Page 57 of An Earl Like You
Damn Edward Cross. Now Hugh began to wish Crosshadtold his daughter all about his plan to snare an earl for her; then there wouldn’t be a lie infecting his conscience, eating away at him every day.
He found Edith in the library with Henrietta. They were decorating bonnets, talking and laughing and holding up their creations for approval from each other. He watched them for a moment, Henrietta dark and impish, Edith fair and graceful. They were so happy in this moment. He was glad for that, after their father’s death and the move to London and the upheaval of his marriage. If only he wasn’t about to spoil it.
Henrietta looked up. “Hugh! Are you spying on us?”
Edith laughed. “As ever! Although how anyone could be unnoticed with that hideous waistcoat is beyond me.”
Hugh smoothed one hand down his front. “I thought the green was very fashionable.” Edith made a face at him. “I wonder what you’re doing wrong, to fear being spied upon, Henrietta.”
“New bonnets! Look, isn’t it darling?” Henrietta held up her creation.
“As a hedgehog,” Hugh agreed, earning a gasp and a wrinkled nose from his sister. “Hen... May I have a word with Edith?”
“Uh-oh,” murmured Henrietta merrily. “Thank goodness I’m not the one in trouble!”
Edith frowned as Henrietta gathered her things and left. Hugh closed the door and took Henrietta’s chair beside his sister. “I’m not in trouble, am I?” she asked warily.
“Should you be?”
She flushed. “I’ve done my best to be civil to Eliza.”
Hugh raised one brow. “It sounds as though you’ve not been successful.”
“I don’t like that dog!” burst out his sister in a low, tense voice.
“Is that all?” he asked.
She yanked on a ribbon in her lap. “Reggie says her father is despicable.”
Hugh breathed deeply. “About Reggie... Edith, I’m afraid he’s being difficult.”
Her face went white. “Difficult? How?”
The rest of the conversation went as Hugh had feared. Edith first refused to believe it, then angrily accused him of being tightfisted. Only when Hugh told her Benwick’s demand did she fall back in her seat, shocked and silent.
“He said he wouldn’t marry me for less than forty thousand pounds?” she asked in a small voice.
Hugh nodded once.
“But—but—” Her chest was heaving. “But helovesme! He said so! Hugh, he declared it in front of others...”
“I don’t think he meant it,” said Hugh. “Not really.”
Edith shook her head, at first slowly, then harder. “No. No, no, no. He did mean it, he just—he just—” She sucked in her breath. “It’s because ofher, isn’t it?”
Hugh lied without hesitation or compunction. “It’s because of his father. Livingston wants money—he required Benwick to promise him half of your dowry funds. I told Benwick to stand on his own feet and think of you, and he said he would choose his family over you every time. That’s how much he cares for you, Edith.”
“But hehates—” she began.
“Do not say a word against Eliza,” Hugh cut in to warn her. “She is my wife. Reginald Benwick can despise her all he wants, but if that caused him to break your betrothal, he’s not worthy of you anyway.”
She stared at him, tears shining in her blue eyes. “I’ve been jilted?Jilted?”
“I expect that’s why he hasn’t called,” said Hugh quietly. “He hasn’t got the decency or the courage to tell you himself.”
“He might change his mind...”
He sighed. “Would you still want him after this?”
