“Stow the sarcasm, Leonora. You know exactly what you have done today.”
She should hope so, or she might be better suited for Bedlam. She considered sitting up to face her brother fully but couldn’t muster the strength. “Is it better or worse than what you have done?”
“What the devil do you mean by that?”
Leonora sighed, her gaze drifting over the bird-like patterns of the wallpaper before moving to the pretty pattern of the wooden moldings across the ceiling. “If you don’t know, then I suppose you’ve done nothing.”
Nothing.
That little vexing word again. Nothing was the problem. Nothing ever changed. Same tune, same lyrics, same dance. Over and over.
Heart cursed. “I warned you away from that man, Leonora. I’m not bloody jesting here. He is not the sort of man befitting for you.”
She turned her gaze to him again. “And what sort of man is he?”
“A rake. A libertine. A wastrel.”
Like you?The question hovered on the tip of her tongue, but it couldn’t pass her lips. It could never pass. No question about his past ever could. Or about her own past. Or about anything to do with this family secret they had all tried so hard to keep from her yet, in the end, failed to do so.
It wasn’t their fault. If she hadn’t been a curious child, she might never have discovered the truth.
“Are you not listening to me?” Heart demanded, repeating. “A rake. A libertine. A wastrel.”
Maddening man. “I’m listening, Heart. I heard you the first time.”
“Then why aren’t you saying anything? You are never to see him again, do you understand? Don’t push me on this. Not anymore.”
“I understand your concern, Heart, but you shall have to be more specific than that.” She propped herself up. “Just so I’m not mistaken in the identity ofthat man.” It was a blatant taunt. She might not ask the questions she wanted to ask, but she still wasn’t feeling all that accommodating at the moment. A chill had settled into her body yet again, and she didn’t know if it was from the damn clothes or their infuriating conversation.
“Dare,” Heart spit out the name as if it were a foul curse. “If I ever see you with him again, I will marry you off to the first man who asks for your hand!”
How laughable! Marry her off to the first man who asked for her hand? One word from her and that would never happen. “What if it’s Dare?”
“Leonora!”
“I suppose that is a definite no.”
His eyes flashed. “Yes!”
“Oh, it’s a yes?”
A filthy glare fell on her. “I’ll say it again: Stay away from him. Today was the last day I tolerate this.”
She straightened herself, adjusting her posture, reaching to hug a pillow. “How can you accuse a man when you didn’t even see him today?”
“Are you going to deny you were with him? Whose jacket are you wearing?”
Leonora glanced down at Dare’s coat. She’d all but ripped it from his body with her demand for it. She resisted the urge to duck her head and sniff, but without even having to go that far, the undertone of his scent still surrounded her. Deep. Intoxicating. And utterly wild.
“He will be the ruin of you.”
Yes. He just might.
But she was already ruined. A ruined woman in disguise as an innocent lady.
The memories of today flashed through her mind again, and an indiscernible feeling sparked in her chest. She still couldn’t shake his expression right before he’d shut the carriage door. What had that been about? It was almost as though he was telling her something without telling her anything. Much like Heart over here.
She shook her head. She couldn’t think about Dare now. She had herbrotherto deal with. One rogue at a time.
