Page 90 of The Vanished

Rory shrugged. “I had supper at the servants’ hall, then came back here and read for a while before turning in.”

“I’m sorry. That sounds lonely.”

“I’m used to it. Besides, I won’t be alone for much longer.”

He gave her a searching look, and Geneva lowered her eyes and looked into her cup.

“Rory—” she began, but he interrupted her.

“I know what ye came to tell me. Ye’re not coming with me.”

Geneva looked up, glad he’d been the one to say it. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

She’d expected Rory to look disappointed and sad, but she hadn’t expected the anger that flared in his eyes and twisted his features. He set his cup in its saucer with such force that tea spilled over the side.

“Can’t and won’t are two very different things.”

“All right, then. I won’t come with you,” she said, now angry herself.

What right did he have to judge her, when she had been given only a handful of days to ponder this new twist? The choice had never been simple, and now an entirely new layer of complexity had been piled on. It wasn’t as if they were speaking of moving to London or even Dublin, which was on the same continent. He was asking her to move to America, a place she’d never been.

“I didn’t think you would,” Rory snapped.

“This is a complicated situation.”

“Is it? Ye’d sell yerself to a man ye hardly know for a parcel of land and an old house. Or is it for the position? The Countess of Gosforth. I admit it has a nice ring to it. Much better than the wife of a poor Irishman.”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Oh, it’s very simple. Ye were just toying with me, passing the time of day. Ye were even willing to fuck me. What happened? Was it not to yer liking, yer ladyship? Did I fail to please?”

Geneva sprang to her feet, indignation roiling in her breast. “Willing to fuck you?” she hissed. The ugly word nearly got stuck in her throat, but she wasn’t about to stop now, not when he’d come at her, guns blazing. “I was never given the choice, was I? You took advantage of my vulnerability, and then you barely even took the time to make sure I was ready or willing. And I was neither.”

Rory looked like she’d slapped him, and she thought he might come at her. His hands were balled into fists, and his mouth twisted into a vicious scowl.

“Ye might have enjoyed it more if ye’d been a real woman, but ye’re still a child. A spoiled, whiny child, who doesn’t know what she wants.”

Geneva grabbed her things and was out the door before he could utter another word. She was shaking, and not just with the cold. She had known Rory would be upset, but she hadn’t expected the insults that had come spilling out the moment she had wounded his pride. Her father and even Honor had been right. Geneva and Rory came from different worlds, and, even if they had managed to come together and build a life, their happiness would have lasted until the first real fight, and until the first hateful words found their mark. She had hurt Rory, and he’d wasted no time in hurting her back.

As she hurried down the path, she began to calm down, and by the time she saw the house looming through the trees, she realized just how lucky she was to have dodged a bullet that had been aimed straight at her heart. She wished she didn’t have to see Rory ever again, but she couldn’t disinvite him from the party after he had been invited by her father. Geneva hoped he wouldn’t show, but even if he did they’d be surrounded by people, and she didn’t have to speak to him or even look in his direction.

She realized she was shaking with cold and pulled on her coat, and, as she pushed her freezing hands into the deep pockets, her fingers closed around the ring box. She had meant to give it back, but now she’d have to wait until the party. She wasn’t going back.

FIFTY-NINE

When Geneva returned to the house, no one seemed to be about. None of the servants had departed, but the house had felt emptier the past few weeks, the staff keeping to their quarters whenever there was a lull. Geneva thought they were probably scouring the classifieds and applying for jobs, just in case Jesse gave them the sack. Nothing had been officially announced, and they were understandably nervous, which made her feel guilty since much depended on her.

She found Honor in the library. Her sister had her nose in a book, but immediately shut the volume and pushed it between her thigh and the arm of the chair, then looked up at Geneva with feigned innocence.

“You’re out early,” she said.

“I went for a walk.”

Honor gave her a curious look. “You do look rather wind-blown.”

“What are you reading?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”