She finally met his gaze, allowing him to see the seething emotion she’d been trying so hard to conceal. “You hurt me,” she whispered. “Do you think it’s easy for me to forget that? To trust you again?”
“No,” he said softly, aware that Natalia, who was Jane’s cousin, was staring at them with obvious concern from across the table. “But I also know that you still care for me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be talking to me at all.”
She gave a low, bitter laugh. “You think you know me so well. But I’m not the sweet young girl you once knew. I’m stronger now. I’ve had to be.”
Before he could say more, Natalia cleared her throat. “I’m so glad you’re here, Jane! It’s been far too long since we saw each other. We must catch up.”
He didn’t know how much of their whispered conversation Jane’s cousin had heard, but she’d obviously decided that Julian was bothering Jane and had decided to take matters into her own hands. Knowing his opportunity to speak to Jane privately had passed, he reluctantly turned his attention to the rest of the table as Jane and Natalia continued to talk.
Once again, he noticed that Dylan seemed upset or nervous about something, which was very unlike him. Dylan generally had a carefree attitude that Julian had always appreciated, which was probably why they’d become such good friends in school. Julian had been drawn to Dylan’s sunny disposition the way he’d been drawn to Jane’s.
As soon as dinner was over and the group filtered into the parlor, Julian cornered his old friend near the piano. “How’s married life?” Julian asked, hoping that Natalia wasn’t behind Dylan’s brooding. He needed to believe that his friend was still as happy in his marriage as he’d seemed on his wedding day.
Dylan gave a quick grin, setting Julian’s mind at ease. “Wonderful. Natalia and I are settling in well at Aldabaran.”
Dylan had only recently found out that he’d been left an estate in Scotland by his late maternal grandfather. His father had kept it from him, for no reason that Julian could see other than pure spitefulness. The Earl of Warren had treated his second son as poorly as Julian’s own father had treated Ethan.
“You seem distracted,” Julian observed, deciding to cut to the chase. “Is something wrong?”
Dylan glanced at Michael. “I have something I need to tell Michael. Something I know is going to hurt him. Natalia convinced me to wait until after the wedding, and I know she’s right, but it’s eating at me. I’ve held it inside for too long already.”
Julian frowned. “Perhaps you should tell me then.”
Dylan gave a short laugh. “Maybe it would help me to get your opinion on the matter. Perhaps you can tell me whether you think I should tell Michael at all.”
“Of course,” Julian agreed readily, a bad feeling taking root in the pit of his stomach. Because he had no real relationship with his own brother, he’d always thought of Dylan and Michael as his family. He cared deeply for them both and would hate to see either of them hurt.
Dylan glanced around the room once more, making sure that everyone else seemed to be occupied in their own conversations, and led Julian a little farther away from the rest, toward the window. “When I arrived at Aldabaran, I found out that the Earl of Warren is not my true father,” he admitted quietly. “My mother had an affair with her father’s groom, a man named Patrick MacPherson.”
Julian’s eyes widened in surprise. “That must have been very shocking. I’m terribly sorry.”
Dylan shook his head. “Don’t be. I was actually very pleased by the revelation. Patrick is a wonderful man, and he’s become the father I always wanted. I’m only sorry that I didn’t know the truth much sooner.”
When Julian thought of all the pain and heartache the earl had put Dylan through, he saw how it must be a relief to know that the old bastard wasn’t actually his father. He’d obviously been making Dylan pay all these years for his mother’s betrayal. No wonder Michael found it so hard to trust women.
“I think Michael already knows that your mother was unfaithful,” Julian told Dylan, remembering the conversation they’d had the night Michael had met Emma. “I don’t think he’ll find this too surprising.”
Dylan sighed pensively. “I’m sure it wouldn’t bother him that much, if that’s all I had to tell him.” He glanced across the room at his brother, who was staring their way, obviously wondering what they were talking about. Lowering his voice, Dylan continued, “When I arrived in Scotland, I started having terrible nightmares. After I found out about Patrick, I realized that the dreams were actually memories.”
“What did you remember?” Julian asked quietly, his heart aching for his friends.
“When I was seven, my mother and I went to spend the summer in Scotland. Michael stayed in London with his father. The earl had paid one of the servants to report back to him about my mother. Apparently, Warren found out that my mother and Patrick were having an affair, and he came up to Scotland to confront her.” Dylan swallowed and shook his head. “They got into a fight out by the cliffs, and I saw him push her to her death.”
“Dear God,” Julian whispered, reaching out to squeeze his friend’s shoulder.
“Patrick says I ran away, hid in the smuggler’s caves below the castle. It took them days to find me, and I never spoke of it afterward. I think I somehow managed to block it out. But returning to Scotland finally brought all those memories back.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t killed the old bastard.” Julian released his friend’s shoulder and glanced back at Michael. “But you’re right. This will destroy Michael.”
Dylan nodded, his eyes deeply troubled. “Trust me, I’d like nothing more than to kill Warren. But I’ve got too much to lose now.” He nodded slightly in Natalia’s direction. “I’ve decided to leave Warren’s punishment up to Michael. He is the one who will suffer most if there is a scandal.”
“An earl accused as a murderer? That will be difficult to prove.” Julian had no doubt that Dylan was telling the truth, but he knew how hard it would be to convict someone like Warren of such a thing. Especially since Dylan had been a child when he’d witnessed it, and the earl had already gotten away with it for so long. He sighed. “Well, I think Natalia is right. You should wait to tell him until after the wedding. He and Emma have enough problems to deal with already.”
“I know you’re right,” Dylan said. “This has just been eating at me for so long. I know it’s always bothered Michael that Warren was so cruel to me. I think perhaps it will ease his mind a bit to know there was a reason for it, that I’m not Warren’s child at all.”
“Perhaps,” Julian said doubtfully. “But he’ll also have to confront the fact that his father murdered his mother.”
Dylan rubbed his forehead as though he had a sudden headache. “That’s true. I’m obviously not thinking clearly. I don’t want to hurt Michael. It just infuriates me, you know? To think that he’s gotten away with it all these years.”
