Search your soul for what you already know to be true. Whatever your mind throws at you, trust that your heart will show you the right way. When you find that person who makes you want to be at your best and be next to them at their worst, know that I give you my full blessing, my dear Eli.
Your loving Mama.
“Thank you, sister… for waiting to give me this.”
Elias stared at the glittering ring in the box. It had bided its time long enough… but for now, it was time for a confession.
CHAPTER TEN
May’s cheeks burned with embarrassment throughout the rest of the day as she relived the way she’d jumped up at the sound of that darn bell. It was the closest she’d come to revealing her identity. Perhaps, it would have been better if she’d been unmasked right then and there. It would definitely be easier than telling Elias, face-to-face. But it had to be done. May couldn’t live with herself as things stood.
She’d sent the duke a note, promising to meet him under the cover of night, and whiled away the hours until the moon rose, and the house stilled once more. She’d chosen the library, since it was the farthest from all private quarters and out of the path of servants. It was ten minutes to midnight when May opened the library door. She wished to be early, rather than lose her nerve altogether. But, as soon as May stepped inside, she knew there was no coming back, for the duke already stirred in the darkness, rising out of a chair.
The nerves made her clammy and wild. May clung to her evaporating courage to no avail. This was how it would end. Another moment and he would see her, her candle illuminatingthe guilt on her face, and May just could not take it. Confessing was torture enough—if she saw the judgment in Elias’s eyes, it would shatter her too much to do what had to be done. She blew the candle out in haste and covered the distance between them before the duke could react.
May threw her arms around Elias with sudden fierceness.
“Don’t say anything,” she whispered, her cheek seeking refuge on his shoulder, “or else I won’t be able to do what must be done.” His hold felt off-kilter; her stomach knotted. Was she to forfeit even the peace of what could be their last embrace? He stirred under her touch, drew a deep breath, as if to say something, then halted.
May squeezed her eyes shut. “I haven’t been honest with you… about who I am. But you must know I never meant to hurt you. As soon as your arms wrapped around me, I knew keeping silent was wrong. I guess I just wanted to make this dream last as long as possible. What I am trying to say is—I haven’t tried to deceive you on purpose. I know we cannot be—whoever heard of a union between a duke and a maid? Yet I love you anyway, and I am so sorry to tell you like that, but—”
“May?”
Elias’s voice was coming from behind. Disorientation hit May as the man in her grasp pulled away—not Elias—not him at all, and she opened her eyes to find candlelight flooding from the doorway, and Lord Spencer where Elias should have been.
And there in the entry was the duke himself, jaw locked, eyes wide, as he took in the sight of her hands falling away from Lord Spencer’s shoulders.
She got the wrong man.
Her hard-summoned confession had landed on the wrong ears. It made sense now, the subtle wrongness as she’d wrapped her arms around another man. But she had been too preoccupied with her own fears to notice.
For a brief moment, time slowed as May’s mind struggled to catch up to the reality of her stuttering heart. Then, time started back up, and everything was in motion, and there was nothing good to be done, because while May may have got the wrong man, Elias had gotten a very, very wrong idea.
Elias’s fists tightened around Lord Spencer’s lapels as he slammed the man against a bookcase. Hot, seething rage blackened Elias’s vision. There would be no honorable duel, only punishment.
The bastard finally showed his true nature. Oh, Spencer had the indecency to look mortified, too, as the two were shaken apart. But the duke did not care for Lord Spencer’s convincing imitation of confusion or his expert military countermoves. Elias would tear the man to shreds for laying his hands on May and insulting his sister.
Lord Spencer successfully managed to shove him sideways, but that only stoked Elias’s fire.
The image of May in Lord Spencer’s embrace, her cheek resting sweetly on the pretender’s shoulder, was branded into his mind. It would take violence to erase it. Elias did not realize he was aiming a punch until it connected. Distant pain spiraled up his nerves, though he was already regrouping, the rush of the fight shielding him from the impact.
Wipe him off the face of the earth.
“Elias, stop—there is no need for this!” May’s slight figure rose between him and his target, her palms outstretched toward him as if he were a spooked horse. “Lord Spencer did not do anything!”
The idea was laughable enough to slow Elias’s fists. He was unable to keep the astonishment out of his voice. “Why are you defending him? He touched you, May. The cheating scum broke my sister’s trust, and you—”
“I wouldneverbetray Hannah,” Spencer growled and moved toward him, only to pause as May directed him away with an imploring glance. “You’d better watch your words if we are to welcome you at the ceremony at all.”
What?“If you think you’re getting my sister to the altar after this, you are barking mad!”
“After what?”
Hannah.Elias bit back a curse. How did she always know to appear in the worst places at the worst of times? His dear sister stood by the door, wrapped in her night robes. Elias did not realize they had made such a ruckus it had reached her all the way at her wing already. How was he going to explain what he scarcely understood himself?
His fingers brushed against his pocket. Elias had come here on May’s invitation, with a ring in tow, and instead—
“I found Spencer… embracing Lady May.”
