Page 89 of Once More, My Darling Rogue
“Grace!” Phee exclaimed from her midpoint on the stairs. She was in the clothes from last night. Apparently they were easy to don quickly. She looked so positively happy, so delighted, while his chest was caving in on itself. How did she recognize Grace? “Oh my God. It’s you who’s come to see us.”
“Ophelia?”
In spite of Grace’s stunned expression, Phee hurried down the stairs and embraced Grace heartily. “It’s so wonderful to have you visit. I was so hoping you’d come. I’ve missed you terribly. Oh my God!” She held Grace at arm’s length. “I know who you are. You’re Lady Grace Mabry. No, no. You were. But you married the Duke of Lovingdon. You’re a duchess. I saw you and I just knew who you were. No one has your shade of red hair. And I am Lady Ophelia Lyttleton.” She released a bubble of laughter. “My brother is the Earl of Somerdale.”
Spinning around, she gave Drake the brightest, most joy-filled smile he’d ever seen, and it nearly tore him in half. “I remember. I remember everything. The wedding, the ball, my Season. Oh my God, I’m not a servant.” Turning back to Grace, she grabbed her hands. “I don’t have to scrub floors or prepare meals or polish boots. And I have clothes. Dozens of gowns and shoes and hats. I have servants! I don’t have to do anything. I remember! I remember it all. This calls for a celebration. Boy, fetch us some champagne!”
He didn’t know it was possible to remain standing when possessed of a heart that no longer beat. Grace was obviously stunned and confused to discover her friend here, to listen to what sounded like the mad ravings of a lunatic. But Phee, the look on her face was pure devastation as she slowly turned to him again.
“I remember everything,” she whispered, clearly horrified. “I remember you, who you are, what you are.”
“Phee.” Holding out his hands, he searched for adequate words, but none existed to explain the horror of what he’d done.
“You told me I was your servant. You made me clean your house, wash your ...” Her voice trailed off. Her gaze darted up the stairs. “Oh my God!” she rasped. “Oh my God.”
Her hand covered her mouth as tears welled in her eyes and she stumbled back.
How could he explain the unexplainable? How could he articulate how he had come to care for her? “Phee, I swear to you that I never meant for things to go as far as they did.” He held out a hand imploringly.
“No! Don’t you dare touch me.” She scrambled back, hit the table, causing the vase to wobble and topple over. With a crash, it shattered and spilled its contents of water and roses over the floor. “I remember everything. Everything. Every touch, every squeeze, every ugly whisper.” She made a gagging noise. “I think I’m going to be ill.”
“Sweetling,” Grace said, taking a step toward her, but Phee held up a hand to stay her actions, her eyes never leaving Drake.
“You knew who I was all this time. You didn’t tell me. You took me to your bed.”
“You wanted to be there,” he said.
She shook her head. “How could you believe that when you knew everything that I didn’t remember? I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know who you were. You could have told me everything. You could have helped me remember.”
“Phee—”
She released a sad, heartbreaking laugh. “You made me your whore.”
“No, it wasn’t like that. You must believe me.”
She pressed her hands to her face. “I want to forget again. I want to forget everything.” She turned to Grace. “You mustn’t tell Somerdale. He must never know what happened.”
Grace shook her head. “No, we won’t tell him. But your uncle told Somerdale that you ran away. He’s searching for you so we must tell him something.”
“I have to think about it. He can’t know that I was touched, that I’m ... wicked.”
“You’re not,” Drake said, stepping forward. “Phee—”
“Don’t you call me that. Don’t you ever call me that. Not after what you did. To you I am Lady Ophelia Lyttleton. You’d do well to remember that.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and then another. Her spine straightened, her shoulders went back.
He realized he was watching a transformation. When she opened her eyes, he found himself staring into icy green. She tilted up her nose, lifted her chin, and suddenly Lady Ophelia Lyttleton was standing before him.
“You were trying to teach me a lesson, like at the ball when you kissed me, trying to bring me to heel.”
“Maybe at first, but things changed. You changed. You were different.”
Slowly she shook her head. “While you were who you have always been.”
No, I changed, too. You changed me.But he held tight to the words because he knew she was too wounded to listen, to believe him.
“I trusted you,” she said. “I trusted you with ... everything. You took advantage, you betrayed me. All I wanted for you was wonderful things.”
“I wanted to share those wonderful things with you.”
