In any other scenario, Selina knew she would have begun yelling at him to not jump to conclusions and instead give her the opportunity to explain herself so he could better understand the situation. However, this was not just any other case. This was her worst fear coming to realization.
Selina had been caught. She opened her mouth to speak but just as she had struggled to gulp in air, she currently struggled to bring out the words she needed to explain her situation.
Was there really any explanation for what she had done? He had been right in saying that she had used them. She had done so and claiming otherwise would be wrong.
Selina had used them to keep herself safe and out of the reach of her father. She had put them in danger by staying in their home without explaining her situation to them first. How was she to explain that to him?
“I am sorry,” she said instead, her voice low. “I am so very sorry.”
* * *
Morgan was livid.
“You are sorry? Is that all that you have to say?! Is that the explanation that you have to offer?”
All along, even when he had tried to trick himself into believing otherwise, Morgan had held out hope that she had a good explanation for what she had done, for the information he had received, instead she had offered him an apology.
What was he to do with her apology? She had given him nothing to show that she was not who he thought she was. Did she realize that she had admitted to her offense whether she meant to or not?
“I let you into my home! Let you get close to my sister… close to me! A feat not easily achieved! And yet you repay me with dishonesty?! You took advantage of my grandmother’s kindness to use us!”
How could he have trusted her so easily? How had he not known that she was not to be trusted? How had he not seen the signs? He should have been wary and been able to protect his family from his scheming, conniving ways but, instead, he had allowed himself to be swayed by her and had let his guard down.
“Morgan, I-” she began but the look in his eyes stopped her.
“You should leave now. Leave and never return. You have betrayed my trust like no one else has,” Morgan said suddenly, the words burning a hole in his throat as he spoke. He wished he was uttering words other than those, but he could not look past her betrayal.
He could see that his words had hurt her but he was sure it was not more than her actions had hurt him.
Selina curtsied and turned around, her head bent as she walked away from him, leaving him in the empty study, feeling betrayed and hurt.
CHAPTER22
Morning came and, with it, a fresh reminder of Morgan’s pain. All night long, he had struggled with his thoughts and the last images of her as she walked out. He had been unable to go to bed as those thoughts plagued his mind and Morgan had taken to the bottle in a bid to forget all about her.
He looked up, his heart beating heavily as the sounds of footsteps reached his ears. Could it be that she had returned to explain herself to him? Perhaps he could learn to forgive her or perhaps she had an explanation she had not been able to give him after he had ambushed her with the letter.
His eyes dropped in disappointment at the sight of his grandmother and he frowned at the empty glass in front of him. He poured himself a new glass of wine as she reached him. She wrinkled her nose at him, looking at the glass but choosing to say nothing.
“Have you seen Selina this morning, Morgan?” she asked. At the mention of her name, Morgan struggled to stifle the groan that threatened to escape him. He took a large gulp from his glass before looking back at her.
“I sent her away from the estate. I do not want you or Barbara to be anywhere near her. She is no longer allowed into the house anymore.”
“What? Why?!” his grandmother shouted and Morgan groaned, as her voice worsened his hangover. Morgan picked up the letter from the floor and handed it to her to see for herself.
He watched her as she read through the contents of the letter, sad for the betrayal she was just about to read about. He knew how much she loved Selina and he knew that it would break her.
Morgan squinted at her as he put down the glass. He had been prepared to console her if she broke down but as he watched her face, he could see that she did not seem to react to the contents of the letter as she had.
Had she known about it to begin with? Morgan sat up when she sighed and dropped the letter on the table, looking up.
“Did you know?” he asked her, voicing his thoughts.
“I heard about it from Lady Hamstone the night at the Ball,” Grace said, sighing again.
“Yes, me too. I also became suspicious that night because of what she said to me.”
“Well,” his grandmother moved to the window and pushed open the curtains, allowing the air and light into the room. “You must not have listened to Lady Hamstone till the end. There is information that is not in the letter.”
