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At last, she was free.

Chapter 11

She was late.

Again.

Unlike the prior time, however, Andrew knew Marcia would be here.

Or he hadthoughtas much.

That was, he’d thought as much for the first thirty minutes he’d spent waiting for her. After that, he’d begun to have his doubts.

She’d had a change of heart.

That much had been clear after Stormont had crashed their table last evening.

Nay, he’d seen the first hesitancy before he’d helped her from the carriage.

Following Stormont’s exchange, however, something had shifted. She’d been different.

Quieter.

More reserved.

All the way until he’d escorted her home.

Her reason and good judgment had been restored, and all it had taken was the tangible fear of discovery. She had too much sense and reason to continue seeing this through. She’d certainly always possessed far more than Andrew had. The woman he’d known almost as long as she’d been alive would be too clever to tangle herself up with him and visit the haunts scoundrels like Andrew did.

But as he sat there some twenty minutes after the time she’d indicated she’d be here, he felt a different sentiment in his chest.

Something that felt very much like regret.

The moment the thought slipped in, he blanched.

“Regret?” he muttered into the quiet. “Regret.” Of course it wasn’t regret.

Relief. That was the emotion. It was such a foreign one for a man on the losing ends of many wagers and card hands that it proved nearly indecipherable.

That’s all there was to it.

Andrew consulted his timepiece for the tenth time that night, squinting in the dim light in a bid to make out the tiny numbers.

One forty-three.

Nearly forty-five minutes late.

She wasn’t coming.

Andrew returned his timepiece inside his cloak and stole one more look outside at streets that still bustled with the lords and ladies attending their respectable affairs.

He’d remain just in case. Just to be certain she didn’t arrive so she wouldn’t be left waiting in the streets alone.

And then a startled curse escaped him as his gaze landed on a figure staring up at him.

Marcia.

The tight sensation in his chest abated, replaced with a lightness.