Julianne MacLean (21 page)

H
arold’s face pulled into a frown and he straightened, making sure, however, that the bottles were steady before he let them go. His voice dripped with anger and abhorrence. “You have a lot of nerve coming in here and demanding answers from
me
.”

Damien straightened also. They were eye-to-eye on opposite sides of the table. Pent-up rage—from each of them—crackled in the air between them.

“I asked you a question,” Damien said.

Harold glanced down at the letter. He picked it up and read it. Damien watched his cousin and recited the letter in his own mind, for he had read it so many times, he’d memorized it:

“What did she mean,” Damien said, “that she must protect her own heart? What did you tell her?”

“What do you think I told her? The truth, of course. Despite the sudden intimacy of your
relationship,
she did not deserve to be kept in the dark about your urgent need for a rich wife, or about your creditors or Frances. I would not allow her to be taken advantage of in that way.”

“She knew about all that. I never lied to her.”

“This is outrageous!” Harold said. “I should not be the one explaining myself. You should be!” Harold walked around the table. “You seduced and ruined my fiancée!”

Damien stared into his cousin’s furious eyes and managed to collect himself. He fought off the shock and anguish over Adele’s hasty de
parture and her decision that she would never marry him, and realized that Harold had his own reasons to be angry. And he was right. Damien had indeed done the unthinkable.

“Perhaps we should go outside,” he said, knowing there was much to be worked out, and this room constructed of glass was not the place.

Harold ripped off his apron and threw it on the floor. “Damn right we should.” In a most uncharacteristic manner, he forcefully led the way out.

Violet took the news that Adele had left Osulton Manor with neither grace nor understanding. She glared hotly at her mother in the drawing room and balled her hands into fists.

“My brother is an incompetent cretin! If she is gone, it is
his
fault for not knowing how to treat a woman! He is hopeless! Hopeless! No one will
ever
marry him!”

She collapsed into a fit of tears on the sofa, not the least bit comforted by her mother stroking her back.

“Now we shall be beggars!” Violet sobbed. “Harold spends all our money on his silly experiments, and I will have to marry beneath me, because all the best men in London want those rich American girls with their big dowries!” She dropped her head into her hands. “And Whitby!
Oh, Whitby!
”

“There, there, Violet, it’s not so bad. You have your beauty.”

She peered up at her mother as if she had
grown horns, and wiped the flood of tears from her cheeks. “She’s
gone
, Mother!
Gone!
She left Harold, and we will not get her settlement!”

She dropped her head into her arms again, and sobbed, “Oh, why does everything always have to happen to
me
!”

Damien followed Harold out onto the large veranda at the back of the house. They both walked quickly with long strides to the stairs that led down to the rectangular pond. The wind had picked up. The green hedges of the maze were blowing, and low-hanging clouds were racing and changing shape across the gray and white sky. The pond was dancing with shadowy ripples.

Damien descended the stairs. Harold was waiting for him at the bottom, on the clipped, green grass. They faced each other squarely.

“All our lives,” Harold said, “you have been the favorite. You were the strong one—fighting off bullies for me at school. You were the generous one—teaching me to play sports, even going so far as to stay behind in a race to run beside me and encourage me. I remember all those things, Damien, and I always believed it was because you were my friend. That is why I trusted you to go and bring Adele home to me.”

“Harold, I—”

“I’m not done. You did not help me. All you ever did was make me feel like I wasn’t strong enough to do anything on my own, and if it weren’t for you—watching over me all the time
like I was a weakling—maybe I would have gone to get Adele myself.”

Damien stared at his cousin. “I
was
your friend, Harold.”

“No, you weren’t. You just wanted to show off to everyone, and pound your chest.”

Damien shook his head. “Wait. You make it sound like I was the one with all the blessings. Dammit, Harold, no one ever thought I was the better man.
You
were the one who could do no wrong. You’ve always had everything—parents who loved each other and loved you, a perfect palace to live in with a mother who still takes care of everything. You don’t have money problems. You are happy all the time because you have nothing to worry about except the results of your experiments. I was orphaned at the age of nine with the burden of guilt for my parents’ death, left with debts you could not even fathom…So forgive me for learning how to be tough.”

Harold’s red eyebrows lifted. “You’re suggesting that you resent
me?
I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in all my life! No one can resist your charm. Grandmother has always favored you, and don’t pretend not to know it. You flatter her and flirt with her like she was a debutante, and she would do anything for you. You have her wrapped around your devious little finger.”

“For what
devious
purpose, may I ask?” Damien replied, trying to grasp his cousin’s logic. “She has nothing to leave any of us in her will. It all went to my father’s debts. She has only the pleasure of her last days, and I will not
apologize for caring about her enough to simply enjoy making her feel good.”

“Like you made
Adele
feel good?” His tone suggested the worst.

Damien labored to control his anger. “You’ll forgive me for saying that that is something you, as her fiancé, failed to do. You were too busy mixing potions.”

“That is low, Damien. I loved her.”

Damien laughed. “Did you now? Tell me another one!”

“I did! You don’t know what I feel!”

“I know you had no time for her. I know you didn’t care enough to worry that she had been ravaged by her kidnapper. You didn’t even want to hear what happened to her, because it was not pleasant for
you
. I also know that you wanted her for her father’s interest in your chemical inventions. You were hoping to make the history books.”

Damien and Harold stood motionless, staring at each other like two wolves, each waiting for the other to attack.

“Let’s see who’s the strong one today!” Harold grunted as he lunged and slammed his shoulder into Damien’s gut.

Damien staggered back. “I won’t fight you, Harold!”

“You damn well better, or I’ll knock you off your feet! And it’s about bloody time I did!”

They fell over onto the grass. Damien went down on his back, and Harold straddled him.
He threw a punch, catching Damien in the jaw. Pain shot through his whole head. He tried to grab Harold’s arms, but Harold was thrashing—slapping uncontrollably at him.

“I won’t fight you, Harold!” he said a second time, finally wrapping his own large hands around his cousin’s slender wrists to restrain him. He had to use all his strength. Harold was still trying to slap at him.

Damien’s voice was low and grinding when he spoke. “I could flatten you in a second, cousin. I suggest you stop now, before I’m forced to defend myself.”

Harold slowly, eventually gave up the fight. He bowed his head in defeat and rolled off Damien. They both lay on their backs in the grass, looking up at the sky.

“Damn you,” Harold said. “I hope you go to hell.”

“You’re not the first person to say that.”

Harold turned his head toward Damien. His voice was cold and unfeeling. “Every one of your mistresses, I presume.”

“Every damn one.”

Harold looked back up at the sky. “Well, if I can’t have Adele, I’m glad she’s gone. You would have made her miserable.”

It was Damien’s turn to look at Harold. “How can you say that? Did you ever stop to think that I might have really loved her? Surely you must have. You
know
me, Harold. You must have known I would not steal a woman from
you—my cousin, my friend—without a very good reason. I would not hurt you for a temporary flirtation. Or for money.”

Harold was not moved by Damien’s pronouncement. “She told me you proposed.”

“Yes, I did. I wanted her, Harold, with every piece of the man that I am. It
killed
me to think of her marrying you, but I weathered it. For a long time I weathered it, because I couldn’t bear to hurt you. But eventually I couldn’t do it anymore. The love I felt for her chipped away at my strength and resolve, and eventually I had to choose between her and you. I just couldn’t let her go. I loved her too much. It killed me inside, but it was a risk I had to take.”

“Even though you would betray me in the process.”

Damien sighed. “I had hoped you would understand.”

He sat up and gazed toward the pond. Harold sat up, too. For a long while, they sat in silence while the wind blew all around them, until Damien turned to his cousin.

“I’m sorry for making you feel weak when we were children,” he said quietly, looking him in the eye. “That was never my intention. I
was
overly protective of you, but only because I blamed myself for my parents’ deaths, and I felt happier when I could help
you
. I didn’t want you to end up like my father. I wanted to make sure you were always content. You were all I had.”

Harold simply stared at Damien.

“And I still cling to the hope,” Damien said,
“that you will understand what happened between me and Adele, and forgive me, because she is gone now, and I am…devastated.” His voice trembled on the last word.

Harold went pale. “You’re devastated?”

“I loved her, Harold. So much so, I betrayed my family.”

Harold’s eyes narrowed. “But…I thought you wanted her money.”

Damien dropped his hand. “Did
Adele
say that?”

“No, but considering the circumstances…”

Damien leaned on one arm. “What
circumstances,
Harold? I must be stupid today, because I am missing things.”

Harold shifted to sit on his heels. “I know about Frances.”

“What, exactly, do you know?”

Harold paused, then he whispered, even though there was no one within earshot to hear them. “I know about the baby.”

Damien felt his forehead crease. “
What
baby?”

“
Your
baby. I know you want to provide for the child.”

The child.
Damien’s head began to spin. “I beg your pardon? A baby with Frances? This is bloody news to me.”

“You didn’t know?”

Damien almost laughed. “You say it like I’m the
last
to know. It’s not true, Harold. I know it’s not.”

“How do you know?”

“If you want me to be blunt, I know because
the last time I made love to her, she started her courses that very night.”

Harold’s mouth dropped open. The wind was blowing even harder now. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I always kept very careful track of these things. Who said otherwise?”

After a few seconds, Harold faced the other direction. He seemed to be considering something very carefully. “Violet.”

Damien rose irritably to his feet. “Violet said that?”

“Yes,” Harold said, rising also. “But there’s something else you should know. I…I told Adele that
you
told me about Frances and the baby. I lied about that because Violet suggested it would be better if it wasn’t just drawing room gossip. I’m sorry, Damien. I believed there really was a baby. Violet said it was true, and I was so angry with you.”

Damien rested his hands on his hips and bowed his head.

“And Damien,” Harold said, “I wasn’t the one who saw you in the woods today. Violet was.” He dropped his head into his hands. “I guess I’m not such a decent fellow after all, am I? I’m a bit of a liar, in fact. And not only that, I’m about the worst fool in the world. I was manipulated by my spoiled brat of a sister.”

Violet was still sobbing uncontrollably when Damien and Harold burst into the drawing room. Eustacia looked up—shocked by the sudden, rather passionate intrusion. “What in
heaven’s name is going on?” she asked, putting her arm protectively around Violet.

Eyes red and puffy, cheeks stained with tears, Violet sat up. She wiped the back of her hand across her cheek and frowned at Damien. “You bastard.”

“Violet! Your language!” Eustacia shouted.

Violet did not take her eyes off Damien. Her lips pursed into a thin line. “Why couldn’t you leave her alone? Why
her
? You could have any woman you wanted, and you had to go and spoil Harold’s chances for happiness!”

Damien approached her. His eyes were dark and hooded, his voice quiet and dangerous. “You have some explaining to do, cousin.”

She shuddered with a weepy intake of breath. “What are you talking about?”

“You told Harold that Frances Fairbanks was having my child.”

Eustacia gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “God in heaven!”

Violet shifted nervously on the sofa. “I did not.”

Harold stepped forward. “Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did!”

“No, I—”

Damien held up a hand. “You lied, Violet, and Adele has made decisions with erroneous information. You will fix the problem.”

“But I didn’t have anything to do with it!”