“Yes,” Will replied.
“Will, you are so infatuated with this girl you cannot see when she is lying. My father arrived late this afternoon. Your cousin was purely looking out for her own interests.”
Will pondered that for a moment until he remembered the innkeeper’s words. “And yet the innkeeper swears you both arrived yesterday.”
Abigail’s face drew pale as she glanced over at her father for support.
“Well played, Atherton. We did arrive yesterday. My daughter was bound to get to London and I wasn’t about to let her go alone.”
That he could almost believe, Will thought. “Why now? I offered for her several times over the past five years. Every time, you both rejected my proposals.”
“Because you aren’t good enough for my daughter, Atherton. Being a duke doesn’t mean a damned thing to me.” Mr. Mason grabbed his daughter’s hand. “We will leave now.”
Something was not right about their behavior. They were still hiding something. “Wait. My cousin said she heard you,” he said, looking at Mr. Mason, “talking about Abigail becoming the next Duchess of Kendal. I shall give you one thousand pounds for an honest answer. Was she right?”
“Will, I thought we already decided your cousin did not see us there,” Abigail said.
“I was speaking with your father, Abigail. And I would like him to answer.”
Mr. Mason’s face turned red. “Yes, I did say that this afternoon. Because my daughter would make a perfect duchess. It is exactly what she should be.”
Will raked his hand through his hair. “You hated me and the fact that I was to become a duke.”
“No, I only wanted you to think that,” Mr. Mason replied. “If you had married her before you inherited, you never would have returned to England to claim your title and inheritance. If you had thought there was no chance of obtaining Abigail, you would stay here. Then Abigail could come a month later to surprise you. By then you would be settled here.”
“But you told me how much you hated the British.”
Mr. Mason gave him a smug smile. “Of course, I did. You had to believe you would never have a chance with my daughter. Good God, man, do you have any idea how hard it is to make a decent living in America? Abigail deserves more than just a small, filthy house.”
Will shook his head in confusion. “But you had money. From how you lived, I believed you had a good deal of money. More than enough to support your daughter should she need it.”
“All an illusion. Abigail’s mother had the money. Once she died, her family stopped sending money over. I knew the next best thing was to marry her off to you once you decided to remain here as the duke.”
Will could not believe what he was hearing. “Abigail, how were you involved with this?”
“I—I knew all along,” she finally admitted, staring at the wood floor.
They had both been manipulating him. For years! They
were no different from Elizabeth. Except she admitted her mistakes to him freely, unlike either of them. He only had to pay with his heart to get Elizabeth to tell him the truth.
“Get out of my sight,” he said in a low voice. “In fact, get out of my country.”
Chapter 26
“What are you doing here?”
Elizabeth looked at Sophie, dropped her valise, and hugged her friend for support. “I left him, Sophie.”
Sophie pulled away and stared at her. Then she slowly led her into the receiving salon and closed the door behind them. “What happened?”
Elizabeth explained how Abigail had arrived at the house by the time Elizabeth returned home. “I did the most dreadful thing,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I told them I was pregnant with Will’s child.”
“But you are not with child.” Sophie grabbed her hand and held it tightly for a moment. “You are not.”