“Yarmouth harbor?—”
“No, not Yarmouth, but from the bay right here.”
“But how?—”
“I now suspect Meggie knows exactly what happened to the duchess,” Georgiana stated emphatically.“And the only reason she has not said as much is because no one has known to specifically ask her.She fell and broke her arm two years ago—coincidentally at the same time as Annabel disappeared,” she realized.“Since then, she has had nightmares for several nights at this same time of year.I suspect that the broken arm and Meggie’s nightmares are all the work of this false duchess.”
“I have no idea who Meggie is, but do you think that dreadful woman could haveattackedher before boarding a boat and sailing away to France?”Chloe looked horrified at the suggestion.
“I believe that to be a distinct possibility, yes.”Georgiana nodded.“This woman was vindictive and spiteful, and it was well known that she disliked Meggie intensely.We will need to speak to Meggie to confirm it, of course.But I believe this to be the explanation we have all been searching for.Annabel is not dead or buried on the fenland, but has been alive and living safely in France for this past two years.”
“Where she is no doubt finding great amusement in thinking of the cloud of suspicion she left me to suffer under here in England.”Julian stood abruptly.“I— This— I am— I need to get out of here!”he bit out before striding from the room.
“I believe that is your cue to follow him,” St.Albans told Georgiana.“He is not angry with you, or with us, but with himself.He feels…humiliated.”
“Three years ago, he was an emotionally wounded man, returning from years of battle, presented with what he has admitted appeared to him to be a golden-haired angel,” Georgiana defended.
“We are not the ones who need convincing of that,” St.Albans reminded.“We will know more once my men return from France.”
She nodded.“In the meantime, I will talk to Meggie.”The matter was now too urgent for her to leave until tomorrow.
“Take Julian with you.”St.Albans rose to his booted feet as Dalton appeared in the open doorway.“The four of us are going up to our bedchambers, where hopefully, a bath is waiting for us?”
“One in each bedchamber, Your Grace,” the butler confirmed.
“Good man,” he appreciated, waiting until Lily was standing beside him before turning to Georgiana.“I believe you may rest assured that Julian is not, nor was he ever, a married man.”
Georgiana felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.
She did not care one way or the other for herself.She loved Julian anyway and wanted to be with him.No, this search for what had really happened to Julian’s “wife” was only for him.Georgiana would continue to love and adore him no matter what.
* * *
Could Julian feel any more humiliated than he now did?
Doubtful.
“What a bloody fool I was,” he shouted up to the sky as he paced the golden sand of Moreland Bay.“I was a naïve, infatuated fool ever to have fallen for the seduction and manipulation of what now appears to have been a French spy.”
God in heaven.He had been so stupid.So very, very stupid?—
“You were just being human, my love,” Georgiana’s beloved voice soothed from behind him.“Not foolish, not naïve, but simply human.”She was smiling when Julian turned to look at her.“I have heard it said that one should feel angry and vengeful, not sad or self-blaming, after being dealt this sort of blow to one’s pride.Because that’s all it amounts to.”
Julian had stepped outside without his cloak or hat, but he was pleased to see Georgiana had had the foresight to don a pelisse and bonnet to ward off the worst of the cool easterly wind.“I should haveseen.Should haveknown.”He ran an agitated hand through his hair.
Georgiana chuckled.“You are dwelling too much on a past that is now unimportant, instead of realizing what this means forourfuture.”
Julian eyed her uncertainly.“Do we have a future?”
“I certainly hope so,” she answered honestly as she stepped closer to him.“No matter what the outcome of these investigations, I wish you to know that I love you.So very much.”
Julian’s chest felt too small to contain all the emotions suddenly bursting to be free.“I love you too, Georgiana.I adore you.Worship you.”
She gave a self-derisive smile.“I am not sure I am worthy of being worshipped?—”
“Yes, you are.”Julian clasped both her hands in his.“To me, you are perfect.I love you so much, Georgiana.I know I always will.”
She stood on tiptoe to brush her lips lightly against his.“I will always love you too,” she assured softly.“No matter what happens next, I love you and want to be with you.”
