“We agreed on Winchelsea,” he said quietly. He ought to give up. They were in Norfolk, and Lord James held all the power. And there was no reason to believe Isabella would change her mind if he somehow succeeded in bringing her home. But he couldn’t let it go. Not now when he was so close to winning her over. “You haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain, and I’m going to hold you to it.”
Shaking her head, she backed up and leaned against the door as if she needed support. He expected her to rail, to lash himwith her scathing tongue, but instead she simply said, “Please don’t. Please.”
That brought him up short. Isabella didn’t beg. It wasn’t in her nature. Something was off. There was a piece of this puzzle that he was missing.
“Why should I release you from our bargain early?”
She bit her lip and gripped the door. “Because I don’t care for you.” The words cut him deep, but her voice trembled as she said it. There was something amiss here.
“Why else? What is it you aren’t telling me, Isabella?”
A tear dripped down her cheek.
Instantly, all his anger vanished, and all he wanted in the world was to comfort her. He needed to touch her, hold her, assure her that whatever Lord James had promised, he himself would promise her so much more. He might not be able to equal the earl in terms of title or wealth or even rugged good looks, but he would spend every moment of every day for the rest of his life devoted to her happiness. As he watched the tear drop from her chin and land on the front of her dress, something in him broke.
He couldn’t stand it any longer. Rising slowly, he crossed the room and raised his hand to cup her cheek, thumbing away the tear. Another tear fell. “Isabella, why are you crying?”
Silence. But she didn’t recoil from his touch. On the contrary, she nuzzled against his hand. Her actions in no way matched her words. Isabella still had feelings for him. He would swear it.
Hardly daring to press his luck but unable to resist her allure, he kissed her soft cheek, tasting salt on his lips.
With a shuddering sigh, she fell into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. He clutched her close as she cried. What her reaction meant, he couldn’t say, but tentative hope bloomed within him at her gentle embrace. He didn’t dare speak for fear of spoiling the moment.
“Isabella,” came a quivery voice from the bed. He’d almost forgotten Adelaide’s presence. “Isabella?”
With a sniff, Isabella pulled away to face her sister. He did not want to give her up, but he knew all too well that Adelaide was her priority. “Yes, my sweet?”
A deep, wracking cough shook Adelaide’s thin frame, and Isabella rushed to her side, bringing a cup of water to her lips and making her sip.
“We should go to Winchelsea with Lord Martin. You promised.”
Isabella shook her head. “It’s too late. We must stay. Rest, and don’t trouble yourself, dear. All you need to worry about is getting better.” She caressed her sister’s hair, tucking stray wisps behind her ear. Then she turned to him, eyes full of sorrow. “I’m sorry, Martin, but I cannot remain your wife.”
No!She obviously didn’t want the future she’d chosen, and he couldn’t make sense of any of this.
“Why is it too late?” Clearly, Isabella felt more than she was ready to admit. Something else was holding her back, and he had to know what it was. “What is the real reason for the sudden hurry? Did he threaten you? I’ll kill him if he did.”
The man was a brute, and it was all too easy to imagine him stooping so low as to threaten a woman so that he could have his way with her. It would explain Isabella’s strange behavior and her refusal to relent about the annulment even now. The mere thought made him want to draw and quarter Lord James.
Turning to face him, Isabella said quietly, with tears streaming down her face, “I said I don’t care for you, and I meant it. I don’t wish to remain your wife. Lord James can protect Adelaide and me in a way you never could. We’ll be safe here.”
The soft and tender look on her face was at odds with her cruel words. He didn’t know what to make of it, and his heartached with terrible foreboding. Why would she say Lord James could protect them, and he couldn’t?
Adelaide gasped and coughed. “Isabella, no. Don’t do this. You care for Lord Martin. It’s plain as day.”
“But he’ll send you away. Can’t you see?” Isabella said, panic in her eyes. “In the end he’ll make you go to Lady Eleanor. We can’t trust anyone sent by the duchess. She’s a spider, and we’re all caught in her web. But Lord James isn’t. He can take care of us and let us stay together. That’s all that matters, my dear.”
Her words hit him like boulders thrown by a siege engine. She didn’ttrusthim. She wanted to keep her sister with her. How could he not have seen it sooner?
“I’m not under Lady Eleanor’s thumb any more than Lord James is. I will not betray my family for the sake of an alliance. As your sister, Adelaide is family. She would always have the full protection of Winchelsea. If you wanted to keep Adelaide with you, all you had to do was ask. I swear to you, I will defend her with my very life.”
“But you said you would send her away.”
He did. And she’d immediately fled his company. It was all making sense now. If only he could take those words back!
“I only said it because I didn’t know you wished it otherwise. Had you simply told me you didn’t want to send her to the duchess, I would have agreed immediately.”
He prayed that she would trust him. He believed deep down that she did, but he’d been his own worst enemy, blithely confirming her fears without realizing he was driving her away.
