Page 73 of A Night of Forever
Isobel bristled. “Not only the men. I intend to go too. She killed my father, and I deserve to be there. Arend promised, but now—”
She bit the rest back, not wishing to reveal the extent of her embarrassing situation with Arend. Portia would just sayI told you so.Anyway, did Portia and Marisa trust her any more than Arend did?
“Arend probably wants to keep you safe.”
Wishing Marisa’s soft words were true didn’t make them so. “No.” Then anger got the better of her and the truth poured out. “He doesn’t trust me.”
She saw the glance the ladies exchanged. It held definite elements ofI told you so.
Then Marisa sighed. “I did try to explain that he is a man who trusts no one.”
“I know. But—” And to Isobel’s horror, the tears she’d been fighting since last night spilled over.
“Isobel.” Marisa jumped to her feet and rushed around the bed to embrace her. “What has that rogue done now?”
Isobel gulped back sobs and wiped frantically at her eyes. “It wasn’t him. It was me. I did something stupid. I fell under his spell.” And tears overwhelmed her again.
“You have to be strong.” Portia reached out from the bed and grasped her hand. “If you want to go to Deal, then go. You have just as much right as any of us.”
“Absolutely,” Marisa said. “I definitely want to be there, and I won’t let Maitland stop me. We can go together.”
“Can we?” Isobel seized her courage and asked the question that burned in her. “Do you trust me enough?”
“Oh, Isobel.” Marisa hugged her again. “Of course I trust you. I’ve always trusted you.”
Isobel shook her head. “Not all of you do. I overheard you discussing me a few days ago. I didn’t mean to listen, but I thought you were my friends.”
“I’m so sorry,” Portia exclaimed, a little flushed. “The men had us so upset, and Arend kept insisting that you had to have been in the carriage for a reason. Now we know why—Victoria was pushing you two together. But back then…” She trailed off, and then her mouth quirked up. “I just love how that backfired on her so spectacularly. You’ve formed a tight bond with Arend.” Her mouth twisted. “Well, I thought you had. Are you sure nothing else has happened?”
Isobel couldn’t help it. She felt boiling heat flood into her face. The ladies took one look, and both drew in breath.
“You’ve been intimate,” Marisa whispered.
Isobel did not, could not, deny it.
“So the marriage will proceed.” Portia said after a short silence.
“I don’t know!” The wail held all of her frustration and pain. “How can it? How can I marry a man who does not trust me?”
Marisa looked at her strangely. “Did he say so?”
“Yes, he…” Isobel thought back to their last conversation. “Actually, no, he didn’t. He merely said I could not go to Deal with him.”
Marisa clapped her hands. “I suspect it’s because he is worried about your safety. His feelings are now involved. He would not have slept with you, given your virginal status, if he did not mean to go through with the wedding.”
Isobel shook her head vigorously. “It was not his choice. I seduced him and asked him to sleep with me. I hoped it might draw him in closer. I know you told me others had tried this approach and failed, but he’s so tortured, and I thought if I could get him to open up about his past, it might help him.”
Portia and Marisa looked at each other and laughed.
“Silly girl,” Portia chided, smiling. “Think about what you know of these men. You could have asked him all you wanted, but unless he was prepared to marry you he would never have bedded you.”
She couldn’t let them believe that. No matter how embarrassing, she would have to tell them the rest. “But I told him I did not expect him to honor our engagement. In fact, I said that if he did not share his past with me, I would never marry him. As I only intended to marry for love, how could I love a man I did not know?”
Their smiles disappeared.
“And did he open up?” Marisa asked.
She shrugged. “He told me about his childhood and about his sister and brother.”
