She couldn’t do that now.
Leaning away from Connor, she contemplated him with a fretful frown. “You said my mother has come to Dinton Grange?”
The haze of arousal cleared from his gaze. “Aye.”
“It’s been more than two years since she was last here. Did she say why she’d come?”
“I dinnae ask her,” he admitted. “Mrs. Davies thinks that she’s come to rob Harry blind before he returns home for good.”
Withdrawing from his embrace, she paced her small parlor, considering the possibility. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“So Mrs. Davies said.”
Mounting nerves had her wringing her hands. “In the years after she married my stepfather, Mother would bring me to the Grange under the pretense that this was my home, and hence, I should be welcome here. She often came away with some piece of art she claimed was a gift from my father before he died. Or some small trinket. I know she sought a way into by brother’s safe. She wanted the marquisate jewels. Maintained that they were hers by right. Or mine, depending on her argumentdu jour.”
She came to a stop and squared her shoulders, glancing at Connor with more poise than she felt. “It’s fine. She’s come and she’ll withdraw soon enough. She won’t think to leave the house, therefore, as long as I don’t venture beyond the service hall while she’s here, she’ll be none the wiser.”
“Piper.”
“No. It’s fine. Really,” she assured him, although all the confidence and optimism that had thrived within her over the past few weeks shriveled inside. “It’s been some time, but I’ve walked this road before and I can do it again.”
He shook his head. Whether it was because he disagreed or because he thought it an imperfect plan, she didn’t know. Nor did she want to. There’d be sermons aplenty waiting for her from Hilde or Mrs. Davies when she went to the house. She didn’t need one from him.
“Nae matter. Harry will be home soon enough to send her on her way, aye?” When she didn’t answer him, Connor stared at her. Surprise became stupefaction. “My God, Piper. He does ken ye’re here, does he no’?”
“No, of course not.” His shock sent a pang of heartbreak streaking through her. “He’s never even mentioned me, has he? I knew he didn’t care.”
“Nay.” He clasped her around her upper arms and gave her a little shake, as if it might dislodge the thought completely. “I shared few private conversations wi’ yer brother, fewer confidences. Mayhap he’d shared them with Moira? Or my other sisters-in-law. Most assuredly Fiona kens, however, I dinnae even ken he had a sister. Through nae fault of his, I assure ye. He maun be mad wi’ worry!”
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Ye’ve never told him? Any of it?” he persisted. “Bugger it, that is what he was arguing wi’ Reginald Langston about at Lady Onslow’s ball. A friend of mine witnessed the quarrel but he dinnae ken what it was about. Did yer friend no’ tell ye about it?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about him!” Her volume rose with each word.
“Why the hell no’?” He rubbed his hands over his face as if it all made no sense to him. “He would keep ye safe. Ye could regain yer position. Be a lady of standing.”
Piper shook her head. She’d heard this all before. “My time of being a lady is over. I’ve seen too much to ever again be considered genteel.”
“Nonsense. Ye may be a hoyden but I kent well enough ye were a lady in truth.”
“And I know the truth well enough to know I cannot rely on my brother,” she shot back. “Not anymore.”
“Why…?” His eyes widened with comprehension. “Ah, I see. He’s the guardian who forsook ye.”
Desolate tears welled up in her eyes. It never stopped hurting to think it. It hurt even more to hear it spoken out loud. Her brotherhadfailed her when she needed him most and in all the years since. Whatever qualms she’d entertained, she really couldn’t produce an ounce of guilt for losing faith in him. Let him…let them all, prove her wrong first.
“Whatever ye think, he maun be worried sick.”
“I sincerely doubt it.” Piper wrapped her arms around her waist, deflecting his assurances. It was nonsense to think Harry lamented her absence. “He’s never come here searching for me. Never inquired of the staff if they’d seen me prior to returning to the Grange for the wedding. That was the first time he’d set foot on this land in close to three years. He does not care.”
“I dinnae ken yer brother well, lass, but I’ve seen enough to ken he’s a caring man,” Connor insisted. “If nothing else, he’s a responsible one.”
She whirled on him, her ire overwhelming her sorrow. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to talk about it. I don’t need anyone else defending his actions to me.”
He shook his head. “I cannae believe he would neglect ye so.”
“Well, he did. I’ve heard this all before, you know? I knew his failure to come when I needed him most was uncharacteristic. I knew it was odd. I held faith and trusted in him until the very end because I knew my brother loved me more than anything!” Her words escalated until she was yelling at him. “Yet in all the time since, I’ve never seen any evidence to the contrary to refute the fact that I was wrong about him. Maybe he feels remorse. Maybe he feels guilty. Honestly, I don’t care what he feels now. I only know what I felt then. I can’tbelieveandtrustandhave faithanymore. All those things were trampled into the ground by the person I loved most in the world!”
