She surprised herself with the question. It was flirtatious, dangerous. How strong had that Champagne been? It seemed more likely Alexander was having a dizzying, emboldening effect on her, stuck alone in the room together, looking as handsome as he did...
And legally mine.
“Your question is a trap,” he replied, stepping closer. The door had closed party behind him, and Margaret tensed. “I could not possibly answer it while remaining a gentleman in your eyes.”
The space between them closed. His hand hovered beside her elbow, hesitating to touch her, perhaps waiting for her to pull away.
“Do you wish I had kissed you that night?” he asked.
Margaret felt like she was on fire from head to toe. Her lips formed a hard line as she nodded. They were man and wife, andthat meant being honest. And right then, in that moment, she honestly wanted to know all parts of him.
“I want you to kiss me now,” she whispered.
He laughed softly.
“How maddening you are,” Alexander murmured, leaning in to oblige her...
Just as someone knocked on the door.
Alexander’s eyes flashed open, and Margaret’s heart almost burst out of her chest. They quickly separated themselves, Margaret turning to hide her shock. She glanced over her shoulder as Alexander walked to the door.
It was Carlisle, searching for them. Alexander blocked his view of Margaret, and she crept over to the door out of sight, listening to their conversation.
“There you are... She says she must see you...” Margaret managed to hear from beyond the door. Carlisle sounded panicked, breathless. “I do not know who she is, but she will not be sent away. She is adamant, Alexander, that she must speak with you at once.”
“And she will not be forced out? It is the day of our wedding,” Alexander hissed, looking back at Margaret. “Who the devil is she?”
She, she, she. Margaret froze, pressing herself against the wall.Who are they talking about?
Carlisle said a name.
“Isadore.”
And a shadow crossed her husband’s face.
CHAPTER 13
The walk from the reading room to the ballroom slipped from time. Alexander blinked and was returned to the wedding guests milling about where they had left them, drinking and dancing so loudly he couldn’t differentiate one sound from another in the bedlam of the noise.
He scanned the room for the intruder and found her standing at the back of the hall, where she was arguing with two footmen. She matched Ripley’s description: tall with shining black hair, long limbs, and a delicate face, exactly how Alexander had pictured Celeste and his father’s first lovechild in his mind.
Margaret paused beside him in the archway, but the grounding force of her presence was no match for Alexander’s terror. Carlisle, if he had followed them back into the fray, was somewhere far behind them.
“Do you know this woman? Why has she come? Will you not just send her away? Alexander, please speak with me.”
Margaret was barely audible through the mist of his thoughts—and when he finally heard her, he had no idea how to reply. Alexander was aware of Isadore's existence and thought he knew how she would be once they met. But now that she occupied the same room as him, standing in the flesh, eyes turned to the floor, all his predictions for the moment of their meeting, everything he had planned, became a bitter waste of time.
He shot Margaret a cautious look, then turned to the butler standing nearby and asked them to bring Isadore into the games room, where he would speak with her. By that point, a few guests had marked the return of the duke and duchess, likely wondering where they had disappeared. If they had not noticed Isadore’s arrival before, they soon would once Alexander took off with her. Margaret could not be left alone to answer their questions.
Dearest Margaret... I am so sorry. This is not how I intended today to go.
“Come with me,” Alexander said to her once the butler marched away, nodding back toward the corridor.
Carlisle caught them by the doors, out of breath. “Alexander, what?—”
“There is no time,” he replied, indicating for Carlisle to follow him too.
Moments later, Alexander leaned against the billiards table, a finger curled over his mouth. Margaret and Carlislewere whispering as he apprised her of the situation. Their conversation was cut short as the door creaked open. Isadore was shown inside by the butler and the two footmen who had been guarding her.
