Roughly Kell raked a hand through his hair. He had known this meeting would be turbulent, known Sean would be furious and resentful, but he strove to keep his own temper under control.
“I hardly betrayed you, Sean. Rather, I saved you from prison. You should consider yourself damned fortunate that I was able to intervene. It might have escaped your notice, but by abducting Miss Kendrick, you were in grave danger of retribution from her enraged family. They threatened to prosecute you. Would you rather I allowed you to be locked away?”
Sean sent him a bitter, scathing look. “You could have found another way. I expected better from you, damn you, Kell! I trusted you not to plunge a knife in my back!”
Without warning, he hurled the tumbler into the hearth, shattering the heavy crystal with a crash. Then he threw himself into a chair, pressing a hand over his eyes as if in dire pain.
Kell clenched his jaw. He felt a measure of guilt at his brother’s unhappiness, but anger as well at Sean for precipitating this disaster. “You left me little choice. If not for your means of seeking revenge, I would never have been compelled to wed her.”
“She deserved what she got!”
“I’m not so certain of that. She wasn’t responsible for your impressment-her groom was. And even he wasn’t wholly to blame, for he was merely trying to protect her. What did you expect him to do when you assaulted her last summer?”
“She has duped you completely, hasn’t she?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No? You believe her over me. You’ve sided with her over your own flesh and blood. You’ve played the fool for her like countless other witless swains. You were taken in by her wiles, just as I was.”
“You’re mistaken,” Kell said grimly.
“Am I? How else can you explain your betrayal?” His bitterness was edged with a grief that seemed genuine when tears filled his eyes. “You stole her from me, Kell. I loved her, and you stole her from me.”
Kell shook his head slowly. “If you truly loved her, Sean, you would never have tormented her as you did. You would not have wanted to see her so devastated, standing alone against society, enduring the cruelty our own mother did.” He felt his hands curl into fists. “I was not about to let her suffer the way our mother suffered, Sean.”
Looking ashamed, Sean averted his gaze. “I did love Miss Kendrick. I do. I swear it. I would have married her myself.”
“That never would have happened,” Kell assured him. “She never would have accepted you as her husband after what you did to her.”
His face twisting in pain, Sean ran a hand roughly down his face. Kell took pity on his brother and gentled his tone. “You should be satisfied with your revenge thus far. Think about it. You accomplished precisely what you set out to do. You’ve tumbled her from her elite station. She will never wed her duke, never lead society.” He gave a scoffing laugh. “No doubt she’ll be shunned simply because of who I am. In order to explain her sudden disappearance, we’re putting about the story that we were madly in love; that I abducted her because I couldn’t bear to live without her. A love match with a half-Irish gamester who possesses my notorious reputation could prove just as big a scandal as jilting a duke. The ton will never forgive her for loving so far beneath her station.”
Sean’s mouth twisted in contempt. He, like Kell, held a burning resentment for society’s view of class differences. In truth, Kell was convinced that being unable to compete against a nobleman for Miss Kendrick’s hand in marriage had outraged Sean as much or more than her refusal of his suit.
But his brother apparently was not willing to forgive him, at least not yet. Sean shook his head, his voice lowering to harsh fury. “May you both rot in hell.”
“Sean…”
“Get out. Just leave me alone.”
“In a moment. I have not finished what I came here to say.”
“There is more?” Sean sneered.
“I want you to absent yourself from London for a while.”
Sean stared. “Why the devil should I?”
“Because it will permit the scandal to die down, as well as allow time for her family’s wrath to cool. They could still decide to prosecute, you realize. If you remain here, you risk prodding a raw wound.”
“And just where do you expect me to go?”
“To Ireland. To the farm. You haven’t visited there since last winter.”
Three years ago Kell had purchased a horse farm outside Dublin, to provide Sean a place of refuge when his demons grew too fierce to bear. Now seemed an opportune time for him to return.
“I will make all the arrangements,” Kell added. “You can take the opportunity to gain control of yourself. And to think about what you did.”
“Just what did I do that was so terrible?”