Of course, there was one person with whom she wouldn’t discuss her sudden joy. As if apprised of the affair, Christian arrived the very next day, and Elizabeth was in a panic when she heard his voice at the foot of the stairs.
Pleading illness, she had the steward send him away. She knew Christian would see it on her face, the new woman she’d become, and then he’d insult her, name her harlot or slut, and he’d have no idea the pain she felt.
For pain she did feel, and a great deal of it, too. Hardly five minutes before Christian had arrived, Sarah had woken her with the sorry news. “Killiney’s departed for London, m’lady.”
All the colour drained from her face at the maid’s announcement. It’d be just a short trip to Deptford, Sarah explained, only two weeks at most, and Lord Broughton would return him safe; need Elizabeth appear so grim?
But her mistress’s heart was sinking now. Killiney gone? He’d have bid her farewell, surely, cast her a secret glance when James wasn’t looking, maybe breathed her a kiss across the room. He’d have done something…wouldn’t he have? Or was a marquess’s illegitimate daughter not good enough to marry an Irish viscount?