“Please, Luke,” she implored, her voice tight and wobbly like a stretched bowstring. “Before I approach him, I… I need to understand fully… the full truth. So that I can—I can comfort him right. My father… is he truly?”
The man let out a hefty sigh. “It grieves me to be the bearer of this news…” His voice sounded strained.
“Please, I must know what happened that night,” she murmured again.
“Alright. But you did not hear this from me…” he trailed off before sighing again. “A decade ago, your father’s establishment, the Bloomsbury, and the establishment run by Seth and my brother, Aldenbury, were locked in fierce competition. They were both located around the corner from one another, you see, and each club was vying for dominance on Archbury Street. Until the great fire of Aldenbury. On that very night, Lord Holmwood was seen at the scene, yet he later claimed to be eighty miles east in London. His alibi was a dastardly fabrication, one that implicated him in that heinous…act.”
“And in that fire?” Her hands shifted with the sleeves of her gown, bracing for the confirmation she dreaded. “Seth’s father…”
“Y—yes.” Luke’s voice shook. “The late duke,andmy brother. Both perished. They were murdered because of Lord Holmwood’s insatiable…lustfor greed, and power.”
“So, that is why he came to our home on the eve of my wedding.” Charity could no longer keep her head up. “That is why Seth was there. He has been seeking evidence all these years?"
“Precisely. When he found you though, everything changed.”
“It did?” She lifted her head, a glimmer of hope peeking through the dark curtains.
“He saw it as a chance for retribution against your father. By winning you over, by convincing you to marry him, it was an opportunity to take something precious from him as well.”
Charity’s eyes widened into darkness, a reflex from her sightseeing days, and her stomach suddenly turned.
What? No, no, that is not what happened. That isn’t—
Was she not the one who had first mentioned marriage between the pair of them? Seth had not done so. It had all been driven by her. She was the one who had to convincehimif anything…
“That’s not how it was,” she muttered beneath her breath, more for her own reassurance.
“Well, I must commend him for how he went about it, then. He truly did maintain his rakish wit from our older days. He boasted he could win you over, charm you into marrying him. Though I must confess to some disappointment, for I did not anticipateyourself, Lady Charity, to be the type to give into a charming voice and a sweet tongue.”
Charity blinked, confused by what she was hearing.
This could not truly be the foundation of their relationship. Even if Seth originally considered marriage as a form of revenge… what they shared now surely transcended such beginnings. Had they not made love the night before with such passion? Had they not spent hours at a time in one another’s company, in sheer happiness and joy?
“I…” Charity wasn’t sure why the words fell from her now, yet they came, all so naturally. “I love him,” she whispered. “Regardless of how our story started, I believe we can find true happiness... I am certain of it.”
“Lady Charity, you possess a remarkably generous spirit,” Luke responded, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder in a gesture of consolation. “There might well be a path to happiness for you. Yet, I must express my concern that Seth has been so ensnared by his schemes that he may have lost sight of his own.”
“What—what do you mean by that?”
“Have you not noticed his recent efforts to put away all reminders of the fire?”
“You alluded to something of it during your disagreement.” She had only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, leaving her to try and piece together the context.
“Seth is trying to bury everything associated with the fire, aiming to erase it from his memory. But I understand my old friend all too well. The reality is, it is still a source of deep pain. He has been living with this anguish for a decade. Even now, whenever he gazes upon you, it is as though all he can see is the shadow of that pain.” Luke's voice faltered towards the end, as if it brought him great discomfort to finish the sentence.
“He sees the shadow of my father in me?” she uttered, her voice laced with dismay. “He sees what my father may have done… He sees his loss.”
Her head fell again, a tumult of confusion and sorrow swirling within her. How could her father be linked to such devastating outcomes without showing any trace of repentance? The sliver of hope that perhaps her father was innocent, or was caught in a grievous misunderstanding, vanished amidst Luke's revelations.
For the truth did not matter.
Whenever Seth looks at me, he suffers. I will never be enough to make him dispel the shadows of his past…
“Forgive my forwardness, my Lady…” Luke’s voice sliced through her musings, like the anticipation of a sharp whip, and it came down in all its steadfast fury, “…but it might serve him well if he were not greeted by your countenance with each passingdawn. Your adamant refusal to return to Holmwood House has placed Seth in an unwelcome predicament, one that is clearly weighing on him heavily. His gentlemanly duty will not allow him to simply abandon you, but merely being in your presence has exacted a heavy toll on him in recent weeks.”
“Are you implying… it would be for his betterment were I to return home?” Charity’s inquiry was faint, her spirits too low to lift her gaze, her pulse quickening as the threat of tears loomed.
“Speak with him and decide for yourself, my Lady. Let your heart guide your decision—for both of your sakes.” He maneuvered his face closer to her ear and whispered, “But, allow me to offer a word of caution before I leave, my Lady. Seth has always struggled to express his deepest feelings. Do not expect him to lay bare his soul, even if you inquire directly. You may have to read between the lines to comprehend how he truly feels… if you understand what I’m saying.”
