AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The year before Mama died,” said Amelia. “He was charming, intelligent, handsome. The embodiment of every dream I’d had since I’d grown old enough to have them. I was giddy with excitement when he showed interest in me, and when he asked me to marry him I thought I’d die of happiness. He told me he would love me forever and promised that he would speak to Papa the very next day. Swept away by sentiment and thinking it would last forever, I very foolishly succumbed to persuasion and surrendered my virtue to him.”
Victoria’s mouth hung slack. It just did not seem possible that her prim and proper sister would have done such a thing.
“But he never came to speak with Papa,” continued Amelia, her voice brittle. “He sent his excuses the following day, claiming illness. Too excited to contain myself, I told Papa and my dearest friend about his proposal. I waited the next day, but he never came. I sent a message. He never answered. The day after that”—she stopped and took a deep breath—“the day after that I learned of his engagement to her, the friend in whom I’d confided.”
“Who was he?” Victoria again prompted, dying to know.
Her sister’s cheeks grew bright. “The Duke of Sutherland.”
Victoria’s mouth fell open. Gossip surrounded Suth
erland. The man openly kept two mistresses in luxury, much to the annoyance of his lady wife. The spats between the pair were regular fodder for London’s rags. She thought back. Lady Sutherland had indeed been a member of her sister’s circle at one time. “Why did I never hear of this? The scandal of it—”
“There was no scandal,” explained Amelia. “I’d only told two people that he’d asked me to marry him, and neither Papa nor Lynnette wanted it bruited about. And I never told anyone that I’d been compromised. As soon as I was sure I was not with child, which thankfully I learned very quickly, I vowed never to tell. Sutherland married Lynnette by special license just three weeks later. Seven months after their wedding, she bore his child.”
Victoria reached out, took her sister’s hand, and gave it a squeeze.
Blinking back tears, Amelia laughed softly. “It shouldn’t hurt anymore, but it does. I’d been nothing more than a conquest to him. The worst of it is that Lynnette knew.” Her mouth twisted. “When I shared with her the secret of his proposal, she actually congratulated me on my success.”
“Well, she got what she deserved in the end, didn’t she,” Victoria muttered.
“I do not blame her,” said Amelia. “She wrote to me shortly after the birth of her child and told me she’d had no choice. He had seduced her, promising marriage—but requiring that they wait until his inheritance was settled before announcing their engagement. When I told her of his interest in me almost a month later, she knew he had lied to her. He’d inherited a large amount of debt rather than a fortune, and my dowry was significantly greater than hers. She had no alternative but to force his hand, especially upon discovering she was with child.”
“But she was your friend. She ought to have warned you about him.”
Amelia shook her head. “She could not do so without exposing herself.”
“She had his child two months too early,” Victoria snapped. “I should think that would be exposure enough.”
“There was speculation, yes, but no proof. Many ladies give birth early.”
Victoria snorted. “Two months, Amelia. That’s a far stretch for even the most forgiving imagination. One could nearly span the English Channel with it.”
“She did what she had to do,” answered Amelia, smiling faintly. “I might have done the same, had I been in her place. I considered myself fortunate to have escaped her fate. I did not, however, come away unscathed. Afterward, I was unable to trust any man save Papa. I couldn’t bear to see you endure the same misery. I had to protect you.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me? It would have made things so much easier between us.”
“I was too ashamed to tell anyone, much less my baby sister who looked to me as an example. Besides, by the time you were old enough to fully understand, I simply couldn’t bring myself to speak of it. All I wanted was to keep you safe and pretend that nothing ever happened between Sutherland and I. But then, when I saw you and Withington…” Amelia shrugged. “I just reacted without questioning it. I shouldn’t have, but I did.”
Victoria imagined how hurt she’d be if she ever caught Julius with another woman. “I’d have done the same, I suppose, had I been in your place. And I’m so sorry for the way I deliberately antagonized you. Had I known…”
“You only wanted what every woman wants,” her sister replied. “And I held you back because of my own fears. Papa’s traditional approach to matchmaking furthered my purposes in keeping you safe, and I encouraged him in it. It was wrong of me.”
Silence stretched between them for a long while, but it wasn’t a cold, uncomfortable silence. Victoria thought about everything that had happened since Mama’s death. So much had gone wrong. So much bitterness and resentment had built up in her heart. It is time to let go of past wounds—for us all.
As though Amelia had read her mind, she spoke: “Victoria, I would like us to be friends again the way we were before everything happened. I miss you. I miss us. Do you think it possible for us to begin again?”
The weight fell from Victoria’s heart as she embraced her sister. “Of course it is.”
Julius paced the length and breadth of the salon, his stomach in knots. He’d been cooling his heels here for the better part of an hour. What if Withington refused to meet with him? He grimaced. I did threaten to run him through, after all. Not for the first time, he regretted his hasty reactions of late.
“You forgot to bring your sword.”
Julius whirled to see Withington standing in the doorway with a bemused expression on his face.
“As you are unarmed, I can only surmise that you’ve come to explain what the hell happened,” said his friend, coming into the room. “Please, sit.”
“We have much to discuss,” Julius replied, taking a seat opposite. “But first, tell me how matters stand with you.”
