Seger tried to stay calm and focus on the questions still burning in his brain, not the fact that his stepmother had been secretly communicating with Daphne all along.
“My father told me you went to him and asked for money in exchange for leaving me.”
She shook her head. “No, he came to me with the proposition and the money.”
“Which you accepted.”
“Yes, and I will not apologize for that. I knew I would have to begin a new life, and believe me, it was a meager consolation.”
A meager consolation.Seger’s chest constricted. A panicky sensation moved through him, and he found himself breathing hard.
He wanted to hear her tell him that it had been devastating for her, too. He wanted to hear her say that had loved him, because that was the thing that had plagued him all these years and made him wary of trusting women’s affections. He’d always believed that his only love, Daphne, had not really loved him so deeply after all. That their years together had been a lie. He had not been able to trust any emotion since then because of that doubt.
His voice shook when he spoke. “Didyousuffer?”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she took a few seconds before replying. “Yes, Seger, more than you will ever know. I did what I did because of how much I loved you.”
He blinked down at her and found himself at a loss for words. He could say nothing, do nothing, but stand there and stare at Daphne. Daphne.
Then something made him look back at the coach. He thought of Clara and how she must be feeling, watching this. She was probably wondering if he was about to leave her and return to the woman who she believed was his one and only true love.
He swallowed hard and faced Daphne again. “Why did you send that telegram on my wedding day? What were you trying to do?”
She nodded as if she had been waiting for that question but seemed reluctant to answer it. She turned and began to pace under the arch.
“For the past eight years, I’ve known what kind of life you were living, Seger, and a selfish part of me was glad—glad that you had never gotten over me. I liked knowing that I was the great love of your life, and that if things didn’t work out for me in America, you would always be there, willing to take me back. Then I read about your marriage in the papers, and suddenly you weren’t there for me anymore. Quintina wrote to me and told me that Clara was a terrible match for you, that she was a greedy, title-seeking vixen. I was more than happy to believe it and help her put a stop to the marriage.”
Daphne stopped pacing. “But know this, Seger—I wasn’t doing it for Quintina. I despised her and I still despise her now for being the cause of our separation. I was doing it forme,because learning about your marriage made me want you back. I began to fantasize that when it did end, I would find the courage to return to you. I imagined being held in your arms again.”
Daphney paused, gazing intently at him. Seger made no move to take her into his arms now. He wanted only to hear the rest of her explanation.
“So I offered myself to the Wilson family,” she continued, lowering her gaze and pacing again, “as a governess for Adele, hoping I would be able to find something to make you reconsider your marriage to Clara. I took things from Adele’s room. I went through her letters and diaries, and the scandal with Gordon Tucker was more than I ever could have bargained for. It was like a gift from heaven, I thought. I was sure that would be enough to bring an end to your marriage.”
“But it didn’t,” he said.
“No, it didn’t. And then I...I started reading the letters that Clara wrote to Adele, and I realized that she was not what Quintina said she was, and when Clara wrote about Gillian, my heart actually went out to her. I remember Gillian, you see. She was only a young girl then, but she was hateful toward me, too.”
Seger nodded. Everything was becoming very clear.
Daphne approached him. “But those letters made me remember how it felt to be with you. I’ve never stopped loving you, Seger, and I have never married. My only excuse for doing what I did is that I was too young to understand how lucky I was to have the love of a man like you. I thought I would meet someone else one day, but no one ever compared to you. If only I had known that then.”
She stood a mere six inches away, her eyes wide and searching. His Daphne. Her face, her lips, they were so achingly familiar. How many nights had he dreamed of kissing those lips again and holding this woman in his arms?
Something wrenched his attention away, however. He looked back at the coach again.
“Seger.” Daphne reached up and laid a gloved hand on his cheek to turn his face back to her. “What we had was rare and extraordinary, and if you wanted me back today, I would come. I would marry you if it could be so, but even if it couldn’t, I would be yours regardless. There are ways.”
A tremor moved down his spine. “You are offering to be my mistress.”
“Yes. Some things are more important than the rules of the world we live in. You taught me that, or at least you tried to, eight years ago. It’s taken me this long to realize that you were right. I do love you, Seger.”
Seger gently removed her hand from his cheek. He held it in his for a few seconds, then raised it to his lips and kissed it. “I’m sorry, Daphne. I can’t be with you.”
“Why?” she asked. “Are you afraid I’d leave you again? Because I wouldn’t. I’m wiser now, Seger. I know what’s important.”
He stared into the depths of that statement and felt a great wave of wisdom himself. “As do I.”
Daphne slowly pulled her gloved hand from his. “Your marriage to Clara.”
