Page 47 of Ironvine

“But everything has changed, Charles. You shall falsely bear the blame for cuckolding William, for killing him, and I shall be the well-behaved wife who knows her place in her husband’s life.”

Their heavy gazes met, and an ache spiraled in his chest. She was right. They would both be living a lie.

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “We should go to my brother. Assure him all is as he wants it to be. And then you shall return home and prepare for your wedding.”

“When they ask where I’ve been, I shall tell them I came here to inform my cousin of my engagement.” Her teeth clawed at her lower lip.

His lips turned up. “Yes. You took a walk together.”

“Of course. It was a fine morning, after all.”

He let out a stiff chuckle. “Very fine.”

She moved, but his fingers gripped her upper arm, stopping her. Suddenly his face was close to hers, his breath warm on her skin, his grip tighter, demanding. “I wish everything were different, Georgie. This is no way for you to begin a marriage, with adultery and death and so many damned lies. This is not what I would have wanted for you. You deserve—”

“I do not know what it is I deserve, Charles, but this is what I have forged. And, still, it is better than the alternative.”

“I thank you for bringing me to Malcolm.” Releasing her, he let out a dry laugh.

She shifted her weight, smoothing down her dress. “Pray, what do you find so amusing, Mr. Montclare?”

“Only that you were always the young chit, my friend’s young sister. The girl we all felt we should protect and shield. And now…now you are a bold woman of great determination and fire who risked much to protect me.” A swell of emotion rose inside him. “And I admire you,” he breathed.

He never wanted to forget this moment. A moment of utter truth between him and Georgina. The second they left her cousin’s house, everything would be different between them. It would have to be. Forever.

By the end of the day, her engagement with his brother would be made public. Charles would be known as the rake who killed his paramour’s husband. Georgina would begin shopping for her trousseau, and Charles would soon be calling her “sister.”

Sister. His insides hardened like a lead weight at the thought. They might even be living in the same house once she and Hugh married.

His lungs constricted in his chest. No, that he would not be able to bear.

ChapterNineteen

Georgina

Malcolm gaveCharles a cloaked cape to wear to hide the blood and ripped fabric of his frock coat, and also to keep him warm as he had the chills. “I shall never forget your assistance, Malcolm. I thank you.”

“I am very glad I could help.” They shook hands, and Charles and the servant went out the back to find a carriage whilst Georgina waited with Malcolm in the vestibule of the house.

“You are not scandalised by my behaviour, cousin?” she asked.

Malcolm tilted his head. “That you brought a wounded man in need of care to my attention? Absolutely not.”

“Oh, dear Malcolm, if only life were as straightforward as you are.”

“Georgina, you weren’t scandalised by my behaviour when I did the outlandish thing and attended medical college.”

“I admired your commitment.”

“It’s always meant so much to me that you believed in me, in my work. That you’d defended my choice to the family.”

“Your work is a true calling, Malcolm. Not many people are blessed with such a calling or such a talent. Tell me, Charles will be well?”

“As long as the wound is tended to properly. Kept clean, bandages changed.”

“That is a great relief.”

“I must say, Mr. Montclare seems familiar to me.”

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