The blood drained from his face. “James willnae—ye think ye’re in love with—”
“Lord,no.” She shook her head with a low chuckle. “He explained why he’d never marry, and before you berate me, know I won’t tell a soul.”
Now the blood rushed back and sent his temples throbbing. “Hetoldye?”
“Not in so many words, but I understood hisintent.”
His pulse settled a bit, but fear lodged like an iceberg in his chest. “So why were ye with him if ye didnae want to marry him?”
Her jaw ticked as though explaining herself to him was becoming tiresome. “Once we were caught, which wewould have been, had you not interrupted, James would be a gentleman and ask for my hand. But I would refuse, ruining myself and allowing him to continue unscathed in society.”
“Why would ye want that?”
The corners of her lips pressed into her cheeks as her nostrils flared. “Sir Phineas—the man I’m set to marry—is dreadful. There are rumors he’s fathered illegitimate children with his staff, then sent the poor girls away—” Her voice caught, but Callum did not need her to say more. He knew nothing about her, and less of this Sir Phineas, but he already knew she was correct—she did deserve better.
“And yer family is still making ye marry him?”
“I told my father what I’d heard, but he didn’t believe me, said I was simply spreading unfounded gossip. But I wrote to one of the women, and she replied and told me her story, gave me the names of other women he’d abandoned.”
Her teeth sank into her lower lip and his breath hitched.Maddening, that was the word to describe her. Making him take leave of his senses, forget every reason he’d attended this party, why he’d give his life to protect his cousin. All to spend more time in the presence of a woman with a mouth like a plump raspberry.
“And there’s no one else who will marry ye?”
“My family is in no position to offer a dowry for me, and Sir Phineas is the only person who has asked. No one in good society would take me on, especially now. ”
The hair on his nape tingled like it did when he spotted a weakness in a business rival, a key piece of information that could tip the scales in his favor. After what Valebrook had said, he was certain she was holding something back. “Why not now?”
The flush in her cheeks receded. “I—there are rumors about me, not good ones. I was tossed over by my fiancé several years ago, then I…” Her chin dropped, and a bolt of fury struck like lightning in his gut. Someone hurt her, badly, to make the light disappear from her eyes, to make her weak. He recognized the expression, the same one his aunt and uncle wore after their oldest son passed, every time his name was mentioned.
A loss that cannot be named but can never be forgotten.
She cleared her throat, and the lift returned to her chin. “I know this is reckless, and more than a little foolish. But I’m desperate. Believe me when I say marrying Sir Phineas will be far worse than any scandal I can cause here.”
“Ye dinnae need to tell me any more.” He pulled in a deep breath to release the clenching in his abdomen, the tension in his hands. “Why not Trembly, is that his name? The bloke ye were talking to last night.” He ignored the punch of jealousy that came with saying the man’s name, the one who seemed to draw smiles from Violet as easily as taking a breath.
She blanched. “Timothy—Lord Trembly, he’s like a brother to me. He does not want to marry me, either. If he were to ruinme, our families would lose a generations-long friendship.” Her chest lifted as she pulled in a slow breath and exhaled. “I’ve been a tremendous burden to my family, and it’s time I set out on my own.”
“Ye also won’t be a burden if ye marry.”
She met his eyes with a fierce gaze. “Do you know the story of Artemis and Orion?”
Maddening, indeed. “Wh—aye, but why—”
“Artemis loved Orion so deeply that, after his death, she cast his body into the heavens as a reminder that love is eternal.” Her mouth worked for a moment before she exhaled. “I want that.”
“To be thrown into the sky after your lover accidentally murders you?”
She threw up her hands. “No, I—I want a timeless love, a love story for the ages. I know it sounds foolish, but I won’t settle for less. I’ll never find love like that in a society marriage, and certainly not with Sir Phineas. I am choosing myself and freeing my family. Ruination is my only option.”
They stood in silence as he wrapped his head around her words. “While I am sympathetic to yer wishes, ye cannae involve my cousin. If he causes a scandal, people might ask questions, look too closely.”
“A scandal with a woman could attract the right sort of attention—”
“No attention is good attention. I’m sorry, but I willnae allow it.”
“Who are you to make decisions for him? He was willing to help me until you stuck your big head in!” He expected smoke to start billowing from her ears at any moment. “Is it your personal responsibility to protect James every hour of the day?”
Memories of long nights listening to his uncle soothe his aunt’s tears, the haunted looks in the eyes of the remaining members of the Taggart family as they visited their oldest son’s gravesite, flooded him, threatened to overwhelm him. As much as he attempted to school his features, some indication of his thoughts must have broken through, because she paused, lowered her chin.
