“I killed her because she was a traitor,” Lady Reeves corrected. “Because she took your father’s side. Even when she knew what he had done—I sent her a letter when your father refused me—even then, she was loyal to him, and she stayed with him. She could have punished him. But men never face any consequences, and the women who stand beside them are just as guilty. They must be opposed; they must be taken down.”
“Some men are wicked,” Isabella said. “Some men deserve to pay a price. My father was never good to me, and I never could respect the way my half-sister supported everything he did. I wouldn’t have killed him for it—or her—but I did remove myselffrom their lives for that reason. That’s a suitable consequence for those actions.”
“And yet here you are, cozied up to another man, having learned nothing.”
“Because my husband is nothing like my father,” Isabella explained. “He’s kind, and he cares for me. He may be a man, but he’s a good one, and I reward kindness with kindness. I’m not going to avoid all men forever because some of them are bad. I’m certainly not going to get in the habit of punishing all of them.”
“I can’t believe I thought you were like me,” Lady Reeves growled.
“I can’t believe you did either,” Isabella said frankly. “I could never be like you. I would never want to be.”
Arthur’s arm settled around her shoulders as they heard the sound of approaching horses. A moment later, two constables appeared.
“What’s the meaning of all this?” one of them asked. “Your Grace—what’s happened here?”
Isabella allowed herself to step back as Arthur told the constables the whole story. Lady Reeves would be taken away. She wouldn’t be permitted to harm anyone else. This moment should feel nothing but good.
But Isabella couldn’t help feeling a little bit of sympathy for the lady in front of her.
There was no excusing the things she had done, of course. Isabella wouldn’t even try to make excuses for her. But at the same time, she recognized someone who had been hurt by the world, just as she herself had. Lady Reeves had learned by experience that men could not be trusted. Isabella had learned the same lesson at the hands of her father. He had taught her that gentlemen would not necessarily protect her—that they might even go out of their way to make her life harder.
And yet, she had been able to overcome that lesson. She had been able to trust Arthur—against all odds, even when Arthur had made it difficult for her to trust him. The fact that the two of them were together now, as closely bonded as they were, had a lot to do with the fact that he had worked hard to move beyond his personal struggles and open himself up to her. But Isabella knew that she deserved to give herself credit as well for what she had been able to achieve. She had managed to let go of the mistrust that had defined her when she had lived with her father. She had become a different person—someone she was proud to be.
And she was lucky. If she had gotten stuck in Lady Reeves’ mindset, her life might have gone much more unfortunately. She knew she could never have murdered anyone—she didn’t have that in her—but looking at the sad, angry woman before her made her wonder how much of this could have been her fate.
She leaned close to Arthur, grateful that the two of them had found a way to bring out the best in one another.
CHAPTER 37
“Oh, you should have seen it!” Felicity chortled, leading Arthur and Isabella back into the house. “I don’t know when I’ve had more fun in all my life!”
“It might be fun for you,” Taylor asked. He was turning in a slow circle, trying not to trip over the hem of Isabella’s gown which he had put on for the occasion. It didn’t fit him well at all—he was far too broad for it, even though he was a slender man. But he was short, only an inch or two taller than Isabella, which had made him perfect for the ruse.
Now he looked at Isabella. “I don’t know how ladies wear this sort of thing all the time,” he confessed. “It’s like torture.”
“The trousersareawfully nice,” Isabella admitted. “But I’ll be glad to get out of them and back into something more suited to me, all the same.”
“The constables just left with one of the footmen a few minutes before you arrived,” Felicity said. “Apparently, he was the one letting spies into the estate to try to harm Isabella.”
“So, the plan worked?” Arthur asked. “How did they find out who was responsible?”
“It worked better than we could have imagined,” Felicity said. “Better than any of us did imagine.”
“But come, sit down, and we’ll tell you everything,” Taylor suggested. “And you’ll tell us everything that happened to the pair of you as well.”
“Don’t you want to get changed first?” Felicity teased. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten comfortable in that gown?”
“Well, it’s rather fetching, isn’t it?” Taylor turned in a circle, pretending to want to be admired, and Felicity laughed. “You’re right, as usual, Miss Felicity. Excuse me for just a moment—we’ll get into the story after I’ve rejoined you.”
He hurried off to change back into his regular clothes.
Arthur stepped aside to speak to the butler about something, giving Isabella the chance to pull her sister to one side. “The two of you seem to get along very well,” she said.
“Yes, Lord Henrough is delightful,” Felicity agreed with a smile. “I was glad to spend the day with him. I hope he comes over much more often.”
“Well, he is Arthur’s closest friend,” Isabella said with a smile. “I’m sure we can count on him to do that.”
Felicity nodded. “We worked so well together,” she pointed out. “When I first heard the plan, I wasn’t sure it was going to work. But knowing that he was the person I was going to be carrying it out with gave me so much confidence. It made things easy.”
