His Lady Mistress

146 His Lady Mistressshe ought to be doing. Going over the house. Setting thingsto rights. It wasn’t as if she had suggested spending vast sumsof money as his mother had done on the London house. Hadhis mother made such a suggestion about a fountain courthe’d have known she meant it. At least with Verity he knewshe’d been joking, trying to ease the tension between them.She had been trying very hard to do that since their marriage.I should like to belong again...Such a simple wish. The one thing he couldn’t grant her.He didn’t dare let her that close. But he didn’t have to hurther. Did he?Richard’s chuckle gave him further pause. ‘Must say she’squick enough. An upside-down fountain! I wish you mighthave seen your face.’Max suppressed a savage rejoinder. It would be so damneasy to respond to her overtures of friendliness, to laugh withher, to be friends. His body tightened. He wanted more thanthat. He wanted to be her lover again.He looked at Richard, unconcernedly devouring sirloin.His twin. Half an hour between heir and spare. Damned ifhe’d put that distance between him and his brother.Leaving the house, Verity walked and ran until she reachedthe beech woods, ignoring the stitch in her side. Coward!Can’t you do anything but run? Shivering in the breeze, sheforced herself to think again about the tidbit of knowledgeMrs Henty had shared. Max’s birthday was next week. Richard’stoo, of course, since they were twins. Twins. Their obviousfriendship and closeness tore at her. What would it belike? To be that close to someone, to know that howevermuch you argued, there was always that tie binding you.Ties could break. Even ties of blood... Pulling back fromthat, she remembered once saying to Max that she had noone to give a present to. Well, now she did. But...a birthday.She tensed. And hung on to her common sense. His birthday.