or that his lust for her had carried him past all gentlemanly restraints? No. His reason was that he was drunk!
“And what was your excuse that night in the inn?” Mary snapped. “You were not drunk then, as I recall.”
He stared at her, his mouth opening, then closing. Color flared along his cheekbones. Finally, tightly, he said, “It will not happen again, I assure you.”
“Good!” Mary crossed her arms in front of her, her eyes fierce.
Royce sketched a brief bow toward her. “If you will excuse me …”
He turned and strode away. Mary threw a parting shot after him, “Don’t worry. I shan’t carry tales to your precious Oliver.”
Royce checked for an instant and turned to shoot her a fulminating glance, then continued out the door.
Mary wished she had something she could throw. But everything in this house was far too expensive to demolish in a fit of temper. She felt foolish and petty, her emotions raw. If she were a real lady, she supposed, she would have been furious with him for kissing her, and she would have welcomed his apology. Nay, she would have demanded it.
It wasn’t that she wished him to act as if he had done nothing wrong. It wasn’t that she disliked his being a gentleman. It was just … well, couldn’t he have said one little thing about how wonderful it had felt to kiss her? Couldn’t he have offered her a compliment or two instead of regrets?
No, she told herself, because clearly he had not felt those things. He wished it had never happened. He hated having lost control. They had almost made love only because he was too drunk to know what he was doing.#p#分页标题#e#
Mary set her jaw. She could feel tears pricking at her eyelids, but she willed them back. She would not cry about this. It would be too humiliating. Turning, she made her way upstairs. She found Rose in the sitting room, sewing a ruffle back on the hem of one of Camellia’s gowns.
“Where are the girls?” Mary asked, sinking down onto the settee beside her sister.
“They were squabbling—I’m not even sure about what—and finally I lost my temper and told them to go fuss at each other somewhere else.” She lifted her face and gave Mary a wan smile. “I fear I am not the most pleasant company today.”