Page 46 of To Treasure an Heiress
Exactly what she’d wanted him to be. A hero worthy of any of Beth’s tales. But he didn’t seem the hero now. Heroes didn’t sell information to the villains for a few pounds. Heroes didn’t mock the virtues of their cousins.
Heroes didn’t seduce a girl just because he thought she might be useful.
She shuddered. Maybe these suspicions were wrong. Surely.Please, God.But what if they weren’t? Was she really fool enough to have fallen for such a charlatan?
Ainsley was drawing in slow, careful breaths and letting them out again with the same careful measure. “Tell me everything you’ve told them, Rory. Now.”
Rory took a step to the side, pulling her with him. “I didn’t come here to listen to your lectures, thank you. I came for my girl.” He flashed her a grin. “Just like I said I would, luv. Flush from my good fortune and ready to start a life together. We can go anywhere in the world you want.”
Blast it, why did tears have to sting her eyes? Why did hearing the dream tumble from his lips shatter her heart? “Rory.” This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have in front of Ainsley—in front ofanyone. It wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have at all. But she needed to know. “This summer . . . is this all it was about? My connection to the Scillies?”
“Tell me about Mucknell, luv.”Tapping her for information, so he’d have something true to pass along to the Scofields, something other than whatever tales he’d told them about Ainsley and Sheridan.
His smile didn’t falter, but something flashed in his gaze. “Of course not. How could you think so? You know I’ve always fancied you.”
Did he? She had always fanciedhim. . . but he’d never singled her out until recently. He’d flirted, stolen that one kiss, but he flirted withallthe girls.
She pulled away from him, needing a bit of space. Needing the fresh, rain-scented air to bring reason to her mind.Think, Senara. Piece it together.
He’d asked her outright, just five short days before her dismissal, about Mucknell, yes. But before that? He’d certainly shown more interest than he ever had before in her history, her family, where she came from. She’d thought it was because he was coming to care for her. That he wanted to know all he could about her, as she did him.
But how could she know if it was sincere or if he had ulterior motives the whole time?Lord. . . Only when she breathed the name in a silent prayer did she realize how long it had been since she had done so. Months. Because it had been Rory, not God, filling her thoughts this summer. And because Rory lured her into things that made her squirm every time she tried to pray.
Probably answer in itself, but that was ultimatelyherfault, her failing, not his.Lord, I know I have so much to answer to. I know I’ve failed you. But please . . . if you could show me his true nature. Whatever it is.
“Nara.” He tried to ease closer again, but that just sent her another step back. He spread his hands, palms open. “Why are you looking at me like that? It’s all been for you. For us. So we can build that life together, just like I promised. Everything else—that’s just steps on the path. Things that had to be done to get where we wanted to go. Lying to a few blue-bloods with more money than sense, giving up our positions . . . sacrifices we needed to make, that’s all.”
She frowned. “I didn’tgive upmy position.”
He breathed a laugh. “And never would’ve, despite all your talk about a family of your own. Those brats had you wrapped around their little fingers. But now that you’ve been free of them for a while, you’re no doubt thanking me for seeing to that too.”
For a long moment she could only stare at him, mouth agape. What was he saying? That he wasn’t just the one who’d talked her into a situation she’d known better than to be in, but that—that he was the one who’d tipped off Lord Clifford? He was the reason they’d been discovered, so that she’d be sacked on the spot?
The horror of it was paralyzing.
Not that he suffered from the same blow. He eased closer again, that smile she’d always loved on his lips. “Come now, luv, you know it was for the best. And I’m willing to marry you, like I said. I just need to finish this business first, then you can show me about and introduce me. We can decide where we want to go—anywhere in the world.”
Her nostrils flared. “Here.”
He winced. “Anywhere in the world away from these blokes who will eventually know I’ve pulled the wool over their eyes.”
Ainsley stepped forward, making her aware yet again of his presence. Only now she saw the strangest thing in his eyes—a fire she’d never beheld in them before. “No. Miss Dawe, don’t let him convince you to leave with him. He won’t play you true.”
Rory spun on him. “Just stay out of it for once in your life, Henry.”
Ainsley glowered at him. “I watched you break enough other hearts at home. I’m not going to stand here while you do the same to her. What of all those other girls you bragged about at Christmas? Andshewasn’t the one you mentioned in your last letter to your mother!”
The blow struck not high in her heart but low in her stomach, making it churn.
Rory waved it away. “Haven’t written to her since I fell in love with Nara, that’s all.”
So much foralways fancied her.Her eyes slid shut. That was her answer, she supposed. And she should have known, shouldn’t she have? Who was she to gain the attention of someone like him? She ought to have known she was nothing but a diversion, one in a long string of girls—until she became useful to him.
Even so, he said he’d marry her. If she could convince him to honor that, wasn’t she obligated? She’d given him a part of herself she could never get back. He had to make it right. Otherwise, what did she have left?
Nothing.
Someone stepped to her side, but she knew before she opened her eyes that it wasn’t Rory. “You deserve better than what he’d give you, Miss Dawe. More than a husband who would always be entertaining others on the side.”
