Page 66 of The Gentlewoman Author

Chapter Twenty-Six

“What?” Daniel stepped back from the venomous blaze in Mary’s eyes. She lied to him. “You didn’t tell me⁠—”

“You are the man my brother meant for Louisa? You knew all along and chose not to tell me? You allowed me to fall…” Her voice broke, and she stepped away from him.

Daniel could barely heed her words. “You accuse me when you lied about your very identity? How could you not trust me enough to tell me who you are?” Daniel asked.

“That’s why you are upset? If you can think of nothing else, consider your family’s reaction to the news.”

“You lied. Multiple times, without remorse. I do not know who you are.” Her lack of confidence in him robbed him of the opportunity to be proud of her, to praise her achievement and express his awe over her gift. Most of all, he had trusted her, a sentiment of which he had not thought himself capable. Now, she twisted his actions and made him into the ogre.

“I never lied.”

“You did.”

“I parried the questions. You, however, held a secret that made a difference to me and to Louisa. This is about your castle, isn’t it? Just now you remained silent while your family defamed me, never considering you might speak in my defense because you are afraid of losing this heap of stone.”

She was right, and hearing it spoken aloud pulled the anger out of him like slipping a flag from its supporting pole. He did want the castle, but he wanted her, too. When noise and chaos surrounded him, coupled with the news of Mary’s betrayal, he did not know what to think or how to act.

“Mary,” he whispered, reaching for her.

“No.” She swiped his hand away.

He ground his teeth. She wouldn’t listen.

“You knew Louisa was coming,” she said, “and yet you continued our façade of an engagement. Why? Because you feared they would find out about her scandal? Hedging your bets!”

“No. Listen. I have not been so false⁠—”

She held up her hand. “And no one will have my estate. It pains me that the treasured bit of land Louisa’s mother fought to preserve for her daughter should fall to your grasping parents.”

Daniel shuddered, but he breathed away the tightening in his chest. It was not his doing. He held no responsibility for that, but his ever-honest conscience whispered the reality. He would exchange Louisa’s estate—and Mary’s too—for his castle. Shame lit the back of his neck, and no rebuttal materialized.

Mary inhaled and crossed her arms over herself, but her voice rang with more assurance than ever. “This is what we will do. I am going upstairs to speak with Louisa. You shall have your young bride and this castle, and your parents can take Louisa’s cottage. I hate it, but it is our only choice, since my brother promised her to you. It is the proper thing to do. The only correct way to proceed.”

She was imperious, Proper Mary at her best, raising her voice in favor of decorum. He walked over to the steps and sat down, pressing his palms into his eyes. “There has to be another way.” However precious Mary was to him, he could not lose the castle. His parents must be convinced that Mary was the better choice. But she deceived him. Could he marry her after that?

“There was another way,” she said. “Honesty. Had you told us when we met that you and Louisa were intended for each other, we would have toasted the two of you tonight, and she would not have run away with Savage.” She fisted a handful of her skirt and whispered, “I blame you for that.”

“How can you speak of honesty? I didn’t tell you because I did not think it prudent to discuss a match that may not happen. I did not know if she knew of it or if she would accept it. She showed no fondness for me. What was I to assume?”

“There is nothing more to say. I have a deadline. The publisher awaits my second novel.” She lifted her chin and paused, as if waiting for recrimination.

He battled the thickness that gathered in his throat and the desire to beg her pardon. He couldn’t. Her lies reminded him that he could trust no one. The people he loved betrayed him, and the thought scraped him empty.

She looked down at him. “You have my blessing to marry Louisa. She will be saved from society’s censure, and you will retain your inheritance.” Her flat tone added weight to the growing pressure in his chest.

Daniel opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, she disappeared around the bend in the stairs.

Perhaps she was right. A marriage with Louisa solved every problem. He would consign himself to a loveless marriage and keep the castle. Though foolhardy and immature, Louisa possessed many endearing qualities, and her goodness had never been in question. But she was no Lady Mary.

How could he settle for that when he knew what it was to love Mary? If the only option was Louisa, he would take her. Mary was right about it being the correct thing for him to do.

With trepidation, Louisa waited for her aunt. She both longed for and dreaded the interview. Most of all, she hoped for the courage to explain her situation. Aunt Mary’s opinion on the matter would determine how she moved forward.

For the past hour, Mrs. Eliot had been sitting at Aunt Mary’s writing desk reading what they presumed was her aunt’s latest novel. She laughed and recited bits aloud while Louisa’s stomach churned in sickening dread of what was to come. Over the past weeks, Louisa had become a lady’s companion with real responsibilities that mattered to her employer, Lady Halverson. Returned to the clutches of her family, who believed her silly and useless, the independence she achieved by gaining Lady Halverson’s trust vanished. She awaited the tribunal, her aunt a magistrate who could send her back to prison.

Aunt Mary entered, pink-cheeked, straight-backed, and taut.