Page 43 of The Pleasures of Passion
His heart sank. The gossips had gotten that much right? He’d hoped that Father and Mrs. Whiting had succeeded in squelching any talk about it, but he should have known better.
He scrubbed one hand over his face. What a deuced muddle. He wanted to set her straight, but it wasn’t his secret to tell. And he still wasn’t sure if Bree could be trusted with such a story. If she couldn’t, or if she used the knowledge to blackmail him into getting her out of this scheme with her father—
That would be disastrous. Clarissa was happily married now; she and Edwin damned well wouldn’t want the word to get out that she’d been raped before they met, or that Niall had dueled with Whiting over it. That kind of gossip cut one off completely from society. No one ever blamed the man; they always blamed the woman.
Then again, Bree was Clarissa’s friend. Would she ruin her friend’s reputation that way?
He couldn’t take the chance, not without speaking to Clarissa. And with Clarissa six months pregnant, that might not be wise either. Women who were breeding were notoriously delicate. If bringing up the rape sent her into a decline or cost her the child, he would never forgive himself.
“Judging from your silence,” she said tightly, “I can only assume that the rumors about the duel were true.”
That brought him up short. “Of course not. What kind of man did you take me for?”
“You did have a reputation as a rogue.”
He gritted his teeth. “Yes, but that was before I met you.” When she looked unconvinced, he added, “Did you really think I could have wooed you—bloody well asked you to marry me—while also keeping a mistress?”
She thrust out her chin. “Why not? Other men of rank do it all the time. And youdidn’task me to marry you—you asked me to run off with you.”
“Blast it, you keep making a distinction that I never did! I fully intended to marry you the moment we could arrange it.”
“So you say.”
“Do you think I’m lying?” That sent anger roaring up in him. “Oh, for God’s—Did you even care one whit for me? Because I begin to think you didn’t. Certainly not if you believed any gossip that tarred me as such a scoundrel.”
The carriage halted in front of her aunt’s house, but neither of them moved to get out when the footman opened the door. “Leave us,” Niall barked, and waved the man away.
As soon as the footman shut the door and disappeared, she said, “You left me no choice. You wouldn’t tell me the real reason you fought the duel.”
The words hung in the carriage, blunt and truthful. And he simply couldn’t answer her unspoken question. “Unfortunately, that situation hasn’t changed. Several people would be affected if the truth ever got out.”
Her gaze narrowed on him. “Several? What, was your mistress married? You’re protecting her husband? Her family?Whiting’sfamily?”
“I had no mistress!”
“But you two did fight over a woman.”
“I . . .” He gritted his teeth. “I cannot even reveal that much.” Because if he said he’d fought over a woman who was not his mistress, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out that it was his sister.
Assuming she even believed him. The fact that she had listened to gossip about him instead of listening to her heart—if she even possessed such a thing—stuck in his craw.
And that made him lash out at her. “I suppose you want me to believe that your entire reason for going off to marry Trevor only a few months after my departure was because you listened to some scurrilous gossip that said I was bedding another woman while courtingyou.”
Her face grew shuttered. “That was part of it, yes.”
“Right.” Throwing himself back against the squabs, he crossed his arms over his chest. “So it had nothing to do with the fact that I was no longer going to be able to provide you with all the things you craved—the fancy house, the fine gowns, the prestige of being the wife of an earl’s heir.”
She gaped at him. “I never cared about any of that!”
“Really? I recall hearing you talk with your maid about ‘snagging’ an earl’s heir.”
A flush spread over her cheeks. “That was not . . . I was not . . .” She swallowed. “It wasn’t how it sounded.”
Now he wasfinallygetting at the truth. “Wasn’t it? Because you certainly balked at running away with me. And the only reason I can think of for that was your realization that if you followed me into exile, you would lose all the advantages of being married to a man of rank and property.”
Fury flashed in her eyes. “How dare you? I would have followed you to the ends of the earth, if not for Mama’s being ill.”
“Yet you married Trevor while she was still around.”
