Page 40 of An Arranged Betrothal with an Icy Duke
Henry was reminded that he had always thrown his brother’s letters away without reading them, that he had never once permitted Frankton to explain anything. Was he really ready to hear him now? Searching his heart, he found himself nodding. Yes, hewasready. If this had any bearing on Edith, hehadto hear it. “Tell me.”
“It is about Rachel. It is about what happened before your wedding.”
A flash of anger shot through Henry but he steeled himself. “Go on.”
“It is not as you were told,” Lord Frankton continued, urgently, taking a step closer to Henry. “I walked in to see Rachel beingassaultedby another gentleman. She was crying out, Henry, almost screaming with the horror of what Lord Venables was attempting to do.”
Henry’s stomach lurched and he blinked furiously, going cold all over. “That… that was not what was told to me.”
“I know.” His brother lifted both eyebrows. “Though it worked, did it not? You were not told that I went into that room quite by mistake, that I saw what was happening and flung that gentleman from the room. You can ask him, if you wish, about what happened and he may tell you the very same thing as he told me – if he remembers one of the many things he has done.” A dark, angry scowl flooded Lord Frankton’s expression and he threw back his drink. “I pulled him from her and flung him back. I demanded that he quit the room and then went to make certain your betrothed was quite all right.”
“But then you were discovered,” Henry said, slowly. “You admitted that you and she had been enjoying a secret tryst and – ”
His brother shook his head vehemently. “No.No!I wouldneverhave done such a thing. Rachel would never have even thought to do such a thing to you! She cared about you. I cared about you as my brother. My respect for you was great and I would not have done such a thing. I am not a cruel, selfish sort, brother. I am not the sort of gentleman who would ever steal a bride from another. Therefore, when I tell you that such a thing was not what happened, I can only pray that you will believe me.”
It was too much for Henry to take in. He closed his eyes, reaching to pinch the bridge of his nose as a sudden uncertainty rocked him. If this was true, if thiswaswhat his brother had done, then he had spent years believing a lie. He had ended his engagement based on a lie too, had he not?
“I do not understand,” he said, his voice barely loud enough for even himself to hear. “If that happened, if what you are telling me is true, then that means.., that means that everything that I did, everything that I believed, was nothing more than a lie.” He shook his head. “I cannot understand who would do that nor why.”
His brother spread out his hands. “Can you not?”
Henry looked back into his brother’s face, trying to understand what it was that he meant. He could not see any correlation, could not make any sense of what Lord Frankton was trying to say. What had been wrong with Rachel in terms of their engagement? Why would someone attempt to break their engagement apart with such force?
“You know this,” his brother said, very quietly indeed as though he was afraid that Henry would break down into anger should he speak any more loudly. “You already know who it was that held such concerns, brother. You know what concerns there are about your present engagement.”
The shock that rocked Henry was so great, he had to sit down suddenly, his feet suddenly no longer willing to hold him up.
“I am sorry, brother,” Lord Frankton said, snatching the glass from Henry’s limp fingers and then hurrying across the room as though he was afraid that Henry would come rushing after him in fierce anger. “I have wanted to tell you – I havetriedto tell you, but – ”
“How could our mother have done such a thing?” Henry closed his eyes tightly, trying to accept all that had been said to him, only for his heart to close up, to refuse to let him believe it.
“Rachel was just as shocked when our mother offered her money and another, suitable marriage should she end your engagement,” his brother said, from across the room, pouring another brandy for them both. “And when she refused, then came the threats.”
“Threats from ourmother?” Henry shook his head. “I cannot accept that she was the one who orchestrated that with that roguish gentleman.”
“But who else would do so?” his brother asked, handing the glass of refilled brandy back into Henry’s hands. “And why would they want to ruin the lady’s reputation? Yes, mayhap someone wanted to remove her from your side so that they might take her place, but you did not have any young lady desperate for your attention, did you? There was no obvious malice from anyone, was there?”
Henry shook his head no, shuddering lightly as another shock ran through him.
“It was always our mother who complained about Rachel’s standing, was it not?” Lord Frankton asked. “She said that the daughter of an Earl was not good enough.”
“She wanted me to marry a young lady of high standing,” Henry whispered. “The daughter of a Marquess or even ofanother Duke.” His eyes flared open as he looked at his brother. “But Edith is the daughter of a viscount and yet our mother has been nothing but kind and considerate to her. It wasshewho berated me when I was cold towards her; she who told me that I was not considering Edith with the right amount of care.”
“And so, you would never suspect her of doing anything untoward then, would you?”
Henry blinked, a cold hand grasping his heart. “She has been very upset of late, however. I think she hoped that I would have chosen to end the engagement with Miss Tidemore but now that I am not…”
His brother nodded, answering Henry’s silent question. “Yes, I think that she did this. I think that she was determined to do whatever she had to in order to make certain that you did not marry her.”
“Because up until the moment that I told her I was going to marry Edith, she believed that I was going to set her aside. She made it quite clear that she thought Edith would not do for a Duchess, that she had much too many failings and the like. She even complained about the ball, telling me that Edith was unable to assist her with the planning – though I questioned why she ought to have been expected to do such a thing when she had never once been a Duchess before! I told her that Edith would be able to learn, I believe I might have eventhankedher for her willingness to help teach Edith all these things but now… ”
“But now you see that there was no truth in that. That the reason she spoke unkindly about Miss Tidemore, the reason that she pointed out Miss Tidemore’s supposed flaws was in the belief that you would see it too, that your desire to end the engagement would win out.”
Henry set his brandy on the table to his right, his whole body shaking with a sudden, furious anger.
“And when you said you would not, when you said that you were going to marry her, then our mother acted quickly. There is only one day left of the house gathering and, thereafter, Miss Tidemore is going to London with her family and, thereafter, to her father’s estate for the wedding. She does not have any other opportunity save for this.”
“But to kill her?” Henry got to his feet, his anger now burning through every part of his veins. “To do such a thing as that?”
