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“My grandmother is not seriously ill,” he said slowly.
“I do not believe her to be ill at all. From the very beginning it was a scheme to…it was a scheme…”
He seemed to process that, his face inscrutable. Then their eyes collided, and she gasped, recognizing it was a carefully constructed façade of warmth. Not only was he angry, but she saw the profound hurt and betrayal.
“How did you come to know of this?”
“Quite by accident. Your nanna and mother had a conversation, and I overheard. The dowager countess demanded I stay silent about the entire matter, but I have been wretched about it and cannot keep the knowledge from you anymore.”
The eyes that skipped over her were coldly remote and indifferent. All the tenderness had fled, and the emotion she had hoped was Phineas falling in love with her as how she loved him was no longer to be observed in his gaze.
“Yet here you are dressed in this lovely gown prepared to marry me,” he said caustically. “What happened? Guilt got the better of your conscience?”
She proudly lifted her chin. “I…I wanted that if you married me, it was for the right reasons.”
His lips curved into a sneer that was too cruel to look at. “And what are the right reasons?”
It took immense courage to meet his stare.That we love each other. But she was too afraid to express such feelings for him, knowing she would wilt if he remained indifferent upon hearing them.
“That you like me…and I like you,” she whispered.
He jerked as if he had been punched, then he stilled. “When did you discover their scheme?”
Her belly cramped sharply. “What does it matter—”
“When!” he snapped.
Tears formed in her eyes, and she fought to contain them. “The day she fainted on the lawns.”
When he faltered, he was so still she wondered if he breathed. She took a step toward him, willing to bear her heart and the truth of her love. “Phineas—”
“Thank you for telling me, Miss Harrington,” he said with icy politeness. “You did a credible job acting as my fiancée. I will not go back on my word and forget our agreement. I will have the draft of your remaining balance for you shortly. I will announce to the family there will be no wedding.”
Each precise and measured word infused with such clipping disdainful politeness cut her to the core. She felt as if she bled from a dozen wounds. Before she could say any more, he spun sharply on his heels and marched from the library, slamming the door behind him.
Felicity started to cry, her shoulders shaking under her wretched sobs. She collapsed onto a high wingback armchair, gripping the armrest as if it would center her against the emotions tearing through her. She would have to pack and leave right away. It would be unbearable to even stay another night. That she might never see him again or have him in her left her breathless with loss and pain. Felicity swiped the tears from her cheeks, hating that she had not told him everything immediately.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Phineas slammed the door behind him, the anger at his grandmother’s deception a cold burn in his belly. A raw sob of anguish and hurt tore from Felicity and echoed through the thick oak door. That sound rooted him to the spot, sinking deep into his heart and ripping it open.
Bloody hell.
Phineas scrubbed a hand that trembled over his face as he struggled to recall what he had just said in the heat of his anger and disappointment.
I will announce to the family there will be no wedding.
Her soft sobs tore at him, and the anger he’d felt melted away as if it never were. At this moment, confronting his grandmother did not matter. Even his anger and disappointment had no bearings. His Felicity was hurt, and he was the damn fool who placed the hurt there with his raw, uncensored reaction.
God, Felicity, don’t you know you are the most important person in the world to me?
Phineas’s heart shook with fierce emotions when he recalled the soft fear in her eyes last night when he had taken her right in the library against the door, like he was a man possessed. That fear had been because of this truth. That she would disappoint him and that he would walk away.
Hell. He had not shown her any of the feelings building inside of him, feelings that could never die so simply. Feelings that would only build and grow, for he had fallen for her with his entire heart. Feelings that would have let her know that her fear was misplaced, for nothing would make him walk away from her.
But in anger, he had just done the very opposite. Phineas was about to turn around when her roar pierced through the door.
“That knave, that utter villain!”
