Page 24 of The Trouble with True Love

“It doesn’t matter what I think, since it’s not my decision to make. It’s theirs.”

He laughed. “Says the woman who blatantly interfered in their love affair and brought about its end, thereby causing a great deal of unnecessary pain and heartbreak to both parties.”

Clara shifted her weight, hating to think he might have a point and that her judgement may have been a bit clouded by anger.

“If they are indeed heartbroken,” she said after a moment, “then I am sorry for it. But though a month isn’t much time, I grant you, not everyone finds it insufficient. My sister and the Duke of Torquil had known each other three weeks when they became engaged, and they are quite happily married.”

“It’s called a honeymoon for a reason,” he countered dryly. “When the duke and your sister have been married a dozen years or so, if they’re still blissfully happy, I might deem them an exception. Either way, right now we’re talking about Dina and Lionel, two people I know quite well, and I can honestly say they are not ready to get married, despite any guilt over their affair Dina may be feeling at the moment.”

“Perhaps your low opinion of marriage is affecting your judgement.”

“Miss Deverill, I’m not so against marriage that I don’t think anyone should ever do it. If my friends decide, after serious consideration, to wed, then I shall don my best morning coat, put a carnation in my buttonhole, and give a congratulatory groomsman speech at their nuptials, expressing my absolute belief in their true love and their bright, happy future. I daresay I shall even manage to make it sound convincing. But it is my fervent hope that they take a bit more time to enjoy each other and confirm they are ready to spend their lives together before committing to it irrevocably.”

“And in the meantime, free love is an acceptable option?”

He shrugged. “As long as marriage remains a situation from which it is virtually impossible to extricate oneself, then yes. And why not? There’s no harm in it.”

“It’s harmful in so many ways, I can’t begin to list them all!”

“Try. I’m curious what you would define as harmful.”

She could have done. She could have pointed out the burden borne by the bastard children of free-love unions. She could have talked of the inevitable degradation of a society that did not have the bedrock of marriage to support it. She could have mentioned the comfort and emotional sustenance that a lifetime together could bring to a couple. But she didn’t have time for all that. She had an important problem, one that would not be resolved by arguing with him or antagonizing him.

Having inadvertently confirmed that she was Lady Truelove, she now had to find a way to persuade him to keep silent. It wasn’t as if she could appeal to his chivalry, but what other card did she have to play?

“Lord Galbraith, it’s clear you and I do not see eye to eye on this subject, so perhaps we should set it aside and discuss why you are here. You have stumbled upon my secret. What do you intend to do about it?”

“Hmm...” He paused as if considering. “That is the question, isn’t it?”

She worked to muster her dignity. “If you do indeed have such goodness in your soul as you claim, then I hope you are willing to demonstrate it by keeping Lady Truelove’s identity to yourself.”

“One could argue that, in this case, goodness is best demonstrated by warning people. You’re fond of that particular activity, after all.”

“Warning people? Of what, in heaven’s name?”

“That the woman dispensing all this knowledgeable advice about love and romance is really the daughter of the publisher, perhaps? That she is unscrupulous enough to eavesdrop on private conversations, and meddlesome enough to interfere—”

“It’s my scruples that impelled me to interfere!”

“To interfere,” he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, “in affairs that do not concern her, and to offer her advice even to those who have not asked for it.”

“You have no proof that I am Lady Truelove.”

“I may not move much in respectable society, Miss Deverill, but I have many influential friends who do, and with the exception of Lionel two days ago, not one of my friends has ever had cause to question my word. If I were to tell them you are Lady Truelove, they will believe me. If I were to warn them about you and how you use private conversations as fodder for your newspaper, they will warn others.”

“And if your friends ask how you have come by this information, you will have to reveal your part in what happened, as well as Lionel’s illicit relationship. He is a Member of Parliament, and such news would hardly impress his constituents favorably. He is your friend. Would you really be such a cad as to expose him?”

“I don’t have to reveal the source of my information. I merely have to assure my friends that my source is reliable. You may be the sister-in-law of a duke, but Torquil and his family are not being viewed with favor this season, so that connection will do you little good. And you may be the granddaughter of a viscount on your mother’s side, but on your father’s, you come from a line of newspaper hawkers. In addition, you are presently in charge of your paper’s operations. All these things will come back to hurt you if what you did is exposed. I am the son of an earl, and my friends know me to be a discreet and loyal friend. If I warn them about you, they will accept my word without questioning the source of my information. And once that happens, your debut in society will come to an abrupt and ignoble end.”

She glared at him, hating that he was right. “With that, I think we can put paid to any notions of goodness in your soul.”

That shot seemed to hit the mark, for a trace of his earlier anger flashed in his blue eyes and tightened the corners of his mouth. “My friends are brokenhearted wrecks because of you. I can think of no reason not to tell my entire circle of acquaintance about you.”

Clara began to feel desperate. The notion of being conciliatory with this man flicked her decidedly on the raw, but what else could she do? “Lady Truelove is theWeeklyGazette’s most popular feature, and the main reason for our advertising revenue and our income. Shall you enjoy taking away a family’s livelihood?”

He made a scoffing sound. “Do not make me out to be the villain here. I think I would be quite justified in warning others about your so-called advice column. And since your brother-in-law is a duke, I hardly think you and your father will be turned out into the street if your identity is exposed.”

“That’s not the point—”

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