A Yuletide Invitation. Christine Merrill

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СКАЧАТЬ and showed him his name. And he said, “Oh, that.” He looked guilty, but still he said, “It is nothing that you need to worry about. It will not affect your comfort in any way.” As if he thought that was the only thing I cared about. And then he patted me on the hand, as though I were a child, and said that to prove all was well he would buy me another necklace.’

      She sagged onto the settee beside Rosalind and stared at the straws littering the floor. ‘How difficult would it have been for him to at least admit that there was a problem in his life, so that I did not have to read of it in the papers?’

      ‘He probably thought that you were not interested,’ Rosalind offered reasonably. ‘Or perhaps there was nothing you could do to help him.’

      ‘If I thought it would help I would give him the contents of my jewel case. He could sell them to make back his investment. They mean nothing to me if all is not well. And if that did no good, then I would help him by providing my love and support,’ Elise said sadly. ‘But apparently he does not need it. And if he thinks to keep secret from me something so large that half of London knows it, then what else is he hiding from me?’

      ‘It is quite possible that there is nothing at all,’ Rosalind assured her, knowing that she might be wrong. For she had often found Harry closed-mouthed about things that pained him greatly. It was quite possible that Elise’s suspicions were well grounded. She wished she could slap her foolish brother for causing his wife to worry, when he could have solved so many problems by telling her the whole truth.

      ‘And when I told him, in pique, that I quite preferred Nicholas to him, for he at least had the sense to know that I was capable of reading a newspaper, Harry smiled and told me that I was probably right. For Nick had finally come into his inheritance. And at that moment, he had the deeper pockets. But Harry said he could still afford to buy me earrings to go with the new necklace if I wished them. So I left him and went to London. And he bought me a whole new wardrobe.’ The last words came out in a sob, and she stared at Rosalind, her eyes red and watery. ‘Is that the behaviour of a sane man?’

      Rosalind had to admit it was not. It made no sense to open his purse when a few simple words of apology would have brought his wife running home. ‘He was trying to get on your good side, Elise. He has always been slow to speak of his troubles, and even slower to admit fault. It is just his way.’

      ‘Then his way has succeeded in driving me away from him. Perhaps that was what he was trying to do all along.

      He certainly made no effort to keep me. I said to him that perhaps I was more suited to Nicholas, and that our marriage had been a mistake from the start.’

      ‘And what did he say to that?’

      ‘That he had found our marriage most satisfactory, but that there was little he could do to control how I felt in the matter.’

      ‘There. See? He was happy enough,’ said Rosalind. She picked up the ornament from the floor and offered it back to Elise, thinking that the metaphor of grasping straws was an apt one if this was all the ammunition she could find to defend her idiot brother.

      Elise sniffed and tossed the straw into the fire, then took a sheet of paper and absently snipped and folded until it became a star. ‘He said it was satisfactory. That is hardly praise, Rosalind. And the way he smiled as he said it. It was almost as if he was daring me to disagree.’

      ‘Or he could have been smiling because he was happy.’

      ‘Or not. He always smiles, Rosalind. It means nothing to me any more.’

      ‘He does not smile nearly so much as he used to, Elise. Not when you are not here to see. Harry feels your absence, and he is putting on a brave front for you. I am sure of it.’ There was truth in that, at least.

      ‘Then he has but to ask me to return to him and I shall,’ she said. ‘Or I shall consider it,’ she amended, trying to appear stubborn as she busied herself with the basket of ornaments, putting the little candles into their holders.

      But it was obvious that, despite initial appearances, Elise would come running back to Harry in an instant, if given any hope at all. And Harry was longing for a way to get her back.

      Rosalind considered. While neither wished to be the first to make an overture, it might take only the slightest push from a third party to make the reconciliation happen.

      And so she began to plan.

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      HARRY watched Tremaine retreating to the library. Merry Christmas, indeed. Apparently the miserable pest had seen through the trap and was trying to wriggle out of it, like the worm he was. But his hasty departure would solve nothing, and his forestalling of the bet would anger Elise to the point that there was no telling what she might do. If she got it into her head that she was being rejected by both the men in her life, she might never recover from the hurt of it.

      Thank the Lord for fortuitous weather and stuck wagons. It would buy him enough time to sort things again, before they got too far out of hand. And if it gave him an opportunity to deal out some of the misery that Tremaine deserved? All the better.

      ‘Harry.’ Rosalind came bustling out of the drawing room and stopped her brother before he could escape. ‘What is really going on here?’

      ‘Going on?’ He made sure his face showed nothing but innocence, along with a sense of injury that she should accuse him of anything. ‘Nothing at all, Rosalind. I only wished to entertain some members of my set for the holiday, and I thought …’

      His little sister set her hands upon her hips and stared at him in disgust. ‘Your wife is here with another man. And you do not seem the least bit surprised. As a matter of fact you welcomed her new lover as though he were an honoured guest.’

      ‘In a sense he is. He is the object of a bet I have made with the other gentlemen. I guaranteed them that I could make Tremaine wish me a Merry Christmas.’

      ‘Why on earth would you do that?’

      He grinned. ‘Perhaps my common sense was temporarily overcome with seasonal spirit.’

      Rosalind frowned at him. ‘Or perhaps not. Perhaps you have some plan afoot that involves ending the separation with your wife. Or did you bet on her as well? And what prevailed upon the odious Mr Tremaine to accept your challenge? I do not understand it at all.’

      ‘Then let me explain it to you. I told Tremaine that I would facilitate the divorce Elise is so eager for, if he would come down to the country and play my little game. I knew he would take the information straight to Elise, and that she would insist they attend—if only for the opportunity to come back here and tell me to my face what she thought of the idea. I expect she is furious.’

      ‘And you think by angering her that you will bring her closer to you? Harry, you do not understand women at all, if that is your grand plan.’

      ‘But I know Elise.’ He smiled. ‘And so far it is going just as I expected it to.’

      ‘If you know her so well, then you should have been able to prevent her from leaving in the first place. Do you understand what you have done to her to make her so angry with you?’

      He was honestly puzzled as he answered, ‘Absolutely nothing. As you can see from the house, her wardrobe, her jewels, she can live in luxury. СКАЧАТЬ