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“Oh, for pity sake, he’d been in Canada for five years,” Elizabeth mumbled. She looked away as both Will and Abigail glanced over at her.
“Are you all right, Elizabeth?” Will asked softly.
“Perfectly fine,” she bit out.
Will appeared to be suppressing a smile. “Abigail, we have been apart for five years. Why this sudden rush of feelings?”
Abigail looked away as her face turned white. “I have always loved you, Will. But the idea of marrying Josiah made me realize just how strong those feelings were. I realized that I could not live without you.”
Elizabeth bit her tongue so as not to interfere with their conversation. All the while, her anger rose. She wanted to scoff at Abigail and chase her from this house. But that was for Will to decide, not her.
“Why did you write that letter to me stating you agreed with your father to marry Josiah?” Will asked.
“Oh, Will,” she cried. “My father made me write that letter. He sat at the table next to me and forced me to write every word. I had no choice.”
Oh, dear God, Elizabeth thought. Will was starting to believe the charlatan. “Why did you not send a second letter, written in private, of course, explaining the situation?”
“Elizabeth,” Will warned. “This is my business.”
“Yes, Will,” Abigail complained. “Why is she here for our private conversation?”
“That is enough, Abigail. Elizabeth is my cousin, and as such, she has a right to be here.”
Abigail narrowed her gaze on Elizabeth. “It seems a little inappropriate, if you ask me.”
“I do not think anyone asked you.” Elizabeth wanted to reach over and strangle the woman.
Abigail stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “Will, I believe our conversation is finished as long as she is in the room.”
Will shook his head. “Elizabeth, leave us. I will speak with you when we are done.”
Abigail sent Elizabeth a smug smile. “Now we can plan our wedding, Will.”
Wedding! Elizabeth’s head spun. She couldn’t let him marry Abigail. There had to be some way she could stop them. The comment sent Elizabeth over a great precipice, and the words tumbled out before she could stop them.
“Will, you cannot marry her. I am with child.” Elizabeth clapped her hand over her mouth. How could she have said that?
“What!” Will exclaimed, rising from his chair and staring at her.
“Will! You did…that…with her!” Abigail shrieked.
“Elizabeth, go up to your room. We will talk in a little while. I must speak with Abigail.” Will slowly sat back into his chair.
“Will!” Abigail exclaimed again.
“Sit down, Abigail.”
Elizabeth walked out of the room with leaden feet. How could she have blurted out such a lie? She would not know for weeks if she was with child. What made her say such a thing?
She sat on her bed and noticed the diaries still on her nightstand. They had both forgotten to hide them again. As she sat there staring at those books, Elizabeth’s mind wandered back to what her mother had done. She had manipulated that footman to get what she wanted.
Elizabeth cringed as she grabbed the diary off the table and opened it up again. She scanned through the entries and found numerous examples of her mother using sex to get what she wanted. She had wanted to refurbish the house in Hampshire, so she agreed to let the duke watch her have sexual congress with another man. When she wanted a new oil painting for the great hall in Kendal, she agreed to have sex with the duke and four other men at the same time.
The entries only served to sadden Elizabeth. Her mother must have hated what she had done. But as Elizabeth continued to read, she could find no entries showing her mother’s feelings about it. On one day, her mother expressed how much she enjoyed a visit from Lord H because he was so much bigger than the duke. Perhaps her mother hadn’t minded at all.
Elizabeth put the book down and thought about her own actions. Guilt filled her as she remembered being flirtatious with Will in order to continue to stay in this house. Then there was that dreadful thought that she had first made love in the music room to get him to stay in England. Had that been the reason she had done such a thing?
No. She could not be as manipulative as her mother. But if that was the case, why had she blurted out that she was with child? Perhaps she did it only to keep Will from marrying Abigail, but it was still manipulation.
