Another sob tore from her. Dandy pawed at her skirts and whined, agitated by Addy’s distress. Addy bent and scooped up her beloved little dog. Dandy promptly licked her cheek, cleaning her tears.
Addy Fox was the world’s greatest idiot. But somehow, she had discovered the Duke of Marchingham’s game before it was too late.
She knew what she had to do.
“You’re leaving?”Lila asked, incredulous.
“The day before Christmas?” Letty added, aghast. “But Addy, you simply can’t. We’ve only just arrived.”
They had gathered around the hearth in Lila’s bedroom, which had become their meeting place of the past few days. Lila’s room was more spacious and had three chairs drawn round the cozy fireplace, along with windows that received a great deal of sunshine.
“I’m afraid I must,” Addy said, struggling to maintain her flagging composure. “My father sent word from New York City that I am to return home at once.”
It was a convenient falsehood.
She’d received no such summons. But lying to her friends felt so much easier than confessing the sordid truth, which was that she had thrown herself at their brother, given herself to him, and had subsequently discovered he intended to marry her to save his estate from ruin. Not because he cared for her. Not because he couldn’t bear to live without her.
No, because she was an heiress, and like so many impoverished aristocrats, Lion needed the lifeblood of her dowry to revive his dying ancestral lands. Had he been relieved when she had arrived at his bedroom that night? Or had he been horrified by her lack of propriety? Likely, a blend of both.
To her everlasting humiliation, she would never know the answer for certain.
“Has something happened?” Lila queried.
Addy’s cheeks went hot, guilt making her spine straighten. “Of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?”
“Because your father has summoned you home,” Lila explained. “Surely there would be a reason for it. He knew you intended to spend Christmas here, did he not?”
She blinked. Lila was not speaking about Lion. Of course she hadn’t been.
“All is well,” she managed shakily. “My father…misses me. And so does my fiancé.”
The moment the lie emerged from her, Addy wished she could recall it. Likely, it was her wounded pride and her guilty conscience mingling together, making her blurt nonsense. But she needed a reason to retreat to York at once. And inventing a fiancé seemed a reasonable enough one.
“You’re betrothed?” Lila and Letty demanded as one.
“Why didn’t you say so before now?” Letty demanded.
“You never spoke a word about an engagement in any of your letters,” Lila added.
Addy licked her lips. “It was meant to be a secret. We aren’t going to announce it until our engagement ball. But my fiancé has…fallen from a horse and broken his leg. I’ll need to return and help tend to him.”
“Good heavens, he’s broken his leg?” Letty shook her head. “How dreadful. Of course you must return to him.”
“What is his name?” Lila asked.
Drat.
“George,” she blurted. “Mr. George…Smith.”
“I’ve never heard of the Smiths from New York,” Lila said. “Is he from a good family?”
Addy’s stomach swirled. “Yes, of course.”
“Are you in love?” Letty demanded.
She thought of Lion and closed her eyes for a moment, struggling to keep her tears at bay. “I am, yes.”
Lila was looking at her closely when she opened them again, her regard intent. “Why didn’t you tell us before now? You must know we would guard your secrets with our very lives.”
