She squeezed his fingers. “I cannot in good conscience continue on with this engagement. Forgive me. I know you will find someone else to care for, and who will care for you in return.”
He continued to stare, dumbfounded, at her. Lenora’s heart ached, that she must hurt this good man.
In the next instant, however, his face twisted into harsh, ugly lines. He yanked his hand free. “Are you truly so simple that you believed this was about affection?”
As Lenora recoiled, stunned speechless, he spun to face Sir Alfred. “I did my part, and would have even gone through with this travesty. I will be cleared of my debt to you.”
“The wedding was never finalized,” her father bit out, shooting her a furious glare. “Your debt still stands.”
“You old reprobate,” Redburn snarled. “It was bad enough you foisted me off on a woman who has the stain of three failed engagements on her. I was not happy to have such damaged goods. But I was ready to take that on. My debt is cleared, or I will have all of London know what you’ve been about, selling your daughter to the highest bidder.”
With that, he stormed from the room.
Lenora, mouth agape, watched him go, before turning slowly to look at her father. A man she had known and loved all her life yet appeared a stranger to her in that horrifying moment.
“You would have given me to him in exchange for a debt?”
His lip curled. “Did you think the man was in love with you? Damnation, girl, you really are as simple as he says.”
She stared at him. “How could you?”
A harsh laugh burst from his lips. “It’s no different than what I did with Fig, and that idiot Landon. D’you think they wanted you for your sparkling personality?”
The breath left her. There was not an ounce of affection in his expression. And she realized in that moment that he didn’t love her, and probably never had. She was a piece of property to him, something to be used for gain and nothing more.
A kick to the gut could not have hurt more.
Lady Tesh stepped forward. Her voice shook when she spoke. “Alfred, I have always known you were a cold man, but this goes beyond what I believed you capable of.”
“Do you honestly believe interactions like this don’t happen in Society? Please, Olivia, you cannot be so naïve.”
The viscountess drew herself up, leveling a furious stare on Sir Alfred. “I am fully aware that many families trade position for fortune, using their daughters as leverage. But I never knew a man to use blackmail to force his daughter into a union. You are a—”
Whatever vile name Lady Tesh was about to say was lost as Lenora laid a gentle hand on her arm. As touched as she was by Lady Tesh’s passionate defense of her, she needed to stand on her own two feet now. “I need to do this myself, Gran.”
The quiet words dampened Lady Tesh’s ire in an instant. She searched Lenora’s eyes before, with a sad nod, she patted her hand. “Margery,” she called to her granddaughter, “let us be off.” She glared at Sir Alfred, one last rebellion. “We have to see that a carriage is made ready for our guest, after all.”
The two women left, closing the door behind them.
Lenora took a deep breath and faced her father. “How could you do it?”
“How could I try and marry you to a rich and titled gentleman?”
“You didn’t do this for my benefit,” she said, her hands shaking. “It was for you and you alone.”
Anger suffused his face. “Do not turn this on me, girl. You should have done your duty and married where I willed you. Lord Redburn was your last chance. I warned you I would not look kindly on this union dissolving. Or have you forgotten?”
“I’ve not forgotten.” Her heart twisted, for all she loved him still.
But now was not the time for a faint heart. She would have this out with him now, and learn her fate for good or ill.
“You said you would disown me if my next engagement fell through. And it has.”
“Yes,” he spat.
For a moment, a single fragile moment, he appeared so much older than before, his face ashen, the fine lines about his eyes and mouth deeper than she remembered. He had always seemed beyond the frailty of mere mortal men, had been larger than life to her. But he was not a young man, having been so much older than her mother. He would surely not want to end his days alone.
Taking her chance, she stepped toward him and laid her hand on his sleeve; it was something he never would have permitted before, yet she could not be fearful now. Their entire relationship, her entire future, rode on this moment.
