She’d spoken such words to him.
“Stop shouting, Artemis.”
Was she shouting?
She didn’t give a toss.
Now wasn’t the time for propriety.
Now was the time for long-repressed truths to have their moment.
“I wanted him, Mother,” she said. “Iwanthim, and now he’s gone. Because of me and my utter stupidity and because ofyou.”
“Me?” Mother sniffed. “Then you should be thanking me, instead of this nonsense you’re raging on about now. Collect yourself, Artemis.”
“You think I should bethankingyou?”
“I saved you from a desire that isn’t worthy of you.”
“Isn’t worthy of me?” Artemis sputtered, nearly robbed of words. “Bran?In what world is Lord Branwell Mallory not worthy of me?”
“You are the daughter of a duke.”
“He is the son of an earl and a war hero.”
“I was correct about him, though. Surely, you saw as much at last night’s supper.”
“How so?”
“The man is going to become Rake’shorse trainer, Artemis.” Dismissiveness sharpened each word to a point. “Of course, he isn’t worthy of you.”
Artemis’s head tipped to the side. “And you think such a man isn’t worthy of me because you think so highly of me?”
“Pardon?”
“Or is it that he isn’t worthy ofyou?”
“Nonsense.”
“What would society think, right?”
“I’m a duchess. I don’t give a toss what society thinks. I do as I like.”
“Is that what you think?” Artemis was only getting started. “You stole my future from me—as if you had the God-given right.”
“I protected you.”
“Youprotectedyourself.”
“Stuff and nonsense.”
“The actions you took ten years ago …” She held up her hand and began punctuating her points, finger by finger. “Offering Bran money to abandon me. Lying to Bran that I would marry Stoke. Not telling Rake any of what was happening. It was all in service toyou—to keep your world ticking along the way you had arranged it to the last detail.” A sudden question took her breath away. “What would you have done if I hadn’t lost the baby?”
There had been talk of her giving birth on the Continent. She hadn’t questioned it at the time, but now another question came—would she have been allowed to return to England with the child?
In her heart, she knew the answer.
And those lies—the heartbreak of losing Bran and the unrelenting grief she’d endured—perhaps those lies had led to the loss of the baby.
