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He went directly to her theater manager. Unable to concentrate on anything else, she hopped down from the stage and approached the whispering couple.
Before she could say anything, Richard turned toward her. “Here you are,” he said with a tight smile. “Come with me. We are leaving.”
Jo’s lips quivered as she hesitated between laughing or asking him if he’d gone mad.
She didn’t have a chance to say anything. He took her hand and squeezed. “Come, dear. I’ll explain on the way home.” With a reassuring wink, he tugged on her arm and led her away.
Jo waved goodbye to Selena and hastened her step after her husband’s ground-eating strides. His soft tone of voice and flirtatious wink did nothing to alleviate her worries. On the contrary. It was obvious that something was troubling him deeply. And he just didn’t want to rattle her in front of her peers.
They climbed into the carriage and it lurched into motion, yet the deafening silence still prevailed. Richard calmly looked out the window, as his fingers twirled his walking stick.
“Richard,” Jo finally said. “Either you speak or I’ll scream.”
Richard looked at her, his gaze weary. “I think it is better if we reach the house first.”
“I shall go mad long before we reach the house. What is the matter?”
He let out a breath. “You have not read the papers today, have you? I mean, it is obvious that you haven’t, because you are oblivious to any issues.”
“What issues?”
Richard took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before replacing it. “I really would rather show you—”
“And I’d rather you told me. Now.”
“Very well.” Richard cleared his throat. “There was an article about you in the morning paper.”
Jo blinked, her mouth opening as tumultuous thoughts ran through her head, thinking of all the terrible things that piece could have said about her. But what came out of Richard’s lips next was nowhere on her mind.
“It’s about your background with a heavy emphasis on your mother.”
Jo froze, her pulse thumping loudly in her ears, overshadowing even the clatter of the carriage. Her mother, a famous actress, and a courtesan, and later a cheap, but rather notorious harlot.
Jo’s heart squeezed, and tears burned at the back of her eyes. Even in death, her poor mother couldn’t gain peace. And now it would spill out into a major scandal.
Because the only thing worse than marrying an actress was marrying a harlot’s daughter.
* * *
Jo had been silent the rest of the trip. She didn’t insist on any more clarifications. She didn’t ask anything else about the column, she just sat there with a shocked expression on her face, occasionally shaking her head as if trying to rid it of unwanted thoughts.
They made it home a few moments later, and Richard helped Jo out of the carriage. Her hands were cold, her gaze still glassy.
He should have broken it to her gentler, should have eased into it. But he was still in shock himself. He didn’t want to tell her in the carriage at all. He wanted to sit her down next to the fire with a cup of chocolate or perhaps a tumbler of whisky and hand her the paper.
He wasn’t certain it would have been better. Perhaps if he was holding her in his arms as she read?
Hell, Richard had no idea how to make it easier on his gentle bride.
They had been married for just two days!
Couldn’t the vile person who’d sent this notice to the papers wait until after a month? Couldn’t they have let Jo enjoy being a part of society as a viscountess just a little longer?
No. Whoever did this had done it right after their marriage on purpose.
Richard escorted Jo into her room, but she paused before the threshold. “Where’s the paper?” It was the first thing she’d said since the carriage.
“In my room.”
