Page 80 of A Viscount's Bet of Seduction

“Lucy.” Aunt Joan looked at her sternly.

“He’s hurt me, Aunt Joan. More than anyone has ever hurt me before!” It was true enough. While Edward had hurt her, this betrayal was far worse. Silas had made a fool of her in public. Everyone would know about the ending of their courtship. Everyone would talk about how Lord Thornbridge had made a cruel bet. It made Lucy feel cheap in her pain. She hated caring about what the ton thought.

“He came to explain,” Aunt Joan pointed out. “Perhaps there’s a reasonable explanation behind all of this. I don’t particularly like the look of that Mr Stalton. He seems like an unsavoury sort.”

“Nor do I. But you said it yourself—Silas said that it was true.”

“But he also said that there’s an explanation and that he loves you, Lucy. What if the bet was the way that things started, but then he found that he truly cares for you?”

Lucy didn’t know how she felt about that. She looked down at the plate of toast that was on her lap. “Then everything that I thought was true is still false.”

“Not all of it.” Aunt Joan sighed. “Not all marriages begin with love, but it develops, over time. There are many couples who fall in love over the years that they are together. Think about it. You don’t have to decide now, but perhaps speaking to him will give you the closure that you need.”

“I’ll be able to think of nothing else,” she said miserably.

“I know, in my heart, that he cares for you,” Aunt Joan told her.

“Then you’re the only one. I don’t think he loved me at all.”

Lucy had a deep ache in her chest. It was like Silas had punched a hole through her sternum and ripped out her heart. The absence felt painful. It was far worse than what Edward had done. Because Lucy believed that Silas was different, and that he had truly loved her as she had deserved.

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