“What the two of you did—still do—is not legal,” Elias said loudly enough to make her rage burn even hotter.
She jabbed the air, pointing at him. “Andthatis exactly why I delayed telling you, and also why Master Hodgely was never told. Men do not care about the women they profess to love or supposedly wish to protect. All they care about is themselves and their precious little world, where a woman’s place is only in their beds or padding their accounts with a fine, fat dowry.”
“That is not true.”
“Is it not?” Celia closed the distance between them and poked him in the chest. “Then why do you stand there looking ready to vault over anything in your way to be free of this place and never look back?”
He raked a hand through his cropped hair, making the black curls stand on end. “Your mother could have sold off the Bening lands.”
“There were no Bening lands until we purchased them with Hasterton profits three years ago. All other lands are entailed to the Hasterton title and could not be sold. You know that.” She was furious with herself for giving this unfeeling man both her heart and her virginity. Devil take her. She had been such a fool. “And besides, what purpose doesyour mother should have done soadvice do now other than belittle a dying woman who valiantly took care of her daughter without having to become anyone’s whore?”
His crestfallen look gave her a hollow victory. He shook his head. “That is not fair, Celia.”
“Life is not fair,Lord Raines. It is high time you realized what I was forced to learn at birth.” She hiked her chin higher. “Now you know all of my truths. I have entrusted you with everything. All I ask is that you refrain from turning us over to the authorities because of Mama’s health. Once she dies, if you still feel the need to see me hang, then, by all means, do what you will. But until then, I beg upon your sense of honor and your Christian decency to let a frail, lonely old woman die in peace.”
She hated the revulsion in his eyes. But she had been the one to put it there, so by rights, she guessed she deserved it. “Well? May I have your word that you will take no action until after Mama dies? She has suffered enough—or has she, according toyourstandards?”
His eyes turned flinty, and his expression settled into an unreadable mask. “What do you intend to tell Her Grace about this conversation?”
“That is none of your affair.” But he was right. Mama would ask. What would she say?
“On the contrary,Lady Cecelia.” Elias swaggered toward her, backing her up a step. “You know as well as I that Her Grace will ask if you told me and will also wish to know my reaction. What do you intend to say? After all, she is a dying woman whose last wish was to see you loved and protected by me.” He hit his chest with his fist. “Marriedto me. If you tell her I did not take it well—”
“Which you haven’t—”
“May I please finish?” He glared at her, obviously incensed by the interruption.
She rolled her eyes and flicked a hand. “Go on.”
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…” He scowled at her, daring her to do so again. “If you tell her I did not take it well and that we two shall no longer become one, do you not fear how that will affect her health?”
“It will not affect her nearly as bad as prison or a trip to the gallows!”
“Perhaps not. But it will still affect her. Are you willing to risk it? Risk sending her on her way faster with a heady dose of regret for bringing you to London?”
“I hate you.” She fisted her hands so tightly that the seams of her gloves pinched her fingers.
“I hate you more,” he growled, then shook his head. “But I do not wish to be a part of sending your mother to her grave any faster than she is already going.”
Celia eyed him, barely controlling the urge to throw something at him. “What do you suggest, Lord Raines? Being amale, I feel sure you have a far superior plan than I, a mere female, could ever hope to dream up.”
“We will reveal your identity to the world and marry as she wishes. Yourbrotherwill continue his travels on the Continent.” He towered over her and shook his finger. “And we will be perceived as the epitome of a happy, loving couple—until Her Grace leaves this world and is laid to rest beside her husband in Germany.”
“And then you will turn me over to the authorities and claim you never discovered the scheme until Mama died, and I confessed that Charles did not exist.” Celia glared at him, clenching her teeth until her jaw ached. Elias was a hellhound of the worst sort to offer such a hardhearted plan, but it would protect Mama. “Fine. I will do so to protect the happiness of my mother’s last days.”
“Fine,” he said, looking ready to spit. He suddenly shifted and appeared to be listening in the hallway’s direction. “It sounds as though the rest of your household has arrived. Might I suggest keeping our agreement between ourselves? The fewer who know, the better.”
Celia would not betray Sophie or Frannie’s trust, and she would take their secrets to the gallows with her to protect them from the same fate. She would never lie to them. From this moment forward, however, she would lie to Elias every chance she got. “The terms of our agreement will be between us alone.”
While he granted her a nod, he did not seem fully convinced. Fine. She would seal the bargain with a meaningful declaration usually reserved for lovers rather than the enemy Elias had become.
She stormed over to her desk and rummaged through the drawers until she came up with a short length of ribbon and the scissors she kept for the emergency trimming of loose threads. After tying the ribbon around a small lock of her hair, she snipped it off, marched back to him, and placed the sacrificed curl in his hand. “To bind our agreement and the secrecy thereof.”
He politely bowed. “So be it, my lady.” He tucked it into the inner pocket of his coat and offered his arm. “Shall we greet them with the doctor’s report and our decision for an immediate marriage?”
Celia glared at him as she took his arm, determined to show him she could not be outdone. “A fine idea, my lord. Let the final scheme begin.”
Concentrating on relaxing her clenched jaw, she walked with him out of the library and called to the ladies heading down the hallway, “I know this evening has been too worrisome to bear, but if you could join us in the parlor, Elias and I have some pleasant news to counter the horridness of the day.”
