Page 58 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
“Don’t do this.” Theo was too exhausted to play along with Nicholas, but he eventually answered, nonetheless. “She’ll become miserable, and I won’t know how to help, and then we’ll both end up wishing our lives away.”
“And what does she think of that?” Nicholas asked.
Theo tipped his empty glass back, enjoying the drop of brandy that landed on his tongue. “Of what?”
“Of your asinine plan to run away from your feelings.”
Theo shrugged. “She doesn’t need to know.”
It wasn’t as if this marriage was one of love. It had been born out of the need to avoid scandal.
Nicholas leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “And what about me? When will you tell her I was the one on that balcony?”
“Never, unless I have to.” There was no reason to upset her unnecessarily. She’d agreed to marry him, not Nicholas, and she seemed pleased enough with her decision.
“I think that’s a mistake,” Nicholas said.
“The past month has been a lot for anyone to handle. There’s no need to tell her something that might cause her more distress.”
“Bollocks,” Nicholas said. “You just don’t want to deal with the consequences.”
In this case, his brother had a good point. Kate was bound to be unhappy at learning that she’d been on the balcony with one brother and ended up married to another.
He’d thought he was doing the right thing. Everyone had assumed Nicholas was him, the guest list had his name on it, and most parents would insist on marriage to a viscount over a second son if it was an option.
Most.
How was he to know that the Drakes might be one of the rare families who would value the truth over convenience? His stomach twisted. If they hadn’t deceived Kate, she might have made a different choice, but he couldn’t risk her learning the truth now. As far as she was concerned, it had been him on that balcony.
“That’s true. Perhaps I should confess, but not now. I ought to give her time to settle into married life.”
“If she finds out before you tell her, the continued deception will only make her angrier,” Nicholas said. “I think it’s a mistake to wait. You should tell her now.”
Theo closed his eyes. “I need time.”
He prayed he was making the right decision.
CHAPTER 19
The day after the wedding,Kate was packing a pencil and paper into a small carry bag to take with her in the carriage when Blackwell—Theodore, he’d told her his name was—knocked on the bedchamber door.
Her heart hitched at the sight of his expression. His mouth was turned down at the corners, telling her that she wasn’t likely to appreciate whatever it was he intended to say.
“Are you sure you want to travel to Oxfordshire with me?” he asked, looking away from her, toward the window. “Even my family are remaining in London. You’d probably get more enjoyment out of spending the holiday here or with your family.”
Kate straightened and put some steel into her spine. “Are you going back on your agreement to allow me to accompany you?”
When she’d sent in her note advising him that she’d only marry him if he allowed her to go with him to Oxfordshire, she hadn’t thought she’d have to deal with any further discouragements such as this.
He blanched. “No, of course not. I’m a man of my word. I just thought it was possible you might have had a change of heart.”
“I haven’t.”
While it was true that she might be more at ease with her family, she needed to do everything she could to set herself up for a happy future, and that meant persisting with Theodore until she’d overcome whatever was holding him back from pursuing a meaningful relationship with her.
“I see.”
She laced her fingers together in front of her, needing to keep her hands under control. If she let them do whatever they wanted, she worried they’d end up tangled in her travelling dress, and she didn’t want to give away how nervous she was.
