Page 87 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
“You were the one on that balcony,” she accused, as he seemed to debate whether to stay or leave. “You were the one who fled and left me there.”
“Get out!” Theo exclaimed, appearing beside her and ushering Nicholas away. He pushed the door shut and turned to Kate. “I can explain.”
“It washim,” she insisted, wrapping her arms around herself.
What in the lord’s name was going on?
She’d met Nicholas. He hadn’t looked that much like Theo, had he? But then, he’d had a beard and worn a hat, and she’d met him for such a brief time. It was possible she’d completely overlooked the degree of similarity.
Nicholas and Theo looked far more similar than brothers should.
Unless they were twins.
Not that it mattered what they were. What mattered was thatNicholashad been the one on the balcony with her, not Theo. Her stomach clenched, and nausea rolled through her. She caught onto the wall to support herself. Theo rushed toward her, but she held out her hand and stopped him.
Everything made so much sense now.
No wonder Theo had mixed her and Sophie up the morning after the ball. He hadn’t met either of them previously.Nicholashad. He’d simply turned up to propose with no idea which woman he was supposed to be proposing to.
“Explain,” she bit out, pushing off the wall and steadying herself. The last thing she wanted to look or feel right now was weak.
“Nicholas is my twin.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “We’ll get to that. First, I want to know why I met him and ended up married to you.”
He started to reach for her but then stopped. “Nicholas thought I should consider remarrying. He tried to talk me into it, and I shot him down. Being the stubborn bastard he is, he decided to try to find a suitable bride for me behind my back. He attended the Wembley ball under my name. He pretended to be me to everyone he interacted with. That’s howmyname ended up in the scandal sheets alongside yours.”
“How did you find out?” she asked, her temples throbbing.
He grimaced. “The first I knew of it was when he stumbled into my bedroom, blind drunk, and confessed that he might have ruined someone’s reputation.”
“So, what? You just decided that the fact you didn’t want to marry was irrelevant and came right on over to propose to me? Why not make him do it?”
“Several reasons.” His hands curled into fists at his sides. “First, because people might not have believed it was him. They might have thought he was trying to cover for me. Second, because even if people believed it, I was aware that a young lady’s guardian would likely press for her to marry a viscount rather than a second son.”
Enraged, she gasped, “I am not a—”
“Third,” he continued, earning a glare, “If Nicholas told the truth, it would draw attention to the fact we’re identical, which would make it obvious that we’re twins.”
Kate raised her eyebrow, still angry at the implication that she might have been a title hunter and bewildered by this whole situation. “And?”
“And we are, but my parents lied and said we were born a year apart. They thought it discouraged in-fighting over the title and inheritance. It was intended to be a minor, harmless deception, but then as we aged it became clear we were identical and Mother began to fear that society would recognize their lie and cast her out.”
“But how have you hidden it?” she demanded, not understanding any of this. “Surely people at his school noticed, or friends of yours did?”
Theo paced the length of the room, agitation rolling off him in waves. “We attended different schools and did not move in the same social circles when we were young.”
“What about after that? You’re both expected to participate in society.”
“I’m not much for social occasions.” He pivoted toward her and tugged on the collar of his shirt, drawing her attention to the flash of skin visible because of the open top button. “I fulfil my duties in the House of Lords, but I don’t participate in the sort of activities other men often do. Nicholas is fonder of socializing, visiting the club, and horse racing, so we rarely cross paths and few people notice.”
Kate’s temples throbbed. Logically, she followed the meaning of his words, but her heart couldn’t seem to make heads or tails of this. Her emotions were jumbled, the low ache of betrayal providing a backdrop to the heat of anger and the icy cold of disbelief. “All of this just to save your mother from being shunned by her peers for a season or two?”
Theo ran his hand through his hair, leaving it ruffled and standing on end. “It really hasn’t involved much subterfuge, for the most part. As I said, we lead very different lives. But on the occasions when we are in the same place at the same time, such as the wedding, we take steps to differentiate ourselves as much as we can and to keep interactions brief. Otherwise, Mother becomes overwrought. I know it’s ridiculous. We should have stopped years ago, but she’s the only parent we have left and we don’t want her unhappy.”
Her heart gave a pang. No, she supposed he wouldn’t want to see his mother suffer from social ostracism, even if it was of her own making, because her misery would remind him too sharply of what he’d gone through with Elizabeth.
Kate shook her head. “You had to know I’d learn the truth eventually. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
