to be enjoying comparing her unkempt appearance with Veronica's perfection.
Miss Dolly swept into the room. 'Why, I didn't know we were having company tonight.'
Cain performed the introductions. Veronica replied graciously but that didn't ease Kit's resentment. Not only was the other woman elegant and sophisticated, but she radiated an inner self-confidence Kit didn't think she'd ever possess. Next to her, Kit felt callow, awkward, and unattractive.
Veronica, in the meantime, was engaging Cain in conversation about the newspaper he'd been reading.
'… that my late husband and I were great supporters of Horace Greeley.'
'The abolitionist?' Miss Dolly began to quiver.
'Abolitionist and newspaper editor,' Veronica replied. 'Even in Europe, Mr. Greeley's editorials supporting the Union cause were much admired.'
'But, my dear Mrs. Gamble…' Miss Dolly gasped like a guppy 'Surely you don't mean-I understood you were born in Charleston.'
'That's true, Miss Calhoun, but I somehow managed to rise above it.'
'Oh, my, my…' Miss Dolly pressed her fingertips to her temples. 'I do believe I've developed a headache. I'm sure I won't be able to eat a bite of din ner. I think I'll just go to my room and rest.'
Kit watched in dismay as she fled from the room. Now she was alone with them. Why hadn't Sophronia told her that Mrs. Gamble was expected so Kit could have taken a tray in her room? It was outrageous for Cain to expect her to dine with his mistress.
The thought made her chest hurt.
She told herself it was outraged propriety.
Veronica sat on the settee while Cain took his place in a green-and-ivory-upholstered chair next to her. He should have looked ridiculous on such a delicate piece of furniture, but he seemed as comfortable as if he were astride Vandal or perched on the roof of his cotton mill.
Veronica told Cain a story about a comic mishap at a balloon ascension. He tossed back his head and laughed, showing even, white teeth. The two of them might have been alone for all the notice they were taking of Kit.
She rose, unwilling to watch them together any longer. 'I'll see if dinner's ready.'
'just a minute, Kit.'
Cain uncoiled from his chair and walked toward her. Something calculated in his expression made her wary.
His eyes roamed over her crumpled frock. Then he reached for her. She started to back away, only to have him catch a lock of hair in his fingers near one of her silver combs. When his hand came away, he was holding a piece of twig.
'Climbing trees again?'
She flushed. He was treating her as if she were nine years old and deliberately embarrassing her in front of their sophisticated guest.
'Co ask Sophronia to hold dinner until you've had time to change out of that dirty frock.' With a dismissive look, he turned to Veronica. 'You'll have to forgive my ward. She's only recently graduated from finishing school. I'm afraid all her lessons haven't yet sunk in.'
Kit's cheeks burned with mortification, and angry words bubbled inside her. Why was he doing this? He didn't care about soiled frocks and tangled hair. She knew that about him. He loved the outdoors like she did and had little patience for formality.
She fought to hold onto her temper. 'I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me from dinner this evening, Mrs. Gamble. I, too, seem to have developed a headache.'
'A veritable epidemic.' Veronica's voice was softly mocking.
Cain's jaw set stubbornly. 'We have a guest. Headache or not, I'll expect you back downstairs in ten minutes.'
Kit choked on her rage. 'Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.'
'Don't try to defy me.'
'Don't issue orders you can't enforce.' Somehow she summoned the self-control riot to run from the room, but once she reached the hallway, she picked up her skirts and fled. As she approached the top of the stairs, she fancied she could hear the sound of Veronica Gamble's laughter coming from behind her.
But Veronica wasn't laughing. Instead, she was studying Cain with great interest and a small measure of sadness. So
She'd hoped their relationship would move beyond friendship into intimacy. But now she saw it wasn't meant to be, at least in the foreseeable future. She should have known. He was too magnificent a man not to be difficult.
She felt a flash of pity for his ward. For all her extravagant beauty, the young woman didn't yet know her own mind, and she certainly didn't know his. Kit was much too inexperienced to understand why he'd deliberately embarrassed her. But Veronica understood. Cain was attracted to the girl, and he didn't like it. He was fighting his attraction by bringing Veronica here tonight, hoping that seeing the two women side by side would convince him he was drawn to Veronica instead of to Kit. But it wasn't to be.
Cain had won this round. The young woman had barely managed to hold onto her temper. Still, Kit Weston was nobody's fool, and Veronica had a feeling the game was far from over.
She tapped her fingernail on the upholstered arm of the settee and wondered if she should permit Cain to use her as a pawn in the struggle he was waging with himself. It was a foolish question, and it made her smile. Of course she'd permit it.
Life was dull here, and it wasn't in her nature to be jealous of another woman over something as natural as sex. Besides, it was all so deliriously amusing.
'Your ward is high-spirited,' she said, just to stir the pot.
'My ward needs to learn submission.' He poured a glass of sherry for her and, with an apology, excused himself.
She heard him taking the stairs two a time. The sound excited her. It reminded her of the glorious arguments she and Francis used to have, arguments they sometimes fought with deliriously angry sex. If only she could see what was about to happen in the room upstairs…
She sipped at her sherry, more than prepared to wait them out.
Cain knew he was behaving badly, but he didn't care. For weeks he'd been keeping himself away from her. As far as he could tell, he was the only single man in the community who wasn't jumping to her tune. Now it was time they had a reckoning. He was just sorry Veronica had to be subjected to Kit's rudeness.
And to his own.
But he wouldn't dwell on that. 'Open this door.'
Even as he rapped the panels with his knuckles, he knew he was making a mistake by coming up here after her. But if he let her defy him now, he'd lose any chance he had of keeping her under control.
He told himself this was for her own good. She was willful and stubborn, a danger to herself. Whether he liked it or not, he was her guardian, which meant he had a responsibility to guide her.
But he didn't feel like a guardian. He felt like a man who was losing a struggle with himself.
'Go away!'
He twisted the knob and let himself in.
She stood by the window, the last of the sunlight casting her exquisite face into shadow. She was a wild, beautiful creature, and she tempted him beyond bearing.
As she turned, he froze in place. She'd been unbuttoning her dress, and the sleeves had fallen down on her shoulders so he could see the soft rounds of her breasts visible above her chemise. His mouth went dry.
She didn't try to clutch the bodice together as a modest young woman should. Instead, she gave him glare for glare. 'Get out of my room. You have no right to come charging in here.'
He remembered Hamilton Woodward's letter accusing her of seducing his business partner. When Cain had received it, he had no reason not to believe it, but now he knew better. Kit's claim that she'd punched the bastard was undoubtedly true. If only he were as certain that she was turning aside Parsell's advances.
He tore his eyes away. 'I'm not going to be disobeyed.'
'Then you'd better bark out your orders to someone else.'
'Watch it, Kit. I tanned that rump of yours once before, and it won't bother me to do it again.'
