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Jane shook her head.
“Don't say no, please. I won't ask you for another thing, ever. But I have to see her, I have to talk to her.”
“I'm not saying no, because we actually agree on something:youhave to be the one to tell her why you abandoned her.Youhave to tell her about those pictures, and what you thought when you saw them. I haven’t told her about them.” She sighed. “She'll be back in Falmouth tomorrow.”
His eyes widened. “Tomorrow? Why?”
“The hurricane. She has to get stuff out of the house and secure it. It's a lot of work.”
“Oh shit, the storm. Is she all set? I mean, does she need help?”
“No.”
“When will she be back in Falmouth?”
“Probably by noon.”
Will grabbed his keys from the coffee table. “I have to go.”
“Now?” Charles asked.
“Yes, now.” He looked at Charles, then at Jane. “I'm going back to the Cape. It's time to go home.”
* * *
Will staredat Georgiana and waited for her to say something.Anything. He’d just told her everything—about the pictures, about Wickham, about Lydia, and about what he’d assumed had happened. All of it.
“You weren't going to tell me any of this?” she finally asked.
He shook his head. “No. I mean, not until I found out the truth. If Charles and Jane hadn't figured it out, and I was still in the dark... I wasn't going to tell you anything.”
“Why?”
“I didn't want you to be reminded of...everything. You’re healing and your life is moving forward, just as it should. I didn't want to dredge up the past.”
“You thought you were protecting me?”
“I thought so, but... My reasoning and actions have been so skewed, I have no idea if it was the right thing to do or not. Maybe I should have told you right away. All I can say is that at the time, IthoughtI was making the right decision. IthoughtI was doing what was best for you.”
She looked down at her clasped hands. “All of this is my fault anyway,” she said softly. “If I had done the right thing all those months ago, none of this would have happened.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I should have been stronger. I shouldn't have let him get away with it. I should have gone after him. What if–what if something happened to Lizzy? What if he abused Charlotte? Or Lydia? What if there's someone else out there who was victimized by him, because I was too weak to confront him?”
“Don't do this, Georgie. If anything, it was my fault. I knew what he was, knew what he was capable of, and I paid him off and let him walk away.”
“Only because you were respecting my wishes.”
“You were scared, Georgie. You were a victim, and you were terrified and traumatized. But I did it to make it easier on myself too. I could have pushed you to contact the police and file charges. You know damn well that if I’d forced the issue, you would have had no choice. But I didn't. Instead, I did what I could to make it easier on me. It wasn't all you.”
They fell silent again, and Georgiana stared out the window. “Where is he now?”
“New York, supposedly. In any case, he's not around here. I'm fairly certain of that. Why?”
She shrugged. “I'm just wondering.”
* * *
