Page 93 of A Torn Allegiance
“Pardon me?” Hayes said. “Did you just say that you have been on to me from the beginning? What do you mean by that?”
Elsie ran up at that moment, her friend Lady Sophie and Bartholomew close behind. “Are you all right?” Her face was flushed and full of concern.
He nodded and reached a hand down. He meant to pull her into the phae-ton with them. Something about having her close felt necessary in that moment.
“Elsie, you will not go near him.”
“Father?” Her voice faltered, and she paused. “What are you talking about?”
“You saw him and Lamoreaux. He’s colluding with the French, just like we thought.”
“You thought?” Hayes stood taller. “What exactly did you think?” His and his brothers’ bodies were rigid.
“We’ve watched you. We saw all your visits. Your middle-of-the-night rendezvous. I’ve thought it odd that you would be conversing so often with such a man as Lamoreaux, but Elsie talked me into believing you to be a good man despite all the other suspect activities she reported.”
Elsie gasped. Her face had gone white, and the guilt in her expression shook Hayes.
She reported?“Elsie?”
She shook her head. “No, please, Hayes, let’s leave. Let’s talk about this.”
“I’m waiting.” His world swayed a little. He looked from Duncan to the duke to Elsie and back. “Is someone going to explain what I’ve done to be thought so lowly of?”
“Father is just unhappy that you won... I think. Right, Father?” The pleading in Elsie’s voice clued Hayes in further.
“Duncan should have won that race,” the duke blustered. “If you hadn’t colluded with Lamoreaux, we would have seen another English victory over France today. But just as you have since you arrived, you were working with him.” His face turned redder the longer he spoke nonsense. “The timing of that flag flying right after the victory is no coincidence. You hope to rise up against us. I knew it.” He was working himself up into a great fury. His eyes widened, and his hands clenched.
As angry as Hayes felt in this moment, he was not as angry as the duke. The duchess stood several feet away, but she just shook her head. Then she hurried to her daughter, clutching her in her arms.
“Did you think we welcomed you out of the kindness of our hearts?” The duke scoffed. “We stayed close to you so we could watch you. And now we see you for what you are.”
Hayes shook his head. He didn’t know what to say or think. He turned to Elsie.
Her eyes were so full of sorrow, real tears began to flow.
“Is this true?” he asked.
She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand. “Please, no long, fancy explanations. Just answer: is it true? Did you befriend me solely to... spy on me?” As the words left his lips, he shuddered at the thought.
But he could see the answer in her eyes.
“Yes.” She hiccupped, and her body began to shake. “At first, Hayes, at first.” She reached out to him, still in her mother’s embrace, but he turned away.
His heart seemed to split in two, a sharpness in his chest tearing through him and down his arm. He clutched his chest. “Brothers.”
“Hayes, are you well?” Marc looked around them. “We need a doctor.”
“No.” Hayes clutched his brother’s arm. “No. I am well. Let us return, pack our things, and leave this infernal place.”
Kristoff stared down the duke until His Grace stepped aside. They pulled forward, turned, and rode past the whole lot of them as they made their own way back to Town. Hayes’s last view of Elsie was of a desperate, guilty woman, clinging to her mother in sorrow for what she’d done. Had she felt anything at all for him?
“At least I didn’t propose.” That gave him such a small amount of comfort; he closed his eyes and lowered himself to the floor, clutching at the pain in his chest while his brothers navigated their way back to the town house.
They said nothing, their faces the diplomatic masks each of them had been trained to master in moments of great emotion.
But he needed their wisdom. His emotion had long since taken over his ability to reason. He couldn’t even think more on Elsie without the tightness in his chest increasing. What had happened to him? As they approached the town house, the pain lessened, but he felt weak. He struggled to stand, but when at last he did, he shook off his brothers’ help. “I will walk on my own.” He gritted his teeth.
The butler opened the door. “Goodness, shall I call for a doctor?” The concern on his face told Hayes he must look a sight, so he nodded.
