Page 31 of Earl for the Summer
She retreated a step back, then another, as if revolted by his nearness. “Please go,” she whispered.
“Daphne—”
“Please go,” she said more fiercely, her voice breaking as tears welled in her eyes.
So he did. He left Edgerton House, walking away from the only woman who’d ever made him wish for the sort of future he’d long told himself he did not deserve.
And tonight, he’d proved himself undeserving by causing her pain. He’d never forgive himself for that. And now, all that was left was to tell his brother of his failure on his behalf too.
CHAPTER 7
Daphne turned on her side and closed her eyes. A minute later, she shifted onto her back and stared at the four-post bed’s canopy above her. It had been hours since that moment at the front door.
Liar.Blackguard.Deceiver. In her mind, she couldn’t stop railing at Cassian Rourke.
How dare he be so kind, so attentive, so impossible not to want? How dare he kiss her like he could never get enough of her, and then—on the cusp of walking out of her life forever—confess that it had all been a lie?
She lifted her hand and touched her lips, remembering his mouth on hers, the hunger and urgency in his kiss. The heat of his hands on her body. She’d felt the same urgency, and heaven help her, she’d loved the hard strength of his body against hers. Wrapped in his arms, she’d felt cared for. Safe.
Yet she hadn’t been safe. She’d been on the verge of giving her heart to another deceiver. It frightened her now to think of what she might have allowed if Ivy had not come upon them when she did.
None of it made sense. Why pretend to be his brother? And where was the real Lord Windham?
Apparently, she was never going to learn her lesson because all she could think of was being reckless. Going to him. Demanding answers.
Sitting up, she lit the lamp on her bedside table and settled against the headboard.
As she debated with herself, she heard a soft scratch against her door.
“Are you awake?” Ivy whispered from the other side.
Daphne climbed out of bed and opened the door. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“I saw your light.”
“Why are you wandering the halls when everyone else has gone to bed?”
“I wasn’t wandering. I came to check on you,” Ivy said, holding her candle a bit higher to get a clear look at Daphne from the darkened hallway. “I was worried when you left the dinner party so abruptly after Lord Windham’s departure.”
Daphne fought a sudden urge to cry. “Come in.”
Ivy stepped into Daphne’s room and closed the door behind her. When Daphne climbed up on the bed, Ivy settled on the edge, facing her.
“What is it? Something to do with Windham?”
“Yes. But he’s not Windham.”
Ivy’s dark brows dipped. “Beg pardon?”
“The man who sat at table with us tonight was Lord Windham’s twin.”
“Good heavens.” Ivy laid a hand across her mouth, then dropped it to grip the edge of her skirt. “Oh Daphne, what a twist. Why didn’t I see it?” Ivy sounded more perturbed by her own failure of observation than the fact that she and Daphne and everyone else had been duped for days.
“In retrospect, it makes a lot more sense.” Ivy lifted a finger and tapped it against her cheek. “The scar. More likely that a naval captain might have such a thing than a pampered earl.”
Daphne stared at her sister, jaw slack. “What does any of that matter? He deceived us, Ivy. Don’t you want to punch him like you’re always yearning to do to Moreland?”
“Of course, but I’m mostly curious why he engaged in such subterfuge. Did he explain?”
