‘As hard as I could, but it wasn’t enough. I did some damage, but I wasn’t strong enough to beat him. It was only later that I realised he was right. It was my fault, in part anyway.’
‘How?’ She closed the remaining distance between them, grasping hold of his arms as his shoulders seemed to slump forward. ‘How was it your fault?’
‘Because if he hadn’t suspected us of being more than friends then maybe he wouldn’t have been so hard on her. My father made her life a misery, but I made things even worse.’
‘His jealousy wasn’t your fault.’
‘Then I should have agreed to help her when she first came to me.’
‘What could you have done? She was your father’s wife!’
‘Who came to me for help.’ He shook his head, refusing to be comforted. ‘And I let her down. That’s why I never challenged him again. That and because he was still my father, even if I couldn’t bear to live with him afterwards.’
‘So that’s why you left England, to get away?’
‘I wanted to, but he wouldn’t let me leave. It was another kind of punishment, I suppose, forcing me to stay in a place that had become so unbearable to me. He set people to watch me, to make sure I couldn’t simply ride away and escape. I thought I’d go mad, but then he heard about you...and Lacelby.’
‘My inheritance, you mean?’ She dropped her hands again.
‘Yes.’ The lines around his mouth tightened. ‘You asked me on the journey here why I agreed to our marriage. Blanche was the reason. The only thing my father cared about more than punishing me was getting his hands on your fortune. No matter how much land or wealth he has, he always wants more. I don’t think the whole of England would ever be enough.’
‘But our marriage made Lacelby yours, not his.’
‘Yes, but in his eyes, it became part of the Wintercott estate and since I was leaving the country, that placed it under his control.’
‘Only now you’re back, he has to relinquish it?’
He gave a humourless smile. ‘Now you know why he’s so pleased to see me.’
Constance pulled a strand of hair out of her face where the wind had blown it, her thoughts whirling. Everything about the situation he’d described was appalling, not just about Blanche, but about the way he’d been treated, too. Her heart ached for him and what he’d suffered, for the way that she’d wronged him, too, believing the worst without giving him a chance to defend himself. And yet...her mind seized on the faintest glimmer of hope.
‘So your marrying me had nothing to do with my inheritance. It was just the condition for him letting you go?’
‘Yes. I’m sorry, Constance.’ He reached for one of her hands and clasped it between both of his. ‘You accused me of ignoring you on our wedding day, but the truth was that I couldn’t speak. It was only a few weeks after Blanche and my mind was still full of the horror of it.’
‘It’s all right.’ She laid her other hand on top of his, ashamed at her own earlier assumptions and behaviour. ‘Last night, after I spoke to Alan, I thought you must still have been in love with her when you married me. Then I thought that maybe you still were. I felt as though you’d tricked me, as though you’d lied to me, too, but now I just feel sorry for Blanche.’
‘So do I, but I was never in love with her, Constance. No matter what she felt for me, I only cared for her as a friend. I always will.’
‘As you should.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘And I don’t blame you for marrying me to get away. I always assumed you were just another fortune hunter, but now I know the real reason, I understand why you behaved the way you did. I understand about yesterday, too. I’m sorry that I scared you.’
‘It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have overreacted.’
‘In a way I’m glad that you did. Otherwise you might never have told me any of this.’
‘I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to.’
‘Why?’
‘Because some ghosts are better left undisturbed.’
‘And some only gain power in darkness.’
He let out a deep, shuddering breath. ‘Can you forgive me, then?’
‘For yesterday, yes. As for the rest, there’s nothing to forgive. We were both of us forced into a marriage we didn’t want, but you weren’t to blame. You weren’t the cause of Blanche’s unhappiness either. Your father was.’ She gave him a pointed look. ‘You’ll need to explain all of this to Alan, too.’
‘I need to talk to Alan about a lot of things.’ A shadow passed over his face. ‘But later. Right now, I just want to get away from this roof.’