The Other Side - J. D. Robb [46]
“Stop acting so superior.” Bettina nudged her horse, and they moved on, smiling and nodding to acquaintances but not stopping to talk. “I have had enough of this for now. When we are home I will tell you what Osterman said, and then I want to hold Cameron and pretend that everything is all right.”
“Which means I will go visit our son, and you will retire to the earl’s study and read the Edinburgh Review or the papers.”
Bettina missed her baby and wanted to spend more time with him than the miserly ten minutes each morning. How could Harry stand to see so little of the boy? Unless he did not care for the child any more than as his heir.
The first night of this curse, alone in bed and afraid of sleep, Bettina had consoled herself with the idea that the purpose of this nonsense was to help her to understand Harry better. But the fact was that being in his body really did not give her any more understanding of how his mind worked than she had before.
What was the point of this then? She wondered if she would ever find out.
Six
They rode the rest of the way from the park to Fell House in silence, negotiating the heavy street traffic with care.
Once in the front hall, Bettina reminded her husband, “Before you go to see Cameron, come into the study. I would have a word with you, my dear.” Harry followed Bettina into his study.
Bettina slapped her hand with her gloves as she considered what to say. Neither of them sat down. Bettina was too upset and Harry too much of a gentleman, despite his skirts, to sit down if she did not.
“Osterman is a rogue of the worst kind,” Bettina began. Just saying the words renewed her anger.
“That is not news to me, nor should it be news to you. I told you about his habits.”
“But he insulted me. Or do I mean he insulted you?”
“Which is it, Bettina?”
“He insulted the countess.”
Harry’s expression hardened. Even framed by curls, his expression was neither friendly nor understanding. “Tell me what happened.”
Feeling as though she had been called before the magistrate and treated as if she were the criminal, Bettina recounted the conversation as best as she could recall it. As she came to her insult to Osterman and his half challenge, Bettina could see that Harry could no longer contain his alarm.
“My God! Be careful, or you will have one of us dead. Osterman was needling you. I never would have reacted that way, but you rose to the bait.”
“A needle is not bait, Harry. It is in no way tempting. A needle hurts just as an insult to your wife should offend you.”
“He did not insult the countess. At least that was not what he was trying to do. He was trying to find a way to pay you back for your insult of him. It was as much a dare as anything to proclaim the countess’s virtue to a man like him.”
“What should I have done?”
“Threatened him first, of course. Told him that you would meet him at Jackson’s and prove who was more the man with your fists where everyone could see.”
Bettina winced at the thought. She knew less about boxing than she did about guns. “Would we not be in the same situation?”
“No, neither one of you meant what you were saying. Not then. Not until your discussion became so heated that you spoke without thinking.”
“And you think women play games with each other!” Bettina threw the gloves onto the chair and ran her hands over her face. “What do I do now?”
Harry rubbed his hands together as if itching for a fist-fight. “I think you should pretend nothing happened and if pressed”—he paused and shook his head in disgust—“if Osterman presses you, then you must apologize.”
“Oh, Harry, no.” She could see how much the idea distressed him. “I’m so sorry. If it came to a duel, surely Osterman would not kill me. It’s against the law. Not to fight a duel, but to kill someone.”
“I have no idea what Osterman will do when he’s in a temper. We already know that his appetites often override his birth as a gentleman.”
There was a scratch at the door. One of the footmen had a message. “I beg your pardon, my lady, but Nurse wants