Page 4 of The Way We Were

Chapter Two

Reggie stared at Lucy’s pale face and could only come to one conclusion—she was not the same grieving woman he had left behind, but she was also not the woman he’d fallen in love with. He wasn’t the same person either. Life and time could change people. He’d always thought that they would change and grow together, but for the first time, he felt a piercing of doubt.

The rest of their meal was full of strained silences intermixed with any question he could think up about friends and family. She answered evenly, tonelessly, and his worry grew.

At last, they were finished, and when he escorted her into the lobby, the desk clerk assured them a new suite was ready and asked a porter to lead them to the second floor—the same floor as Madeleine, but Reggie wasn’t foolish enough to bring that up. They stepped into a small sitting room with a peach-striped sofa, matching chairs and draperies, and a stunning view of the sea that he barely noticed.

The porter gestured to the room on the right. “I placed your luggage there, Mrs. Lawton, and sir, yours is in the room on the left.”

“Thank you,” Reggie said.

After he’d tipped the porter, who shut the door behind himself, Reggie turned to face Lucy. He felt as if a thunderstorm was about to burst between them, with her anger the electricity powering it.

He put up his hands in a placating gesture. “Lucy⁠—”

“Do not act as if your behavior is nothing,” she said in a low, strained voice. “My friends told me you’d been seen with an unknown woman in Brighton—and I thought you were still on a ship heading for London!”

He winced. “Did they mention Miss Fournier is a chaperoned young lady, daughter of my late commander, and that I certainly was respectful to her at all times?”

Her fists clenched, an obvious sign of her fury. “Of course they did not—people only care what scandal looks like, not what it truly is.”

“And if these women are such good friends, why would they hurt you in such a manner?”

“They hurt me?” she scoffed. “They were trying to spare me any further disgrace, letting me know so that I could travel here and somehow make things…make things…better! But I don’t know how I’m supposed to do that. I never thought you’d—you’d…”

Her voice trailed off, and Reggie saw the tears shimmer in her eyes.

He stepped forward and took her upper arms. “Lucy, I would never shame or betray you. Surely you must know that.”

“I don’t know what you’ve done,” she said, stepping away.

As if she couldn’t bear his touch.

“I don’t know how many people saw you return to England with a woman,” she continued, “and know that you didn’t come to London, as if you were trying to hide.”

“I was not trying to hide. I’m here because this is where Madeleine⁠—”

“Madeleine?” she echoed sharply.

He sighed. “It was a long voyage to keep calling her Miss Fournier.” When she opened her mouth, he raised one hand. “Let me finish. I promised her father, who died in my arms, that I would escort her back to her fiancé. He will be meeting her here within the next two weeks.”

Lucy let out a breath. “If that’s true⁠—”

“You think I’m lying?” he asked softly.

She seemed to straighten her shoulders. “But you didn’t write and explain this to me.”

“The letter would have left with me, by the time I made the promise.”

“And you didn’t write when you arrived in Brighton.”

“I didn’t want you to feel you had to pack up your bags and head to Brighton, when I would be seeing you so soon.”

“But you see how this looks, and how embarrassing it was to learn it second-hand.”

“I’m very sorry about that.”

The awkwardness between them felt like an invisible wall, as if they were strangers. Reggie was stunned at such feelings, when he’d been so eager to be home and renewing their life together.