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‘I can see why you love this place so much.’ Megan accepted the glass of wine with a nod of thanks. ‘I wouldn’t want to leave.’
‘We always come back. When I was little, we used to come to Sri Lanka every summer. We caught up with our relatives on Dad’s side, had a bit of a holiday, but my parents were already involved with some healthcare projects here.’
‘As well as running the estate in Gloucestershire? It’s a lot to do.’
‘We have a lot of help to do it. My mother runs the estate when I’m away, but there are a whole army of people working there.’
‘And you knew you’d be a duke? When you were a child?’
‘Pretty much. My uncle died when I was nine, but he’d been ill for years before that, and he had no children. My mother and father never made too much of it but...’ Jaye could still feel the sinking feeling when he’d been called into the headmaster’s study the first term back at school after his uncle had died.
‘Other people did?’ Megan leaned forward in her chair, losing interest in the carrom table.
‘The headmaster at my school told me that I was different. That I was going to have responsibilities and that I had to be prepared for them.’
‘That’s no kind of thing to tell a nine-year-old...’ Outrage flashed in her eyes.
‘Maybe. He was right, though. People treat you differently when you’re a duke. It’s the first thing they notice about you, and some people don’t bother to look any further.’
She nodded, sitting back in her chair and sipping her drink. It seemed that she was content with just that, and Jaye felt a tenuous sadness that Megan was willing to accept the idea without some kind of protest.
‘Is that what Sonia did?’ Megan finally spoke.
‘What makes you say that?’ Even now, Jaye couldn’t quite bring himself to admit it.
‘Because... I was never that close to Sonia but whenever I did see her she was flashing that boulder you gave her. Was it real?’
Jaye snorted with laughter. ‘Of course it was.’
‘Just asking. I’ve never seen a diamond that big before. At least I can say for definite that I have now.’
She was teasing him, and Jaye didn’t care. Suddenly, he could see Sonia from a different perspective. ‘She was very pleased with it.’
‘Tell me about it. It was all any of us heard about for months.’
‘Well, she sold it after we split up. I heard from the jeweller who’d made it.’
The laughter drained from her eyes, leaving only tenderness. ‘You let her keep the ring because you thought she might need the money. To bring up her baby.’
‘Yeah. I had no use for it, and she... I loved her once.’ It was as if the words no longer had the power to hurt him.
‘That’s a generous thing to do, Jaye. Really generous. Really crazy, too.’
‘Yeah. I know.’ Jaye leaned back in his seat staring out across the wooded hillside. ‘I loved her, and she was in love with a piece of metal and rock and the idea of becoming a duchess. Story of my life.’
‘It doesn’t need to be. Can I ask...?’
‘Ask me anything.’ Suddenly none of this mattered. It was as if Megan had some wonder potion that she could sprinkle over him and take away all the hurt.
‘Why did she call off the wedding? If she wanted to be a duchess so very much?’
‘I’d been away in Sri Lanka for six weeks, a couple of months before the wedding, and when I found out that Sonia was pregnant... Well, the dates didn’t make much sense. I asked her about it, and she admitted she’d had an affair while I was away.’
Megan was shaking her head. ‘And to think that I believed you were to blame for it all. I’m so sorry, Jaye.’
‘I didn’t do anything to stop the rumours. I’d told Sonia that we could work things out, and that I’d adopt her child if that was what she wanted. She said she wanted to try, and we were going to counselling to get help. Then I found out that she was still sleeping with the father of her child. When I confronted her with it, she left me.’
‘That’s a vile thing to do. I’m so sorry it happened to you, Jaye.’ Megan’s eyes glistened suddenly with tears. The thought that she might shed just one tear for him and that he might be allowed to wipe it away left him breathless.
