Alec's jaw hardened. So this was the way Sackville intended to handle things, pretending ignorance of the situation, ignoring the obvious attraction between his friend and his woman.
"Yes," Mira murmured, not daring to look at Alec's face.
"It's time you went up to your room," Sackville continued, squeezing her affectionately. "And wait up for me—I'll be up there to see you later."
Shocked at his unusual bluntness and the blatant implication of his words, Mira looked up at him in surprise. She started as he lowered his silvery-russet head and kissed her soundly, displaying his possession of her for Alec to take good note of. As his cool, wet mouth covered hers, Mira automatically made a movement to push him away. Then her hands stopped and fell to her sides as she endured his kiss unprotestingly. I owe this to him, she thought grimly, and, by God, I will stand here without a sound if only for the sake of my own honor!
Alec watched them stone-faced, his eyes glittering like ice, something inside him dying and something else burning in deep-felt outrage.
Finally Sackville lifted his head and smiled down at her. Mira tried to force her lips into a quivering imitation of a smile, her cheeks burning as she resisted the impulse to draw the back of her hand across her mouth. Sackville's kiss was so far removed from Alec's as ice was from fire.
"Mira," Sackville said in a satisfied tone, "I'll be upstairs later, my pet."
She nodded her head in a nervous bob, then turned to look at Alec.
"Lord Falkner," she murmured deferentially.
He did not answer, one side of his mouth lifting in one of the nastiest and most cynical smiles she hadever seen. Inwardly anguished, Mira walked away from the two men toward the stairs in the front entrance-way. It took every bit of willpower she had to keep from running.
"A most uncommon woman," Sackville commented.
"Fine for you," Alec replied smoothly. "A little tame for me." Was Sackville deceived by the disdainful words? Probably not. Alec suppressed a grimace as sanity began to infiltrate his bemused senses. He must have gone a little mad a few minutes ago. A mere woman was not worth the sacrifice of a good friendship. How could he have seriously thought about taking her away from a man who had been loyal to him, to whom he had been loyal for so many years? He would have to find a way to avoid her, and all thoughts of her, from now on.
"Yes, you always like them a little wild, don't you?" Sackville said, forcing a hearty chuckle. The two men pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, yet neither was content with the charade they had chosen to play. Perhaps outwardly things would go on as before, but inside they both knew better. Something about the character of their relationship had been changed for good.
"We must talk."
"Yes," Mira replied in a low tone, opening her bedchamber door. Sackville walked inside slowly, his face utterly serious. The dandyish accent he usually affected was gone.
"About tonight. I want to ask you—"
"Nothing happened." Mira closed the door and leaned her back against it as she stared at him miserably. "I'm so sorry, so terribly sorry. I don't know what happened. I'll never—"
"I knew," Sackville said, his face stiff, "—that there would come a time when you would want to end this. You're a healthy young woman with… a strongappetite for life. In fact, I have been surprised that you have stayed so long."
"I don't want to end anything. Have I imposed on you for too long?" Mira's vision became misty as she felt tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them back with an effort. "You should have told me to go."
"I wanted to keep you as long as you were willing to maintain appearances," Sackville replied, folding his hands behind his back and sighing. "You have done me much good, and you have helped me to retain a semblance of the life that I had… before. You have enabled me to maintain my pride, and I will always be grateful for that."
"I have been most content for the past two years—"
"But if you stayed, you would no longer continue to be so." Flinching in the face of his flat statement, Mira knew it to be true. "I have thought of you and me," Sackville continued with a weary smile, "—as two friends who have supported each other when they have most needed it."
"You saved my life," Mira whispered. "I can never repay that."
"You have, my dear, you have. But you cannot help me any longer by staying, and I am not helping you any longer by letting you hide here from the rest of the world. You are… How old are you?"
"Twenty."