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“Tell us what happened, pumpkin.” Anthony invited with a smile, though his eyes remained cool and cautious. “I got mother’s letter, but it was filled with ranting of how ruined we are. Why don’t we hear from you what transpired? I know what the paper said, but we all know how notoriously unreliable they can be.”
Constance opened her mouth, and the words still would not come.
“What happened, Constance?” Sebastian demanded at her continued silence.
She looked everywhere but at him. She couldn’t bear to see his disappointment. Seconds flew by; then she shored up her courage and met his eyes. She flinched from his cold distant look. It was one he had never turned on her before. Her throat tightened as tears burned. “I visited Decadence for a private audience with the Duke of Mondvale.”
Sebastian exhaled a slow breath, and she gathered how worried he must be. He nodded in encouragement. “Why?”
She fought to keep her face blank and buried the memories. It would not do for her to blush at all. “He called on me a few times, but at Lady Beaumont’s ball he decided to terminate our friendship without any explanation. I thought it fair to demand answers.”
Her mother’s shocked inhalation had painful heat scorching Constance’s skin.
“Were you seen kissing?” Sebastian demanded softly.
“No.”
“Does it matter if she was seen?” her mother asked weakly. “The very fact that she visited that man in his club is enough. She is compromised. This is a terrible scandal. I doubt Connie will ever be able to recover from it.”
Sebastian’s anger seemed to pour over her in waves. “Did he touch you, Connie?”
She sucked in a harsh breath.
“We understand you are embarrassed,” her father interjected, “but we must understand all that happened if we are to face it as a family.”
She forced herself to look at everyone fully. It was not condemnation she saw but anger on her behalf and pity. It was the pity that gutted her and caused her hands to tremble. She clenched them tightly in her lap under the table. “He kissed me a few times.”
“And?” the icy anger had not receded from Sebastian’s voice.
She looked to Anthony for support and encountered a similarly cool gaze.
Anthony spoke at her hesitation. “It has been two days since this scandal, Connie, and Mondvale has not presented himself to ask for your hand. His reputation is…” He grimaced. “We need to know all that he did. Are you still a virgin, Connie?”
Her mother’s fork clattered onto the table. “Anthony! This is not something we discuss so openly.” Her face was florid.
“We need to understand what we are combating, Mother. Connie should have thought more of her sensibilities before she acted so impetuously,” Sebastian snarled.
By a great effort of will, one Constance had never imagined she possessed, she tried to show an unreadable expression. “Yes, I…I …believe so,” she said before they could discuss the matter of her chastity anymore.
“You believe so?” Anthony asked with such lethal softness he unsettled her. “I must assume he went farther than kisses?”
Her face burned, and she wanted to sink underneath the table. She was not sure if there was more to the act than what they had done. Lucan had touched and kissed her in a place she didn’t even know she could be touched. But there must be more, because Lucan had still seemed so tensed and unfulfilled. Not that she would ever admit to such a thing! Resolutely she thrust Lucan and her improper behavior from mind. She looked to Phillipa for help. The anger burning in her gaze as she looked at Anthony comforted Constance.
“I would think if Connie is in doubt my lords, nothing happened,” Jocelyn growled. “You will both cease embarrassing her further.”
Constance could feel the relief that traveled through her brothers and even her father, and her shame burned brighter. For if not for Lucan’s restraint, as he told her before, he would have gone further. She had failed them all with her behavior.
“Then why are you crying?” Anthony demanded.
She raised a hand to her cheek, and swiped away the wetness she found. “My nerves must be more unsettled than I realized.”
He nodded, accepting her inane explanation, but his face had softened.
“What are we to do, Sebastian? Lady Blade saw us both today, and as I walked over to greet her, she turned away.” The mortification in her mother’s voice was rife.
The memory had Constance’s head pounding, and she reached for her glass of water. I was so foolish.
“You can plan for a June wedding, madam,” Sebastian said calmly. Too calmly.
Horror burned in Constance’s veins.
“Why do you look so surprised, Connie? You think I would allow someone to compromise you and not marry you?”
She straightened in her chair. “I do not wish to marry Mondvale under such circumstances, Sebastian, and I am certain he will not marry me. I cannot imagine what happened, for I am certain I was not seen, I swear to you, and he did not compromise me.”
“The fact that he kissed you, touched you was enough,” Sebastian’s voice was implacable.
She shifted her glance to Anthony and espied the same resolve. Sudden fear filled her. She knew with a deep bone certainty that Lucan would never bend to their will. She could not imagine her brothers giving up either. Constance did not want to marry Lucan like this. “I do not want to marry him,” she said hoarsely. Liar, her heart taunted. She yearned for Lucan, but if he came to her this way they would never have a happy marriage. She was sure of it, but she was not sure if she had any choice either.
“If you do not wish to wed Mondvale I will not force you. But you will accept Litchfield’s offer. Either way you will be married by June.”
She searched Sebastian’s face. There was no hint of humor.
“The option is to marry, or live your life as a recluse in disgrace in the country,” her mother said quietly.
“We must rally as if nothing happened,” Phillipa interjected, her golden eyes flashing with anger. “From what I have seen of society, if you flee to the country it is an admission of guilt. I am sure that is not the right way.” Phillipa said glancing at Anthony.
“But why has Mondvale not presented himself here? He must have known the risk when he allowed Constance entrance into his club?” Jocelyn demanded.
“Mayhap he thought Connie was trying to compromise him?” Phillipa ventured. “More than one mamma has tried it this past season and has been met with a similar response.”
Her mother sniffed delicately. “He is a reprobate, that is why. Uncaring and cruel. I knew he was not good enough for Connie, but I foolishly allowed him to call on her without declaring his intentions.”
Lucan was not uncaring and cruel, more stubborn and foolish. Constance had seen the naked need on his face for her. She had also seen how he tried to push her away. She took some comfort in thinking it meant he had hated hurting her. Though it was hollow comfort, indeed.
He was trying to close his heart to her because he believed implicitly in her brother’s guilt. To shatter Lucan’s reserve she needed to understand what had happened. If he would not confide her in, mayhap Sebastian would. “Marissa Alicia Wynwood,” she said.
The blood drained from Jocelyn’s face and the arctic blast from Sebastian’s closed face chilled Constance. What is it? The depth of fear that filled her, made her head swam. The torment and rage behind Lucan’s eyes as he had uttered the words now seemed more real and not a figment of her imagination.
“Who is she?” Constance questioned into the fraught silence.
“Where did you hear her name?” Sebastian questioned.
A part of her wanted to hold it back. For she suddenly knew this was Lucan’s intention. He knew the name would galvanize Sebastian.
“Constance?”
“How do you know her, Sebastian?” She could see that they all knew. Even her father.
“Until you inform me how it is y
ou came to mention her name, I will not divulge who Marissa was.”
How could Lucan believe Sebastian had something to do with her death?
“That was the last thing Luc—His Grace said to me. I demanded as to why he would terminate our friendship and his answer was her name. She was his sister, I believe—”
“Oh my Goodness!” Jocelyn breathed, as everyone fell silent.
“His full name and title is Lucan Devlin Wynwood, the Duke of Mondvale,” Anthony said carefully as he looked at Sebastian.
