Free Portrait of a Scandal by Danielle Lisle Page B

pleased with him as a husband. They still they did not know each other’s likes and dislikes, but there was a connection between them and Nellie enjoyed being with him, more so than any other man she had met in her years. His ability to allow her to be herself was not something she had previously felt outside her father’s home, but in Thomas’—or now theirs—she felt she could relax. Her father had been right—Thomas would make her happy. That was, if he did not discover the truth.
    The sudden feeling of despair assaulted her. He could never learn the truth—Nellie would simply not allow it. Thomas truly did make her feel free and able to be herself—a tremendous gift in its own right—yet the knowledge that she could suddenly turn his affection for her into loathing knotted painfully in her stomach.
    “Sterling!”
    Both Nellie and Thomas turned at the call. A man on a grey horse was approaching at a fast clip. Thomas’ horse tossed his head as if tempted to bolt, but unsurprisingly, the mare Nellie rode did not even seem to notice.
    “Hello, Headline. How are you?” Thomas asked with a genuine smile.
    “Well, thank you,” the man returned as his attention moved to Nellie.
    “Headline, allow me introduce you to my wife, Lady Sterling. My dear, allow me to introduce you to Lord Headline. We attended Oxford together.”
    “My Lord,” Nellie said with a nod, thinking him vaguely familiar. Perhaps he had been at their wedding?
    Lord Headline’s reputation was not dissimilar to Thomas’. He was a rake, a man who liked the idea of marriage as much as he liked the idea of cleaning his own chamber pot. While she had never met him before, Nellie was well versed in the gossip around the ton, simply from the hearsay she received from Anne and the servants in her father’s household. She knew he tended to visit establishments for his manly needs, but she had also heard of his ability to keep young widows warm during their long and lonely mourning periods.
    “I must send my condolences, Lady Sterling. If I had but met you before, I would have warned you off this frightful bore.”
    Nellie grinned, while at the same moment her mare started to drop back from the group. She reminded the horse of her crop. “Such a shame we did not meet, Lord Headline. Even after a single day of being his wife, I fear you may be right.”
    Headline barked a laugh. “Oh, she is a gem, Sterling.”
    Thomas regarded her with amusement but said nothing.
    “Are you both attending Lady Elizabeth’s dinner party next eve?” Headline asked.
    “I have not sent our reply as yet. We have received several invitations and to be honest, I have yet to open them,” Thomas said, with an apologetic glance in her direction. “I am sure we will see you at an event soon. No doubt, your mother will be holding several parties in the lead up to next season. My mother told me of her plan to have you married by the spring,” Thomas remarked with amusement.
    Headline groaned. “Her intentions are sadly no secret. I am already bored with the young debutantes of last season,” he said, then seemed to remember Nellie’s presence and looked somewhat remorseful.
    “Do not look so cast down, my Lord. You will not be reproached for speaking your mind in my presence, I assure you.”
    He gave a nod in approval. “A pleasant discovery, my Lady. You were indeed smart in your choice of bride, Sterling.”
    “I think so,” was all Thomas said.
    “Farewell then, friends. I’d best go about my business and head home. I am sure my mother has forgotten to inform me of a tea she is hosting with several eligible young ladies. I must do my best to enrage her and pay them all little attention,” Headline said with a dip of his hat, before he rode off.
    “A charming fellow,” Nellie commented.
    “Charming in an understatement, though he is quite the charmer when he feels the desire,” her husband said.
    “Why, is that disapproval in your tone?” she asked