Free When Marrying a Scoundrel by Kathryn Smith Page B

She was dressed in a blue walking costume that matched her eyes, a tiny stylish hat perched on top her head.
    “Madame La Rieux. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
    She smiled then, and Jack thought he saw frost on her lips. This change in demeanor could only be owed to Sadie. “My coffee has not yet arrived.”
    Jack seated himself in the plush wing-backed chair facing hers across a small table. The coffee arrived then and he was surprised to see that there were two cups on the tray, along with the pot, cream, and sugar.
    “I thought you might like a cup as well,” she said.
    Jack thanked the waiter and dismissed the young man before returning his attention to La Rieux. He regarded her warily as she poured for the both of them. The smellof coffee drifted to his nostrils, seducing him with its rich scent. What had the world done before the gods blessed them with this alternative to weak, spineless tea?
    “Thank you. Does this mean you have not decided to despise me completely? Or are you simply trying to lull me into a false sense of ease so that castrating me is that much more pleasurable?”
    That warmed her expression a bit. “Right to the point. I’ve not yet decided. Cream and sugar?” When he nodded, she continued: “I want to like you, Mr. Friday. I truly do, and it would make our dealings that much more pleasant. But you threatened my friend—”
    “I didn’t threaten anyone,” he interjected hotly, not bothering to pretend ignorance. He lowered his voice, “If you want to offer such entertainment at your place of business that is your concern, but I would be remiss if I didn’t share with my partner my misgivings concerning the possible ramifications of supporting such an enterprise.”
    “You speak as though you think Sadie is a fraud.”
    Jack looked away. He didn’t want to discuss Sadie with this woman. His marriage had no place in a business relationship. Or rather, his lack of a marriage had no place.
    There was the gentle click of cup meeting saucer. He could feel La Rieux’s gaze upon him. “ Mon Dieu . That’s exactly what you think. How can you think so lowly of your own wife?”
    His head whipped around and he met her accusing gaze with a hard one of his own. “I no more claim her asmy wife than she would claim me as a husband.” And he was certain Sadie had made no claim whatsoever.
    La Rieux sat back in her chair, a strange expression on her fair face. “ D’accord .”
    Jack arched a brow when she said nothing else. “That’s it?”
    She nodded, red hair glinting in the light. “It is none of my business what happened between you and Sadie. I should not try to make it so. I’m sure you had your reasons for abandoning her as you did.”
    Heat rushed up Jack’s neck. “I didn’t abandon anyone. I came back to England to discover my home empty, and that my wife—the woman I loved—had walked out on me.”
    La Rieux arched a fine brow in that way only women could, managing to look both haughty and amused. “And who could blame her when you so charmingly consider her a charlatan?”
    Who the hell did this woman think she was to comment on his relationship with Sadie when she knew nothing of it? He’d seen Sadie read leaves. He had seen how often she’d been wrong, and how often she’d been right. Sometimes she got so caught up in it she truly believed she could divine the future, but in private she would simply shrug and say that they were only leaves. Only tea.
    “Fate does not reside in the bottom of a tea cup,” Jack bit out in way of defense—though he knew he shouldn’t explain himself. “Do you think she never read my leaves? Nothing she said has come true. It’s all a load of bollocks. She knows it, and I know it.” She’d said they’d bereunited after a long separation and then ran off when he hadn’t even been gone, what, a year? Her letters became strained, as though written by a stranger, and then stopped altogether.
    The leaves had said