Page 3 of The Earl's Secret
“The man you marry might find out.”
“It would be too late by then,” Cassandra said through gritted teeth, for it was a battle that she had fought within herself for far too long.
That was the very thing which had held her back from marriage – the knowledge that she would have to hide the truth from her husband until her wedding night, and once he found out, there was no consequence that could turn out in her favor.
It would hardly be a way to start a marriage, and for that reason, she had resisted for a long time. Of course, it had been rather difficult to explain to her mother just exactlywhyshe had refused any suitor who showed interest in her.
She was the daughter of a duke, the sister of a marquess who would one day be one of the most powerful men in the country. And here she was, avoiding any gentleman interested in her.
“There is one other thing you are forgetting,” Madeline said, lifting one of her dark eyebrows, with that expression that terrified most men, intimidating them from coming too close.
“Which is?”
“That you cannot help yourself from being attracted to him, that no other man has ever been good enough for you.”
“That’s not true,” Cassandra said staunchly.
“It is,” Madeline said, though her voice held nonchalance as though she had no desire to argue with Cassandra about it. “I don’t understand why the two of you did not just marry and be done with it.”
“Because we can hardly stand being in the same room together, let alone in front of an altar,” Cassandra said. The truth was, she had barely spoken to Devon after… it… happened, as she had refused to allow him close to her once more. “And I could never trust him again,” she finished softly.
She had told herself to move on, had assumed that she would in due time – that soon enough, another man would enter her life, one who was appropriate, who she could tolerate, who would be her friend and her husband.
But no other stirred her soul. Not like Devon had, even if it was not always in the way she would prefer.
She just had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.
CHAPTER2
Devon’s irritation grew when he had to take a moment to compose himself before he continued on to the drawing room to meet with Gideon and the rest of their society of gentlemen.
Damn Lady Cassandra Sutcliffe and the way she affected him.
From the moment he had laid eyes on her, when she was nothing more than a six-year-old, two years his junior, he had been drawn to her, although the feelings that accompanied that connection had changed over the years.
As he had grown into a young man, his confusion with his captivation of her had led to him teasing her mercilessly, convincing her brother to take part in his jokes and pranks.
In the meantime, she had grown into the most alluring woman he had ever laid eyes on. The only problem was that she had already learned to despise him with the same amount of passion he desired her. A passion that he yearned to unleash.
Which they had – once. All that had led to was guilt which had followed him around ever since, a coming together that should have been the most magical of moments but instead had turned into a dirty secret.
A secret that he held deep within him, not sharing with anyone – not even Gideon, the closest friend he had in the world.
For Gideon would see his actions as the ultimate betrayal, and Devon had promised Cassandra he would keep their tryst between them.
Devon had tried to do the right thing, truly he had, but she had refused to even speak with him, let alone listen to reason. And in the end, she was likely right. He wouldn’t have wanted to spend his life with a woman who had only married him because she had no other choice.
Except… he had never been able to rid her from his mind, and no other woman had been able to fill that place in his head and his heart, for she had taken up that space, just as stubborn there as she was in truth, refusing to make room for anyone else.
So he did what any man would do – he avoided her as best he could. It had been simple when she had been away, staying with family, but now it wasn’t always easy when she lived in the same house as his closest friend.
He took a breath, pushing her from his thoughts as he walked into the drawing room, finding the other four men already waiting for him.
“Gentlemen,” he greeted them. They looked up at him from their places around the room. They didn’t often meet here – the drawing room was more women’s territory and they preferred a room at their club – but Gideon had told them that he had reason for them all to meet in private instead.
“Covington, I wasn’t sure you would ever arrive,” Gideon said, his large frame rather out of place in his mother’s dainty pink chair.
“I was waylaid when I entered the parlor instead,” he said, “where I found your sister and her friends.”
