Alex opened her mouth, then closed it. She could hardly deny that.
“But then, after seeing you together that night at the theater,” Freddie began. “Well, I understood why—” She broke off and shook her head. “It just made a kind of sense. That’s all.”
“And yet you told quite the opposite to Benjamin Chisolm,” Alex said with far more bitterness than she would have liked.
Freddie’s face blanched and she looked down. “Yes. I’m sorry about that. I’ll admit I was feeling rather pitiful that evening. When he pestered me about you and Lucien, I eventually made some unkind insinuations.”
Alex pursed her lips. So Benjamin had been trying to sniff them out. That put Freddie in a better light than the version he had told.
Then her sister glanced up and her gaze sharpened with curiosity. “At the time I thought he was just being a nosy gossip. But if he actually brought it up to you, that’s rather forward. Especially for a mere acquaintance,” she added in a suggestive tone.
“So you aren’t mad at me for Lucien anymore?” Alex said instead.
Freddie sighed and mulled over the question. “Idolike him,” Freddie said. “But not that way. And certainly not after seeing you together.”
Alex let out a dry laugh. “Am I really so repelling to you?”
“No,” Freddie drew out the word. “But I am quite certain I would have come to the same conclusion even without your interference.”
“Congratulations, then, on realizing you are in love with your fiancé,” she said dryly.
Freddie’s gaze darted away and she shifted on her feet. “About that…”
“Oh, Freddie.” Alex pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Just—just listen,” her sister said with a petulant little stamp of her foot. “I was fully prepared to marry Hank Jr. Was even lookingforwardto it. But then I…”
“Met someone?” Alex offered in the silence that followed. “If you don’t love Lucien,” she continued, “and you don’t love Hank Jr., then it stands to reason that someone else has captured your interest.”
“You make me sound hopelessly fickle,” Freddie said crossly.
“Areyou?”
Freddie swallowed and stared at a spot on the rug. “Perhaps I was before. I can admit that. But this… this feels much different,” she murmured. Then she looked to Alex. “That’s why I came here. Because I can’t just stand back and watch you throw away your chance at happiness. Most people don’t ever get to experience what you have with Lucien.”
“Freddie—”
But her sister grabbed her hands then and gave them an urgent squeeze. “If you feel even a quarter of what I feel, you need to take this chance. Lucienlovesyou, Alex. I saw it yesterday with my own eyes. The man is truly lost to you.”
It took a few tries but Alex finally swallowed past the lump in her throat. “That may have been the case when you saw him, but he feels very differently now. I am quite certain.”
She then tugged on her hands but Freddie would not let go. “Are you?”
Alex had to turn away from her pleading gaze. “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s gone.”
“He hasn’t disappeared off the face of the earth, Alex,” Freddie pressed. “Go after him.”
“Absolutely not.” She still hadsomepride left.
“And you will let him go? Just like that?”
“It is for the best,” Alex said with finality.
Freddie flinched. “That is a coward’s excuse,” she bit off with such vehemence Alex wondered if this mystery suitor hadn’t used the very same reason with her.
“Perhaps,” Alex allowed. “But it is also the truth. I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it.”
Freddie released her then and took a step back. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt sorry for you before,” she murmured.
