Page 82 of Devoted to the Duke (The St. Clairs 1)

He raced through the contents once and then read it again more slowly. The letter thoroughly confused him.

What rumors did Catherine refer to? She said she’d married him under false pretenses and made some veiled reference to her birth. She mentioned not wanting to embarrass him or his family and begged him to find a more suitable wife. Who would be more suitable than Catherine Crawford? She was the daughter of an earl. Beautiful. Well spoken. Intelligent. He was more confounded now than before he’d read it.

She did write that disclosing whatever she needed to might have caused him to withdraw his offer. In his heart, Jeremy believed nothing she could ever have revealed would be so awful as to make him set her aside. Apparently, she thought it would—so she had withdrawn from the marriage herself.

Once again, hope sprang within him. If she didn’t love him, she wouldn’t have sacrificed her own happiness to free him from their union.

He folded the page. No rumors had reached his ears but Catherine had believed they would in a week’s time. Who would know something so awful about her and use the information to destroy her reputation?

Statham.

He was the only choice. The only family she had left. If anyone knew some vile secret that Catherine felt would embarrass him and his family, it would be her cousin.

Jeremy determined that once he found Catherine and learned the truth from her, he would confront Statham—and destroy him.

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