“I’m sorry. It was my belief that he was but one of many gentlemen you were considering,” Anna said, raging inwardly. “You hadn’t come to any sort of agreement with him. And Philip…” She winced at the use of his name. “His Grace said nothing about wanting to resume a courtship with you.”
“He needed time to see that I was the appropriate choice. But you stole that from me by forcing his hand. Did all of this start the night of my soirée? George said you had met the duke before, but he said nothing about the two of you being close. In fact, he assured me that Philip would see the light and start courting me soon. You weren’t even an obstacle worth considering. But… things happen.”
Anna looked out the window at the spot where Philip had called her down from her bedroom two nights ago. He had told her again and again that Alicia didn’t interest him. She held onto that, refusing to take the blame for Alicia’s failure to seduce him.
“The duke had every right not to pursue you if that’s what he wanted. The circumstances of our betrothal are hardly ideal, but we will make it work.”
“And you’re going to build a marriage on that, are you? Out of necessity, and hope that he can change?” Alicia leaned forward, her nails digging into the patterned upholstery of the armchair. “Don’t be foolish, Anna. He will never change. He isn’t like you. He’s like me—ambitious and selfish. And that’s precisely why you should do the right thing and step aside for all our sakes.”
Anna frowned. “I can’t believe what you’re suggesting. You would have me doom myself all over again just so you can marry Philip instead? He would never agree to that anyway.”
“Why, because he cares for you?” Alicia rolled her eyes. “You were at the wrong place at the wrong time. A mistake he is trying to correct. He may not be honorable, but he’s clever. You are the lesser of evils, and he knows it—and you both deserve better than that.”
Biting back the urge to cry, Anna turned her back to her cousin. Philip had called her that once—the least offensive of the Walford cousins. There was a grain of truth in everything Alicia had said, and she wielded it like a weapon. But was it reallyto save Anna from making a mistake?
“I would never say these things to you. I would support you in anything,” Anna murmured, rubbing her eyes to stop the tears from falling. “But I can’t do what you’re suggesting. I won’t abandon Philip to you. You shouldn’t even be asking this of me.”
Alicia rose slowly from her chair, huffing like a disappointed mentor. She affixed her gloves, signaling her desire to leave.
“I was only trying to help, but I see that he has his claws in too deep for you to give up now. You’re allowing yourself to be used. I hoped you would think more highly of yourself than that.” She paused for a moment, pinching the end of a finger before resuming her task. “But if you’re left with anything from my visit, let it be that I am only trying to protect you. You don’t know everything, but I do. Philip and I have… history more than you know. And it will come back to bite you. It would be easier to step away now.”
“What do you mean?” Anna spun around, studying Alicia for signs that she was lying. “Your courtship happened years ago, and you haven’t reconnected properly since.”
Giving a one-shouldered shrug, Alicia stepped toward the door. “That is the story you have been told. I will not be the one to disgrace myself by telling you the truth. You will just have to ask your future husband.”
Anna watched Alicia leave, then stared down at the floor for answers.
Alicia was clever with the men in her life. She prided herself on her skills of seduction and manipulation, had written to Anna countless times about her romantic endeavors abroad. But she had never lied barefaced to Anna. It had to mean she was telling the truth.
But whatwasthe truth? What had Philip done?
A moment later, the rattle of a tea trolley came down the corridor. She sniffed back her tears, refusing to let her doubts get the better of her. There was the shuffling of feet, and when Anna turned expecting to see the butler, she found Philip standing there instead.
* * *
Philip paused in the doorway, the tea trolley blocking the way. He pushed it aside gingerly and entered the room, surprised to find Anna crying. With everything that had happened between them, it hurt to see her in distress. He schooled his emotions, knowing that it would only do her more harm if he involved himself too deeply in her life.
That was the way things had to be if this insane arrangement would stand the test of time. He had spent the last two days mulling over things, reassuring himself that this was the right decision for them both—even if Anna despised him for being distant and cruel.
She would be his wife, and he could live with that. He would even take pride in marrying her. But it would never become a real marriage. He couldn’t risk disappointing her more than he already had.
Kissing her in front of her father had been a lapse in judgment. Too close to something his father might have done. He couldn’t trust himself not to walk the same path. Which meant he had to protect Anna by any means possible.
But seeing her so distraught tugged at him in a way he couldn’t ignore. He had crossed Alicia in the entrance hall. She hadn’t stopped to greet him. It seemed obvious she had said something to Anna. Something to upset her.
“I came for that discussion with your father,” Philip explained, crossing the room. “And I saw your cousin departing. The butler directed me here, and I told the tea maid to take her leave. What did Alicia say to you?”
Anna had taken a step back to compose herself, scrubbing her face to hide the evidence of her sadness.
“Nothing important,” she replied. “I’m just being silly.”
“It doesn’t look that way to me.” Philip drew in a steadying breath. “Anna, if we are to survive this arrangement, then we must be honest with one another. Tell me what she said before I become cross with you.”
He stopped a few feet from her, suppressing the urge to tuck an errant ringlet behind her ear. A strand was caught in her mouth, distracting him. He remembered how it felt to kiss her, and its power scared him half to death. If Anna launched herself into his arms for comfort, her warm body slotting against his, he wasn’t sure he could reject her.
But she seemed to understand what was expected of her, maintaining a safe distance between them.
“Is this what I have to look forward to once we’re married? Being ordered around by you? That’s rather contradictory, given all the freedom you’ve promised me.” She forced a smile, incensing him, then brushed back her hair herself. “Alicia came to extend her sincerest congratulations to us.”
