Her bravery lasted until Spencer left the hallway, then she sagged against the wall and put her head in her hand.

Were Kit here, he would insist on storming from the shadows and demanding answers. It likely wouldn’t take much to make Annabel confess. Jasper would know what Spencer wanted. From there, it would be easy to guess the man’s scheme. The marriage could be quietly annulled with the flourish of a pen.

He stepped from the shadows. “There you are.”

She turned on him, her deep brown eyes wide and sparkling too brightly. “I’m sorry.”

It would be so easy…

“Chippenham is a sheep’s arse. Always has been. I’m certain you’re not the first lady to leave him stranded at a ball.” The quirk of her lips gave him permission to smile as he offered his arm. “Shall we go home?”

*

For the second time in a few short hours, the Ramsbury carriage loomed before Annabel like a prison cart.

Foolish girl. You dreaded a dance and gossip. And now fate has dropped you in a much worse dilemma.

How long had Jasper been in the hallway? How much had he overheard? And why, oh why, hadn’t she told Reginald Spencer to go jump in the narrowest part of the Thames?

The footman held the door. At least the ride home would be short.

“Take us through the park please, Larrabee,” Jasper called to their coachman as he followed her inside.

A detour through Hyde Park would add at least half an hour to their evening. Dread and fear mixed in Annabel’s stomach, sending a chill through her limbs.

It didn’t matter that the carriage was lit by small oil lamps and a hot brick lay wrapped near her feet. Jasper sat on the opposite bench, on the other end, so he could peer out through the curtain at the passing houses. He put his free arm around his waist and shifted in his place. Annabel thought she saw a shiver.

“There is enough heat from this brick for the both of us,” she whispered, fearful of his reaction. It was one thing to leave all the heat for her. It was another, dreadful, thing if he didn’t want to be close to her.

He regarded her for a long moment before moving to face her. He stretched his long legs forward and crossed his feet at the ankles with a sigh. “Thank you, Annabel.”

The lamplight gilded his hair and the planes of his face. The shadows and sharpness should have been frightening, especially with his uncharacteristic silence. Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the dance, or maybe the heat from the brick, but Annabel wasn’t afraid of him.

What bothered her most was not having the answers he’d want. She didn’t know what Spencer had found, or his aims. Her husband would be another in the line of people she was disappointing.

“You don’t have to wait for an invitation to be warm, Jasper.”

His stare was a tangible thing, and his smile flashed in the dark. “My mother taught me it was a gentleman’s duty to be uncomfortable.”

She disagreed with Lady Lambourn on that point. “I see. What did she say about remembering staff names?” His comical glance made her chuckle. “Your driver’s name is Lawrence, not Larrabee.”

“Ah.” He unpinned his cravat and slid his finger into the knot. “Kit hired him, so I…didn’t pay much attention.”

“Did he also hire Stapleton?” If she remembered correctly, Jasper had gotten the butler’s name wrong several times during the house party.

He nodded. “After my grandfather’s death, his younger staff left without notice. The remaining, older, ones were…not suited for the activity of a more active house.”

The younger staff had likely preferred the activity, and better pay, found in London. “What happened to the older ones?”

“The ones who wished to remain in service moved to Lambourn Manor—Mother likes quiet in the country—or to my uncles’ country properties. The cook joined Cousin Amelia’s household. The ones who wished to retire in Wiltshire were given tenancies on the estate.”

Somehow, she hadn’t expected him to do anything less. “None of them came to the London house?”

“I prefer to be surrounded by familiar faces.”

“And loyal ones.” The moment the words came out of her mouth, Annabel wanted to dive from the carriage. She had given him the perfect opening to question her.

“Loyalty is underrated in Society. Wouldn’t you agree, Annabel?”

Annabel met his stare and evened her breathing. It was important, for more than one reason, that he believed her. “I would, Jasper.”

She’d left Wiltshire more than half convinced that he was a decent man. A rake, perhaps, but not a traitor. Nothing since their wedding had provided evidence to the contrary. He had kept to his end of their odd contract. Her sisters had been launched into Society and had introductions to the ton’s most respectable matrons. Their post was full of invitations to the best balls, and they had renewed acquaintances that had fallen away with the family’s misfortune.

Though Annabel wished they would make other friends, she could not fault her husband for her sisters’ choices.

The noise from the city faded as they entered Hyde Park. The curtains swung, giving glimpses of paths lit by gaslights. The trees, their limbs fuzzy with spring leaves, loomed overhead, reaching into the fog that was rolling in from the river.

Annabel chafed her gloved hands against her arms, imagining being cast out into that fog with nothing but an impractical dress and dancing slippers.

Without warning, Jasper swung to her side of the carriage, close enough to touch her. Annabel scrambled into the corner, panicked that he’d read her thoughts and decided to do that.

His fine blond brows knitted together over blue eyes that reminded her of the spring birds that flitted from branch to branch in her garden at home. “You’ve had a difficult night, I think.”

“I…” The squeak in that one word had her clearing her throat to try again. “I had a much better time than I anticipated, until Chippenham.”

The fun had leached from the evening when she saw Jasper talking with Gwendolyn Harris, but she’d never admit it. Her part of their bargain was that she’d not interfere in his dalliances. Though she did wonder if he knew Gwennie was a viper in curls.

“George and I have competed over any number of things since Eton. The last was the…attention of a certain lady.”

“And you won.” No woman would choose Chippenham over Jasper. It would also help explain the duke’s vulgar suggestion.

He nodded. “Though it wasn’t much of a prize.”

But he’d still claimed it.

“And I no longer hold it.” He took her hand in his and coaxed her closer. “It is important to me for you know that.”

“Thank you.” Her tongue was coated with the bitter taste of a confession she didn’t dare make. Though her fear of retaliation faded a little more each day, she refused to lay her sins, and her father’s debts, at her husband’s feet. It was too much to ask of anyone.

“Would you tell me what he said?” He lowered his head to meet her gaze. “It might be embarrassing, but it will better than my wondering for weeks.”

She wanted to ask why he’d spend an extra minute wondering about her, but she expected it had to do with Society’s expectations and the respect she was due. He’d already reprimanded Rachel for calling her Annie—a name Annabel hated because it made her sound like a scullery maid.

She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “He complimented me on the necklace but said if I was willing to ruin myself for stones that size, perhaps I would be interested in his, since they were larger.”

Jasper’s laugh had a bitter, hard sound to it, like hail against a window.

“I see.” His hold on her tightened. “I expected better from Chippenham, which I will explain to him when—”