The Desperate Love of a Lord: A Free Novella. Jane Lark

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      He gritted his teeth as the door opened and then he faced Selford, who held the door open only a few inches and looked through the gap. “Lady Rimes is not at home, sir”

      Was she not, or was she in bed with someone?

      Geoff pushed the door wider and forced the man back as he stepped in.

      Shock petrified Selford’s face for a moment as he lifted a hand to warn Geoffrey back. “My Lord.”

      “Is she upstairs?” The hall span a little, Geoffrey had definitely had too much to drink.

      “No, sir, Lady Rimes has left town.”

      “Left town, do you think me a fool, Selford? The knocker is still in place!” He thrust his arm out to indicate the open door behind him. It would have been removed if she’d left.

      “Because Lady Rimes wished it so, sir, she wished no one to note her absence.”

      A frown furrowed Geoff’s brow. That did not make sense.

      He moved then, walking past Selford, convinced she was hiding upstairs.

      Perhaps she was with another man.

      Geoff raced upstairs as the butler called him back, and then ran along the hall, taking-in nothing but the fact he had to find her.

      He burst into her rooms, thrusting the door aside. The curtains were open, he’d been so angry he hadn’t even noticed from outside.

      He strode through the sitting room, calling, “Violet! Violet!” expecting her to answer even though it was obvious she was not there.

      “Violet,” he said again as he entered her bedchamber.

      The bed was empty, though the room still carried the invading scent of her perfume. There were not even any sheets on it. He walked to the wardrobe and opened it. That was empty too. He went to the drawers and pulled the top one open, then the one below it and the one below that. They were all empty.

      Why had she gone? Why had she said nothing? Not even goodbye. She’d not even sent a note to say it was over.

      He sat on the bed, letting the scents in the room overwhelm him. Where the hell had she gone? And why had she gone without him?

      A cough rang from the chamber door, and Geoffrey realised his head was in his hands; with his elbows on his knees he’d covered his face. He felt like weeping. He did not weep; he stood and looked at Selford.

      “Where has she gone?”

      “I do not know, sir. I was only told she has gone to the country.”

      “Where in the country?”

      “Honestly, I do not know, my Lord.”

      “Does she own any property outside of London?”

      “No, sir.”

      “Has she gone to a friend’s?”

      The butler stepped forward and lifted a hand as if, if it were appropriate, he might touch Geoffrey’s arm, of course he did not.

      “I’m sorry, sir. I can give you no more details. Lady Rimes quite specifically did not tell me where she has gone. It was very clear her ladyship did not wish her absence nor her whereabouts, disclosed.”

      “What?” What on earth was going on? “Selford?”

      “Honestly, sir, I have no idea where her ladyship is, and you cannot stay here …”

      No, no! Of course he could not. But where was he to go then? He didn’t know any more.

      If Barrington was in town, Geoff could go there to talk things out with Robert, but he was not. No one else would understand. Except perhaps Geoff’s elder sister. But he could not call there and wake her husband and her household at this hour.

      He left in a daze. His walk home felt like a dream. When he reached his bachelor apartments in St James, he wasn’t even sure how he’d got there. He lay on his bed, without undressing, a hand on his brow as his alcohol addled brain tried to think everything through.

      When he woke it was ten in the morning, and his brain felt no less confused than the night before. The very first thought in his head, was, why? The second, where?

      Desperation turned his stomach as he dressed. How had he got so caught up with Violet? He’d never expected to get tangled up with a woman, not like this. Yet Violet’s web had wrapped about him this summer and caught him fast.

      Why had she cast him out of it so suddenly? I don’t understand.

      When he left his apartment he did not know where he was heading, but then his feet took him in the direction of her solicitor’s office. Surely Mr Larkin would know where Violet had gone.

      Geoff’s attitude had changed since his assault on her house last night. Last night he had been angry. Today, when he entered the solicitors, he was downtrodden and desolate. He had no expectation. He felt lost. She’d ripped his damned heart out. She’d gone.

      It was laughable really. All summer Violet had been busy threatening Lord Barrington with a hard countenance, because she believed Barrington would break her friend’s heart. Now she had done it to him.

      “Mr Larkin,” Geoffrey acknowledged as he was invited in to the office.

      The man stood and smiled.

      Geoffrey had not mentioned why he’d come yet. He could not find the words.

      “Do sit, my Lord. How may I help?”

      Mr Larkin wouldn’t even know there was a connection between himself and Violet. After all they’d only shared an intrigue. He had no rights regarding her - no right to interfere in her affairs – except that he loved her, and he’d thought she’d tumbled into loving him too. It had not been by design. It had just happened. One night of pleasure had become two, then three and four, and then, and then … he’d hated being separated from her.

      Damn her. There was a hole in his chest without her here, and it was painful.

      Geoff took a seat facing the solicitor feeling like a gullible idiot. He had been used and discarded - while he’d thought himself happy beyond any expectation.

      God, was this what his friend Robert had gone through when he’d dropped out of Oxford all those years ago. Insanity threatened at the edge of Geoff’s conscious thought, he was too anxious, he’d be admitted to Bedlam in a month if he did not get a hold of this internal ranting.

      “My Lord,” Larkin prodded.

      Geoff sighed. “Look Mr Larkin, I know you manage Lady Rimes affairs for her. She’s left town unexpectedly. I wondered if you knew –”

      The solicitor sat back in his chair, frowning, as Geoff spoke, then cut in. “I cannot reveal another client’s details –”

      “I know that but –”

СКАЧАТЬ