Page 44 of A Marriage Most Convenient

“No, of course not. I fully intended to tell you everything. I was going to do it yesterday, but then everything happened with your father and it seemed like too much.”

She crossed her arms over her breasts. The tightening in her chest was unfamiliar. Was it anger? Hurt? Perhaps a combination of both. She loved this man and he had deceived her. “I need to know the full truth. When you compromised me as Jack, were you deliberately trying to ruin me? Did you ever intend to tell me the truth? I mean, Edmond, there were plenty of opportunities. All the discussions we had about Jack. And after the poetry reading.”

“Why does any of that matter now? I married you. I did the right thing. I compromised you, I did my duty to marry you and preserve your respectability.”

“Your duty,” she mimicked. She closed her eyes. “It matters because you lied to me.”

Edmond frowned. He did not move from his spot in the room though. He stood between both doors, the one that led to her adjoining bedchamber and the one that led to the corridor. As if he intended to prevent her from leaving should she try. “I never lied. You never asked me if I was the Jack of Hearts. I merely did not disclose the entire truth.”

“But you let me think you were making this huge sacrifice by marrying me. Let everyone think you were a hero for sweeping in to marry poor Charlotte, to salvage her reputation. When really you were just correcting your own damned mistake.” She took a few steps towards him, then stopped. She didn’t want to touch him. She wanted him to say something to make all of this go away, all the pain and discomfort swirling through her body. “You made me practically beg you to reconsider your proposal when I came to see you that night.” A wounded noise came from her throat and she tried not to fold in on herself. She was stronger than this. “You made a fool of me,” she whispered.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked, his voice rising. “Do you want me to admit that I love you? That kissed you as Jack because I couldn’t resist you and this damnable power you’ve always had over me? That I knew you’d accept my advances as the rogue thief in a way you wouldn’t from,” he paused and narrowed his eyes, “what was it that you called me—quiet, solemn Edmond.”

“When did I call you that?”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Years ago, and that is not the point. The point is, I’d waited all those years to stop wanting you, and the desires never went away. So as Jack, I seized an opportunity I knew you would not give to the real me.”

“You never tried to kiss me as Edmond, how do you know I would not have fallen into your arms?”

“Charlotte, that is an insult to both of us and you know it. I did what I did.” He tossed his arms up. “Do you want me to admit that I was relieved when you were compromised, because it gave me a reason to marry you and I thought you would have to say yes? That I was hurt when you said no? Is that what you want me to say?”

Her breathing was coming more rapidly now and she realized the distance between them had changed. “Yes. I want to hear all of that.”

He cupped her cheeks and searched her face. “Charlotte, I have loved you since you were ten and seven. I will always love you. Though I loved you as a boy then, and now I love you as a man. Your man. Your husband.” He placed tiny kisses all over her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth before we got married. I was afraid you would say no.”

“I did say no,” she said with a watery laugh.

“Yes, well, I was afraid you’d well and truly mean it. And I worried that if I came clean about being the Jack of Hearts that I would get arrested and further tarnish your reputation, not to mention Willow’s and James’s, being an inspector. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize things with you. But then I did anyways, because I hurt you, while trying to punish myself in not letting myself touch you.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m an idiot.”

“But you’re my idiot.”

“Does that mean that you could forgive me someday?”

“I will consider it. I might need several climaxes though, before I can change my mind. In the meantime, I do believe I deserve to know the entire story,” she said.

“You absolutely do.”

Edmond took a sobering breath and moved over to the framed painting on the adjacent wall. He slid his finger under the rim, found the hidden lever, and flipped it, unlocking the painting from its place. It swung open, a door to his secret hiding place. He grabbed the box, now heavy from the weight of all the jewels, and brought it over to the bed, where he turned it upside down and dumped everything. A rainbow of jewels scattered across the coverlet.

Behind him Charlotte gasped. “Edmond!”

“We’ve talked about my mother and her illness. Over the years it has manifested itself in different ways. One of which was a gambling problem. She used her jewels, the jewels from my father’s family.” He shook his head. “She lost so many of them that the family coffers had dwindled. My father couldn’t do much because every extra cent went to any medical care she required. He did have the forethought to hide a small fortune away for when he has passed, when her care will fall to me and Willow. Mother has been unable to touch that. But the rest.” He shook his head. “It was squandered.

“Those pieces of jewelry, were family heirlooms. Passed down from her mother and my father’s mother. My family name is old and we’ve always enjoyed a fat purse. Then suddenly, it was gone. But I figured out a way to procure it back. I’d steal those pieces. Just the ones that had already belonged to us, that were rightfully ours. Those that people had taken advantage of my mother’s illness and won from her.” He exhaled slowly, raking his fingers through his hair. He didn’t dare look at Charlotte, he didn’t want to see her expression. “It didn’t take me long to realize that I couldn’t very well only take those pieces unless I wanted to advertise to the entirety of Society that I was the masked thief. So I took other pieces as well.” He motioned to the glittering pile on the bed. “As you can see, I never did anything with those other pieces. They’re not mine, and would that I could figure out who they belong to, I would return them.”

“And your family’s jewels? What did you do with those?”

“I put a significant piece up for me and Willow.” He pointed to her left hand. “You now wear the ring I kept back for myself. It was to be for my wife.”

She clutched her hand to her chest.

“The rest I used to buy into games. Cards mostly. I’m rather good with them. I have a unique mind for numbers which allows me to win much more frequently than I lose. It took me about six months to secure enough funds to purchase this house. After that, I put aside the rest in separate accounts to save for Mama’s care. Some is invested and accruing interest.”

“You single-handedly saved your family from financial ruin?” she asked, though it didn’t sound much like a question.

“By thievery. It’s hardly altruism. Just as my proposal to you had hidden meanings. That mask has hidden much of me,” he said, though more to himself than to her.

She stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, then looked up at him. “We have both kept secrets for far too long. No more. From now on, we will be truthful with one another, please?”

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