Page 20 of Sense and Suitability
“Idle gossip,” her father said sharply, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Mrs. Reeves was a woman of great dignity and kindness. Whatever her husband’s failings, it is unseemly to indulge in such speculation. Grief and disappointment may well have taken their toll, but to suggest foul play is ridiculous.”
And her father knew all too well the jarring responsibility of a single-parent household. She almost quieted her curiosity at that thought, but the ideas that had been swirling around in her head all night required some answers.
“Then what of Arianna Reeves?” Emme continued. “The rumors about her are far worse.”
Her father’s frown deepened. “What rumors?”
“That she was taken against her will. Or worse, that she met some grim fate—”
“Emme, it doesn’t flatter you or assist in your own healing to indulge in such rubbish.” His steely look curbed any further questions on that topic. “Speculation is a dangerous sort of guessing game that, many times, ends in hurting people.”
Emme fell silent, her fingers tracing the edge of her book. “But the new viscount,” she ventured after a pause, “with his travels and liaisons, doesn’t seem as affected by it all.”
Her father gave her a measured look. “You don’t believe that.”
And he was right. If Simon was anything like the man she’d known, he’d care. Deeply.
“I don’t know what to believe,” she admitted. “He reappears in society as though nothing has changed, yet whispers follow him wherever he goes. And now it seems he’s looking for a wealthy bride.” Voicing the phrase hurt much worse than she’d expected.
“Lord Ravenscross is a young man bearing the weight of a title he never expected to inherit,” her father said quietly. “His circumstanceshave changed and so have his choices. It is a hard truth, Emme, but one he could not have avoided.”
“And yet he could have said as much,” she countered, her voice betraying the hurt she had worked so hard to conceal. “Instead, he left me standing on that veranda with nothing but a note and no explanation.”
“Perhaps he thought it kinder to let silence speak for him.”
But wouldn’t the truth have been kinder coming from him instead of some gnawing silence where speculation ran rampant? “Or he was acting the part of a coward.” She turned away, the sun’s glow from the window almost too bright now. “To disappear from his troubles and indulge in who knows what across the country. It’s as if I didn’t matter—”
“Emme.” The way Father spoke her name felt like a reprimand. “Many a reputation and, might I say, friendship have been ruined over unchecked imaginations.” He patted her knee. “Lord Ravenscross’s father was not a good man, but his eldest son doesn’t suffer from the same reputation. Unchecked in his youth, perhaps, but none of those accounts are recent. The fact he secured even some of your admiration proves the type of man he truly is at heart. You are a clever girl, even if you do allow some of those more fanciful novels too much space in your mind at times. You always come around to your logic.” He stood and tapped his temple. “Think with your head, not your hurt. The world is filled with enough people who parade irrationality as intelligence.”
She pulled her knees up against her chest as her father exited the room. Simon had hurt her, and she’d created a whole host of horrible reasons just to spite him. She’d even written a novel out of her hurt. A pain squeezed behind her rib cage. Perhaps she’d spent so much time nursing her own heartache, she hadn’t considered the possible reasons he left her alone that night on the veranda. But for the first time, a flicker of doubt crept into her certainty about his character... his motives.
What had his words been last night?
“I have nothing to offer you, Miss Lockhart.”
She shook her head and slid from the window seat, brushing the thought aside. Regardless of his reasons, Simon Reeves, Viscount of Ravenscross, was not her future.
He needed wealth, and she had none to give.
And she had no interest in getting her heart broken again.
So until she could get the memory of his kiss out of her mind, she’d simply have to avoid him.
Emme closed her book with a resolute snap. And she was very good at hiding.
Simon hadn’t slept at all.
Which proved advantageous, as it meant he was alert enough to catch Lottie attempting to sneak out at dawn. She claimed she only wanted a morning ride, but Simon doubted it, given the mischievous curve of her lips.
Lately, he doubted everything.
Saving Ravenscross.
Providing for his siblings.
Finding a bride who wasn’t Emmeline Lockhart.
He drove the hammer into the board with more force than necessary, the reverberation jolting up his arm. The stables were in dire need of repairs, and though his skills weren’t exceptional, he could at least manage to hammer a nail and replace a broken fence post.
