Page 120 of Ravishing His Wicked Lady (The Shadows 4)

“Please, be serious,” Lavinia exclaimed. “He was the cause of all your troubles. If he hadn’t done that, perhaps Victoria wouldn’t have married. There wouldn’t be a duel. Don’t you understand? It’s all my fault!”

“No, don’t do this.” Sebastian took her hands in his and squeezed. “Even if what you say is true, it is your guardian’s fault, not yours.”

“But itismy fault.” Tears fell down her cheeks. Lavinia tugged her hands out of his hold and wiped her tears. “I told him… When I was still in London, he told me that he would marry me off to the man whom my father owed most—”

“The bastard,” Sebastian growled.

He suddenly remembered that night in the gambling hell, where Atwood boasted about inheriting the Birch title and doing just that, gambling off his ward. Somehow, Sebastian hadn’t made the connection until now. But that measly coward, Atwood, was Lavinia’s guardian!

“I know most men my father owes money to. They are lecherous old men who always made it their business to make untoward advances toward me.”

“Tell me who?” Sebastian was ready to rip them all apart, no matter his injury.

Lavinia just shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. But I couldn’t… I couldn’t let him do it. So I lied.” She closed her eyes, tears trailing down her cheeks. “I told him that I was already betrothed. To you.”

It took a full minute for Sebastian to process her words. “When was this?”

“It was before the house party,” she said as she looked at him again, a plea in her eyes. “Your name was the first one that came to my mind because of our accidental encounter at the ball. I didn’t think anything of it. I just needed to ensure that my guardian wouldn’t marry me right away. And saying your name gave me the perfect excuse to go to your house party and seek a better groom than what my guardian had in store for me.”

Sebastian didn’t quite know how to react. That was a lot of information to process. He scrubbed his face with his hand, trying to decipher what it all meant.

Now he started understanding why she was so insistent upon marrying him when she’d failed to trick him into marriage. That was why she’d pursued Mr. Townsend the first few days of the house party.

Did this information change anything? Certainly not. A lot had changed since then. Hadn’t it? If she married him now, it wouldn’t be for any other reason than love.

Except… she’d never told him she loved him.

Sebastian turned away. Miss Gale still purred on his shoulder. The sun bathed the room in a cheery glow. It was as if nothing had happened, yet there was a pang in his heart.

He wasn’t about to give Lavinia up just because of this revelation. But it hurt to think that this would be the main reason she’d say yes to his proposal.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, then cleared his throat. There was a slight ringing in his ears again. He was getting tired. “I still don’t understand why he’d do this, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with him upon our return to London.”

Lavinia’s head shot up. “Please, not another duel.”

“Your guardian is Mr. Atwood, is he not?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Then I won’t need to duel. There are far more civilized ways to deal with him.”

“Such as?”

Sebastian wished he didn’t have to discuss this with her now. He was getting sleepy again. But she was so concerned, he wanted to alleviate her fears. “He is in a lot of debt. And he shall inherit—or I suppose hehasinherited even more debt now that your father is dead. A debtor’s prison shall fit him nicely. I suppose that’s why he wanted to get the two of us together? To get my money out of it?”

Lavinia frowned in thought. “I don’t think so. I—” She clamped her lips closed and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “How do you know that my father died?”

Sebastian blinked. Did he just blurt that out? His mind must not be as sharp as he’d thought. But he also realized that the note didn’t lie. Her fatherwasdead.

Lavinia was looking at him with suspicion in her eyes. After all this time, she still did not trust him.

Sebastian shook his head. There were too many revelations for one day. But he couldn’t keep the note from her any longer. “I received a note today. It’s on the bedside table.”

Lavinia stood gingerly, her eyes on the bedside table. She walked toward it as if something terrible awaited her there.

Then her face changed.

She stood there with a horror-stricken expression on her face, her hand hovering over the table, but her fingers frozen. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, her throat working on a swallow, but she didn’t say a word.

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