Page 15 of One Wicked Secret
He waited for the ladies to sit on the sofa. As they gripped their delicate glasses, he downed the fortified wine in one long gulp and placed the empty glass on the mantel.
“Before I begin,” he said, settling into the wingback chair, “please know that everything I’ve done was necessary and often contrary to my personal wishes.”
They nodded, though they couldn’t possibly understand.
Clara gave him an encouraging smile. “You would never hurt either of us intentionally. I’m sure it’s all a terrible misunderstanding.”
“You’re right on the first point,” he replied, pausing as a wave of fear coursed through him. Once he confessed, there would be no turning back. “But there is no misunderstanding. I deliberately lied to Elsa. I concealed the facts and left her at The Grange, with no immediate plans to return.”
Clara gasped.
Elsa’s eyes held the same cold glimmer he had noticed earlier. “Daniel thinks I gave Mr Carver my virtue. By all accounts, my brother’s man of business is dead, and I might have killed him.”
Clara’s chin dropped in disbelief. “That can’t be true.”
“Of course it’s not true. If Daniel had spoken to me initially, he might have saved us all six months of misery.”
He stood, snatched his glass and refilled it before returning to his seat. It took him a moment to gather the courage to speak. “I was at home at Thorncroft when I received Magnus’ note saying Elsa was missing.”
Elsa sat forward. “Missing? I have never left Edenberry.”
“Please,” he begged, briefly closing his eyes. “Allow me to relay the facts before you ask questions or we’ll be here until dawn.”
She sat back, her hand tightening around the glass. “Please continue.”
“It was the day you went walking in the woods on your brother’s estate, collecting pine cones and holly to make festive decorations.”
Elsa recalled the memory. “Yes, I tripped on a protruding root and hit my head. I woke up in bed the next day, nursing a terrible megrim and a lump the size of a duck’s egg.”
He had stayed by her bedside all night, unsure what she would remember when she woke. “You fell in the woods, but we didn’t find you there. We found you at Carver’s cottage, a short distance away. You were asleep, but we soon realised Carver had drugged you.”
Her mouth parted as the life drained from her cheeks. After gulping several times, she muttered, “Drugged?”
Clara stared, her brows raised in silent question.
“I suspect you were unconscious when Carver found you. He took you home, undressed you and put you to bed.” A wave of anger forced him to pause. Carver deserved to die for what he’d done. “We think he gave you laudanum. Maybe as an excuse to ease your pain. There was a bottle on the nightstand. Do you remember seeing him? Do you recall waking in his bed and him administering the tincture?”
She remained still, as if Carver’s betrayal had turned her to stone. When she spoke, her despair was palpable. “Had I remembered anything, you would have been the first person I told. How could you keep this from me? I’m not a child, Daniel.”
“Are you sure you want to hear this in front of Clara?”
“Clara is the sister I never had. I keep no secrets from her.”
Daniel nodded and braced himself. It was hard to form the words without seeing the harrowing image. “Carver was beside you in bed. You were both naked. You were sleeping, sedated, not unconscious. Your pupils confirmed as much, and your breathing remained steady.”
Elsa froze. Tears welled.
The next few seconds stretched endlessly.
“And that’s why you married me?” The pain in her voice was raw. A wound laid bare and bleeding. “To save me from ruin?”
Lie, you fool!
But he couldn’t lie to her anymore.
“In part, yes.”
She sagged like she had been punched in the stomach. “I thought … I thought … forget what I thought. ‘Naive Nelly’ should be my new moniker.”
