Before He Was Mine (Before Series, Book 2)

Cards and Other Games

Emilia left Will in the study promptly after delivering her ultimatum. She would have enjoyed the look on his face as he glared at her with ardent eyes if it did not terrify her so.

Stopping on the other side of the door, Emilia composed herself. She took a deep breath, running her hands nervously over her skirts. Leo was across from her, standing at the entrance to the gaming room. He was speaking to a woman whose back was turned to Emilia, but his eyes connected with hers, and he winked.

Emilia felt her cheeks growing hot, knowing what Leo must have assumed about her and Will's visit in the study.

She had always been rather unrestrained. But never had she behaved as brazenly as just now. Oh, God. And the night was still young. She would have to continue her act until the clock struck twelve if she wished to convince Will.

Well, it wasn't precisely an act. Emilia wanted Will with an intensity that scared her. She had never stopped loving him, and after the things he had said to her in the past months, she couldn't stop thinking about if it was possible...

Emilia needed to know if it was possible before she married Lord Trevor.

Because she knew that was where their courtship was going.

Emilia braced herself and walked across the room. Leo caught her by the wrist as she walked by him and leaned in to whisper, "I do hope I've judged correctly by placing you next to him at the table."

She smiled, but before responding, shifted her eyes to the woman across from Leo, wanting to be careful of her words. Upon realizing who it was, her smile only grew. The dazzling brunette returned the grin slowly.

"Lady Humphries," Emilia said brightly. "How lovely that you are joining us."

"Yes," she purred in her usual sultry tone, "Well, Leo told me that this would not be an evening to miss."

Emilia tossed them a look, glancing between the countess and the earl. "But nothing worth reporting on, I trust," she said with a raise of her brow.

Lady Humphries gave her a sincere smile. "Of course not, Lady Emilia."

Lady Humphries, as it turned out, was the infamous gossip columnist, Madame Mischief. When Emilia had found out from Addie, she was rather...upset. To put it mildly.

Madame Mischief's gossip column, Mischief in Mayfair, had not been kind to Emilia upon her ruination. And Emilia might have been still carrying that grudge. However, Lady Humphries called on her at Kingfield House right before Prince George's death, and they had been able to clear the air.

When it had been the two of them sitting in the drawing-room, Lady Humphries, or Scarlett, as she had insisted on being called, seemed nearly...human. Her mysterious air had vanished, and she was merely a woman, like Emilia. She apologized for the words she had written in the column. Mischief in Mayfair had still been new at the time of the scandal, and she had admitted to taking advantage of the situation, knowing it would sell copies like fire.

The words were spoken with such despairing honesty that Emilia hadn't been able to refuse Lady Humphries' apology. In fact, by the time they had finished their cups of tea at Kingfield House that day, Emilia was feeling quite warmly toward the woman.

She gave Leo and Lady Humphries another small smile and continued into the sparsely lit room. As Emilia strode away, she suddenly wondered what had ever happened with the wager concerning them. After Will had jilted her, Emilia had avoided gossip and society for some time, so she never heard the results of the gentlemen's bets on Lady Humphries.