She had made it through the church doors when he grabbed her shoulders, swinging her around to face him.
“Let go of me,” she commanded.
Panting from his run, his face was stricken, his hair disheveled.
“Only if you will listen to me.”
She pulled out of his grasp and stepped back, but didn’t run. A foolish part of her still hoped he would tell her it was all a mistake, that he had no intention of marrying Katherine.
“I had no idea she would send the announcements so soon,” he began. “My mother received one as well, and I rushed over here the minute I realized. I had hoped to tell you myself, to explain... .”
She only stared at him, offering him no encouragement.
“Charlotte. I realize that, considering what happened between us, you might have expected ...” He pushed his hair off his forehead with a stab of his hand. “That is, under normal circumstances, I would have behaved differently... .”
“Do you mean that night, or afterwards?” she asked, her tone pointed.
He sighed heavily. “Both actually. I was stupid and selfish that night. I had just gotten a letter from the bankers, you see, and I was so desperate ...”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I should have tried harder to put a stop to it.”
“It was all my fault, then, was it?”
“Of course not. I am to blame. I knew better.”
“Yet you accept no responsibility.”
He studied her sharply, clearly worried. “Is there ... something for which I need bear responsibility?”
Mouth open, she shook her head, stunned at the stupidity of the question. Did he not realize she was forever changed? Her future like a candle without a wick?
But clearly he took her shake of head as a longed for answer and blew out a rush of air, relieved. “Good.”
Good?“Tell me this. That night—were you already engaged to her?”
He lowered his head. “Not ... exactly. She had proposed an alliance ... a marriage of sorts, prior, but I had put her off. But then the fire occurred... . Charlotte, you have no idea what it’s like, the responsibility I bear for Fawnwell. I was hanging on by a thread before the fire. After it ... it was all but lost. That letter from the bank confirmed it. I had neither the funds to repair nor rebuild. My mother had no idea. She assumed we would simply rebuild, maybe even improve on the original structure. I hadn’t the heart to tell her the truth. I promised my father I would keep the place going, make it prosper... .”
“So you are marrying Katherine for her money.”
“I am sorry. Truly I am. But there is nothing else to be done.”
Now, lying there in the manor, his child in her arms, Charlotte remembered what her parting words to him had been:“Your house has been destroyed ... but I must pay the price.”
Because of the deep roots, successful transplantation
of mature plants is difficult. Attempt it only with
small offspring of the mother....
—JACKSANDERS,THESECRETS OFWILDFLOWERS
CHAPTER14
In his office in the manor, Daniel rested his palm on the infant’s small chest in silent benediction. “I am sorry,” he said quietly to the child’s father. “There is nothing else to be done.”
Harris stared up at him, clearly not able or not willing to comprehend.
