A Visit From Sir Nicholas by Victoria Alexander Page B

pleasant feeling of warmth and well-being within me. It's really rather difficult to be angry about anything, no matter how distressing, if one has had enough brandy." She took a small sip. "You should have tried this before you sent me your note." He smiled weakly.
    "I should probably apologize to you as well. None of this is really your fault." She settled back in her chair and cupped her hands around her glass. "Oh, certainly you should have told me the truth long before now, but I can see where you have believed everything you've done has been in my best interests."
    "Keep that in mind," he said under his breath.
    "I shouldn't have been as angry as I was. On reflection, I am most appreciative of your efforts on my behalf."
    He downed the rest of his brandy and poured another glass. "More?"
    "I've barely touched what I have." She studied him for a long moment. He was most definitely nervous.
    "What on earth—" The question he had forestalled her asking earlier returned. "There is more, isn't there?"
    "Nearly half a decanter."
    "Not more brandy." It wasn't like Jonathon to be quite this evasive. It was extremely suspicious. "More that you haven't told me."
    Jonathon shrugged. " More is such a vague term."
    " More is quite specific."
    "You won't like it." He shook his head in a mournful manner, and she might well have felt sorry for him if it had not been for the weight growing inevitably in the pit of her stomach.
    "I don't expect to." At once she realized exactly what he was trying so hard not to say. "Jonathon, why did you decide to tell me about Charles's will today?"
    "It was past time?"
    "Jonathon?" She held her breath.
    "Nicholas is back," he blurted.
    Her heart caught. "Back?"
    He nodded. "In London. He arrived only yesterday, I believe."
    "I see." Her voice was remarkably calm, belying the thudding of her heart and the roar of her blood in her ears. "Well, that does complicate matters somewhat, doesn't it?" His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I don't know. Does it?"
    She tossed back the rest of her brandy. "It does if he thinks he can step into my life and take over my affairs."
    "Is that all?"
    "Of course. What more could there be?" A distinct challenge sounded in her voice. Jonathon blew a long breath. "I have yet another confession to make."
    "So many in one day?" she snapped. "Have you been saving them up as a special treat in preparation for Christmas?"
    "I know that you and he once shared some affection for one another," he said quietly.
    "Don't be absurd." At once, she got to her feet and stalked across the room. Absolutely no one knew how she had once felt about Nicholas. Or rather how she'd thought she'd felt. Jonathon's comment was little more than speculation on his part based on nothing of substance. "Nicholas and I shared nothing whatsoever but a casual sort of friendship. I have not given him a second thought since the day he left." It wasn't the truth, of course, yet it wasn't entirely a lie. It had taken far longer than she'd expected, but she had managed to put Nicholas out of her mind for the most part. After all, she'd had Charles, a man who, in spite of his faults, had indeed loved her, and she'd loved him as well. They'd had an excellent life together. Pleasant and comfortable, and if it had not been as perfect as she had once thought it was, it had hardly been dreadful. And Nicholas had had no place in it. And if, perhaps, on a rare occasion, she had glimpsed a man who resembled Nicholas on a busy street and her heart had twisted slightly, or if she had heard a voice in the crush of guests at a party and her breath had caught for the barest fraction of a second, or if she'd awoken from a dream with a sense of loss so profound there was the briefest ache in her throat, they'd been mere aberrations. Memories of a disloyal heart that had had no more substance than gossamer and had been just as insignificant. He had no place in her heart or in her life. And he never would.
    Nicholas Collingsworth had