Lord Carlisle, his shoulders slumping, admitted, “Yes, it’s true. I made a mistake—a grave one. It was years ago, and I told your mother. She found it in her heart to forgive me, and I regret it deeply.”
“Like you regret stealing money from the orphanage?” Sally said coldly.
Joanna’s eyes grew wide. “So, you did steal? I did not want to believe it, but I had a suspicion.” She looked at Kenneth, who took a deep breath. “What a father we have. You had a lucky escape, Kenneth. Imagine, this would have been your father-in-law.”
“Joanna, you can hate me if you want, but His Grace has done nothing wrong. Please, listen to him,” her father implored.
“He is right. He might be a cheater and a liar, but he is right in this regard. Judith is the one who is lying,” Sally added, looking at Judith with disgust in her eyes.
Amidst the turmoil, Kenneth stood silently, a witness to an unraveling disaster. The pain in Joanna’s eyes was palpable, and he couldn’t fathom the depths of her hurt.
“I think I should leave,” Judith mumbled.
Joanna shook her head. “No, do not leave. I will not have them accuse you falsely based on Kenneth’s words.”
“Joanna, I need you to hear me out,” Kenneth begged.
Joanna started to protest, but Sally interjected, “Let him speak, Joanna. We need to understand everything.”
Kenneth nodded to Sally gratefully before turning back to Joanna. “Lady Judith lured me into the library by pretending to have fallen and hurt her ankle.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at Judith’s half-boots. “Did she limp?”
Judith’s lips parted. “My ankle is better now,” she said quickly, but Joanna’s eyebrows had risen, answering his question.
“She lured me into the library and then told me that you and your family conspired to distract me from investigating the missing funds. Then, she managed to get me to the door, right where you would be able to see us, and kissed me as you approached. I was stupid to even believe her for a second, but I can see through her lies now.”
Joanna’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would she do that? What reason could she have?”
Sally stepped in, recounting what Judith had told her. “I am afraid it is true. Judith asked me to send you to the library right before she kissed His Grace. It was all orchestrated to make sure you saw them, Joanna.”
“Judith?” Joanna asked and looked at her friend, who stood in the corner, her eyes trained on her feet.
“I have nothing to say to these lies,” Judith replied but did not look up.
Kenneth scoffed. “She has nothing to say because it is the truth. Joanna, I’m here because I care about you, and I want you to know the truth. I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t care about you. Ask yourself, why is she here? She came and immediately told you that I forced myself on her, didn’t she?”
Joanna, torn between their conflicting stories, looked from Kenneth to Sally. “I don’t understand. Why would she lie like that?”
“I would like to know as well,” a deep voice came from the hall then.
Kenneth turned around, his eyes widening when he saw an all too familiar figure standing there, with an expression of thunderous rage on his face.
CHAPTER 32
“Papa?” Judith gasped.
Joanna could hardly believe her eyes as Lord Worcester’s entrance injected a new layer of tension into the room. His eyes moved between Judith and Joanna, sensing the gravity of the situation.
Clearing his throat, he addressed Judith again with a stern expression. “Is this true, Judith? Did you concoct this elaborate scheme?”
Judith’s resolve wavered under her father’s gaze, and with a shaky breath, she said the words that shattered Joanna’s trust. “Yes, Father, I did. Joanna treated you shabbily, and I… I had to do something. You deserved better.”
“Judith, why would you do such a thing? What makes you think I am so miserable that you would have to exact revenge on my behalf?” he demanded.
Judith gulped and looked at Joanna. “You were happy when you thought you were going to marry Joanna, but then she broke your heart. And… And now you are so miserable that you are courting that insufferable woman. I couldn’t bear the thought of her becoming my stepmother. I grew angrier and angrier, thinking that if you had married Joanna, you’d have been happy.”
Joanna’s head spun with this revelation. So, Judith wanted her as a stepmother? But that made no sense. Nothing made sense anymore. Kenneth hadn’t lied. She’d misjudged him because a woman she had thought a friend had deceived her…
Lord Worcester’s face creased in disappointment. “I still do not understand. Why would you do something like this? Lie and cast doubt on their union?”
