The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy (Smythe-Smith Quartet, #4)

by Julia Quinn

Why was he watching her? It made no sense. And Iris hated—even more than she hated making a fool of herself—things that made no sense.

“I was surprised to see you so soon after the concert,” Iris said once they were outside and headed toward the park. “And I am surprised to hear you say so,” he countered. “Surely I gave no impression of disinterest.”

Was that true? She knew she was not sentimental, but she was not completely without feelings. She’d read Pride and Prejudice six times. That had to count for something.

Iris pursed her lips, remembering. “He was watching me the entire time,” she said. “Maybe he found you beautiful.” “Sarah,” Iris said frankly, “no one finds me beautiful. At least not at first glance.”

He wanted to take her home, to Maycliffe Park, where she would meet his sisters. A nervous laugh bubbled through her throat. Sisters. It figured he’d have sisters. If there was one thing in her life that had never been lacking, it was sisters.

She opened her book and began to read. In a closed carriage. Alone with her new handsome husband. She read a book.

She needed to learn to be indifferent to him. Not cruel, not unkind, just . . . unaffected. When he smiled at her—and he did smile at her, the cur—her whole being seemed to fizz with happiness. Which would have been lovely, except that it made his rejection even more puzzling. And painful.

He was trying to seduce her again. She was sure of it. But why? Why would he treat her with such warmth only to reject her? He was not that cruel. He could not be.

“I shall send for a doctor,” he said, as they crossed the threshold. “No, please don’t.” Good God, what was a doctor going to say? That she had a broken heart? That she was mad to think her husband would ever care for her?

She’d almost protested, almost said that she wasn’t beautiful, because she wasn’t. A

Iris nearly choked with the horror of it. Richard must have asked his friends to draw up lists of the most desperate women in London. And she had topped the charts.