His must be the dullest of them all not to have figured it out before. He’d never seen Piper stray from Aylesbury’s lands but for that reckless trek into the village. She’d openly fretted at the news of Harry’s return. All the people here protected her.
He slapped a palm to his forehead. When she said they were her people, she actually meant they wereherpeople.
Gravel ground beneath his boots as he strode out of the manor and along the drive to the stable. Every conversation they’d shared replayed through his mind. Had there been more clues? Things he’d missed? The story was pat, well-practiced. Enough truth to deflect suspicion. And who would expect such deception from a visage so bonny? He hadn’t. Even knowing Piper hid something from him, he’d never guessed at the depths of her duplicity.
Her presence here. Her visit to church prior to the wedding. The encounter Temple mentioned between Miss Langston and the Marquis of Aylesbury. All of it pointed to a link between Piper and Harry. He’d known it. He simply hadn’t been able to determine what the connection was.
It would have been easy enough to deduce the truth if he’d known Harry had a sister to begin with.
Reaching the stables, he strode inside to fetch his horse and stopped short at the sight of a certain bay palomino sticking her head out of the far stall. Aye, he knew he’d seen the bloody horse before. Right here in the Aylesbury stables.
The answer had been right under his nose the entire time.
How could he have been so fookin’ blind?
Leaving his horse behind, Connor pivoted on his heel and stalked out of the stables. He found the pathway leading north and followed it. A dim memory and dumb luck brought him up short at the sight of the quaint cottage. The old thatch roof, overgrown ivy-covered walls, and the straggling bushes that disguised the walk. If not for the tended flowers, one might easily assume it was abandoned.
An excellent hideaway.
With a grumble of disgust for his own idiocy, he crossed the short distance and pounded on the door. A moment later, Piper opened it with a smile of such felicity, he had to steel himself against her dimple’s intoxicating effect.
Her unbound hair hung around her face and down her back in riotous curls, reminiscent of how it had been spread in stark contrast across a pillow…and his chest the previous night.
And reminding him of the child’s hair in the portrait, along with her smile that bore a fair amount of resemblance to someone else’s. How had he failed to realize it?
“Connor, what a happy surprise. What brings you here at such an early hour?” Her full lips pursed in a suppressed smile. “More tea?”
His heart knocked off kilter with a pang of regret. If only. “Nay, I’m in nae mood for tea, Lady Philippa, I just had the unmitigated pleasure of meeting yer mother.”
Chapter 20
I should have run sooner.
~from the diary of Piper Brudenall, January 1893
The ring of her true name on Connor’s lips so flabbergasted Piper it took nearly a full minute for the remainder of his words to sink in. All the questions raging in her mind—How had he found out? From who?—were muted by a rush of apprehension.
And questions more. When? Why?
Hand frozen on the latch, she stared at him blankly until, with a curse, he bodily picked her up and set her aside. Once inside, he closed the door behind him.
Finally, she found her voice. “My mother is here?”
Green eyes, usually filled with laughter and light…or better yet, passion, narrowed on her. “Is that all ye have to say for yourself?”
Piper shook her cobwebs away, clearing her throat to rid it of the hoarse croak she’d managed before. “Connor, I was going to tell you.”
His eyes rolled to the rafters and he shook his head. “Aye, naturally.” Sarcasm was heavy in his brogue. “It’s been on the tip of yer tongue, nae doubt. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, do ye think me that great a fool?” Connor held up his hand to stall any response to that. “I am, I ken. A bloody fool no’ to have figured this out on my own. Chump that I am, I saw only a lass in need of a shoulder, a friend. I never imagined ye duped me so.”
His accusation tore at her heart. “I never wanted to dupe you, Connor. I never wanted to lie at all. I’ve learned to be wary of strangers. Despite that, I offered you more of the truth than I have anyone else. I gave you my trust.”
Sardonic laughter filled the room. “Truth? Bah! I shared no’ more than a dozen words wi’ yer mother, and I kent, even in that wee amount of time, nae merchant would ever come up to snuff in her mind.”
“Connor, if you would jus—”
“I cannae believe I dinnae figure it out before I ruined ye.”
Weariness set in, dragging Piper’s spirits down with it.
