Page 21 of The Earl

“I cannot. He does not want me,” she stopped. Sabine’s smile wasn’t meant to pacify—it was a knowing smile. As if she did, indeed, know something about Conrad and Cait. As if she expected him to take her to London, which was a ridiculous notion given the state of their relationship. Not to mention the fact that Terric would never, ever allow it.

“Nay.” Cait reached for her wine and took a sip. “Nay, I will not . . . he will not . . .”

“Trust me,” Sabine said, but her gaze fixed on something, or rather someone, in the hall, and her smile suddenly faltered. Roysa followed her gaze to a woman watching them closely. The woman was sitting, but it did nothing to hide her voluptuous figure in her deep green velvet gown. Long blonde hair streamed behind her, a simple headdress hiding nothing. She was so very different from Cait, in all ways but one way.

The way she looked at Conrad . . .

Before she could stop herself, Cait confirmed her suspicion by looking at Sabine . . . and then Conrad. He wasn’t looking at the woman now, but Cait could be patient. Surely he would eventually notice her staring at him with unbridled desire.

“Cait,” Sabine said, interrupting her musings. “She means nothing to him.”

Cait continued her vigil. Finally, he noticed. But she did not know Conrad well enough to discern the look he gave the blonde woman.

You know him better than most.

That may have been true once, but no longer.

“Who is she?”

Sabine sighed.

“Who is she?” she repeated, unable to look away.

“Lady Threston,” Sabine finally answered. Though really it was no answer at all.

“Please, Sabine. Who is she?”

Still, Sabine did not answer. She nodded instead, confirming her suspicions.

Conrad’s paramour. Unless . . .

Heart in her throat, she asked, “Are they betrothed?”

She’d forgotten to whisper. Guy leaned forward, hearing her.

“Nay, my lady, they are not.”

He and Sabine exchanged a look that told Cait she, and perhaps Lady Threston, had been a topic of discussion between them.

Her only consolation? Both of them seemed to be on her side. But that hardly mattered. There was only one side that did, and it was the man who finally seemed to realize what they were all talking about.

Conrad looked from his lady back to her, but again she could not read anything into his expression. Cait pretended it was nothing. She picked up the last tart in front of her and took a bite, forcing it down her throat. It stuck in her chest, heavy and unwanted, but she forced another, chiding herself for thinking Conrad would be alone. A man such as he? A handsome earl?

Of course there would be other women.

Sabine had it wrong.

She was a fool and should never have come.