'Were we invited?'
'Of course not.'
The trace of a frown furrowed Noelle's brow. 'I hope Madame LaBlanc finished my new ball gown while I was gone. I don't want to have to wear anything white this time.'
Quinn's laughter shattered the room.
'May I ask what you find so amusing?' Noelle said haughtily.
'Nothing. Nothing at all.'
Chapter Twenty-six
Despite his weariness, Simon slept little that night, and with the first pale light of the gray November dawn, he finally gave up the struggle and rang for his bath. It was barely eight o'clock when he found himself standing alone on the doorstep of Constance's town house. He had no business being there. Not only was it much too early to make a call, but the new boundaries of their relationship, although unspoken, were abundantly clear, and he was about to step over them. Still, he could no more have stayed away than he could have let himself starve to death. He had to see her.
The butler was incredulous over Simon's request. 'I beg your pardon, Mr. Copeland, but I can hardly have her maid awaken her at this hour.'
'If she doesn't, I will.'
The servant's frosty tones bore clear witness to his disapproval. 'Very well, sir. If you will wait in the drawing room, I will have Mrs. Peale made cognizant of your presence.'
Simon had barely circled the room twice before Constance flew in. The emotions he had been keeping under such tight restraint threatened to break free at the sight of her small form clad in the barest wisp of a robe of silver and blue striped silk.
'What's happened, Simon? Is it Noelle? She's hurt?'
'No, no. She's fine. I'm sorry, Constance. I didn't mean to frighten you by arriving so early. It's just that-'
'You didn't mean to frighten me!' As she pushed herself forward her robe fluttered open to reveal an ice-blue negligee. 'You have finally overstepped yourself, Simon! How dare you demand admittance to my house in the middle of the night. Bully my servant! Nearly send me into a spasm! I won't have it! Do you hear me, Simon Copeland? This time you have pushed me beyond my limit. I want you out of this house immediately.' She pointed a shaking finger toward the door. 'Do I make myself understood?'
In spite of himself, Simon grinned. Here was the Constance he knew so well. The thought of having her change back into a polite stranger was suddenly more than he could bear. With deliberate insolence he settled himself in a chair, crossed an ankle over his knee, and looked up at her.
'You'll have to throw me out.'
Pain twisted inside Constance at Simon's familiar overbearing manner. He sat in front of her, so maddeningly arrogant, a mirror image of his son. The Copeland men! One of them seemed determined to ruin the person she looked upon as a daughter. The other was breaking her own heart.
Her voice quivered, but she did not lower her gaze. 'Very well. If you insist on behaving like a ruffian, I shall be forced to treat you as such.' She reached out toward the bell.
'I wouldn't advise it, Constance, unless you plan to call them all, because, I'm warning you, it will take more than one to throw me out.'
There was a moment of silence, and then Constance's hand dropped back by her side.
'I have something to say, and I'm not leaving until I'm done.' Simon cleared his throat, giving himself time to search for the right words, but they wouldn't arrange themselves in any proper order and so he chose the wrong ones.
'You shouldn't have signed Quinn's contract without consulting me,' he snapped. 'It was a clear violation of our partnership agreement.'
'Fiddlesticks! I was well within my rights, and you know it.'
'Legally, perhaps, but certainly not morally. You should have told me what you were planning.'
'Very well, Simon, I stand corrected. I was remiss. Now, would you be so good as to leave.'
'No, I won't!' In anger and frustration, he leaped up from the chair and went to her, towering over her tiny frame. 'I don't give a damn about the contract! As a matter of fact, I'm glad you signed it. Quinn should have been made a partner years ago, but I was too stubborn to see to it. He's a better shipbuilder than either Ben or I ever dreamed of being!'
Imperiously he thrust his fingers back through the gray at his temples and into the darker hair behind. 'Damn it, Connie! I've bungled everything so badly. You tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen.'
'Tell me what happened,' she said softly as she took a seat on the settee, putting aside her own torment to deal with his.
'Noelle returned last night. I'd never imagined she would be so bitter.' He slumped down into an oval-backed armchair across from Constance. 'I don't know what happened between the two of them while they were gone, but it wasn't good.'
'I'd gathered as much when Quinn came to see me. Your interview with him did not go well?'
'It was a disaster. Among other things, he accused me of having less than fatherly feelings toward Noelle.'
Constance fingered the single pearl button at the neck of her robe. As much as she was afraid of the answer, she had to ask. 'What are your feelings toward her?'
'She's my daughter.' Simon did not miss the trace of skepticism on her face. 'Oh, I won't lie to you, Connie. I'll admit I sometimes have had to remind myself of that, but it's only because she's so beautiful, so proud. I doubt that any man could completely resist her.' He shook his head ruefully. 'Any man, that is, except my son. I was so sure he'd fall in love with her! But he believes she engineered the whole scheme even though I told him I was the one responsible. Connie, I'm actually afraid for her. Now that their marriage has been revealed, I can't protect her from him. Quinn is ruthless with anyone who wrongs him. He doesn't know how to forgive.'
'Simon, would you tell me what happened all those years ago between you and Quinn?' The question had been impulsive, but now that it was out, she did not attempt to withdraw it. 'I don't mean to pry, but there's so much I don't understand.'
Simon cupped the polished wooden curves of the chair arms with the palms of his hands and looked at Constance, sitting so serenely before him. Surprising what a restful woman she was, despite her flighty manner. Not always jumping about like so many females. It was peaceful being with her. Why had it taken him so long to realize how much he loved her and how much he wanted her love in return? Now she was asking him to peel away all his carefully acquired layers of self-protection and reveal the most shameful part of his life.
'I'd like some coffee.'
It arrived so soon after Constance had summoned the maid that he concluded her well-trained staff had anticipated the request. He drank most of one cup before he began his story, and then he told her everything. Even after so long a time, the pain was still real and Simon's face was as pale as Constance's when he finally finished.
'I'm glad you told me,' she said. 'It's not a pretty story.'
'Now you see that my son has much to forgive.'
'Yes, he does. But I think I am not entirely wrong when I say you are no longer the same man.'
'You're dealing with me too kindly, Connie. Especially in view of what I've done to Noelle.'
'You're a businessman. You can't deny your own nature, Simon. You must, however, learn to temper it.'
'It's not an easy lesson. I'm too accustomed to taking what I want without regard for the wishes of others.' There was no mistaking his meaning, and the afternoon in Sussex was once more before them.
'That's why I really came to see you, Connie. I could no longer let that day stand between us. My behavior was inexcusable.'
This was not at all what Constance had expected. 'Your behavior?'
'Why, the way I made love to you. You're a woman of refinement and sensitivity. To have thrown you on the
