‘Flissy, oh my goodness!’ Jane said, sounding startled. But I was too racked with sobs to reply, so she sat beside me and patted my arm and talked soothingly until I had gained some composure. I sat up, wiping my eyes, and let her hug me.
‘Hush now. Are you missing Max? Is that it?’ she asked, hooking her chin over my shoulder and rubbing my back. ‘It is perfectly understandable, and I am sure he feels exactly the same.’
I swallowed. Jane hugging me had brought to mind a clear image of Mr Hart’s arms around me in a vice-like grip. Hot guilt washed over me. It had not been a quarter of an hour since he had done so, and I could still feel his breath in my ear and his stubble rasping along my cheek. I scrubbed at my face ineffectually, but I knew only a good wash would help.
I let out a sob. ‘Oh, Jane ...’
‘It is all right. You can tell me all about it. I promise notto add our conversation to my book.’ She huffed a friendly laugh, but her saying that did not cheer me up.
I took a deep snivelling breath. What I had to say might be too good for her to resist writing about!
‘It is n-not about Max. It is Mr Hart. I w-was w-with him just now in his study.’
Jane drew back, looking at me. ‘But why?’
I bit my lip, wondering how to put it delicately. But there was no delicacy to what was occurring—it was raw and real.
‘I bribed him—to stay away from Lucy.’
‘You what?!’
‘Shhhh, keep your voice down.’ Quickly, I told her everything, starting with my conversation with Cecilia at the baths and finishing with Mr Hart trying to coerce me into an intimate liaison. ‘It was shocking to me that he even suggested it. He did not seem to care one jot that he would be breaking Lucy’s heart, let alone ruining the reputation of a respectable married woman,’ I said in a low voice. ‘He is truly as corrupt a man that ever lived.’
By this point, Jane’s face had drained of all colour; and she placed a hand on her forehead, as if my words were causing her great pain. ‘I do not want to believe it,’ she whispered. ‘But I know you would not lie.’
I felt awful causing her such distress. The shock was doubly great for her because she had been completely taken in by Mr Hart, and up until now, she had believed him to bea paragon of virtue. And she may have even been thinking of weaselly Mr Smith-Withers as a potential suitor!
‘Believe me, I wish it was a lie, but it is more like a nightmare I wish I could wake up from!’
‘But you have sat on this information about Cecilia Spencer since the baths, and I queried your trust in Mr Hart on the first night we arrived. I distinctly remember doing so. Why did you not tell me what had occurred between him and Cecilia then?’ she said accusingly.
‘Because at that stage, I was still giving him the benefit of the doubt and holding on to the hope that he had changed his ways for Lucy’s sake,’ I said defensively. ‘But the more information I uncovered about him, the worse it got ... And now he has displayed his true colours, in all respects.’
Jane rubbed her hand over her chin distractedly. ‘Lucy ... Oh no, she is going to be devastated when we tell her. She thinks so highly of him.’
‘I know.’
‘Oh, this is too bad of him. I thought he was a gentleman of good breeding, but he is nothing but a sly dog! How could he artfully deceive us like this?’
‘Money,’ I said flatly.
‘But then why did he not accept your offer? It is more than generous.’
That was agood question indeed.
It appeared I had won. He had agreed to leave Lucinda alone, which was a huge relief, but we were still trapped here until his carriage was ‘repaired’. So I did not trust him fully to keep his word and stay away from her. He was a man without morals, so really, I would be a fool to believe him.
Chapter 17
‘I must have convinced him to change his mind. But who knows what is in his head? It is a dark and dishonourable place. We cannot trust him an inch.’
I was reluctant to tell Jane about Mr Hart’s attempt to kiss me. But if things turned ugly, he might try to twist things and say I had thrown myself at him or some such nonsense. So it was best that she knew everything.
‘Ah, there is one further thing that I need to tell you.’ I steeled myself. ‘Please know that I did nothing to encourage this.’
‘What is it?’ Jane sounded wary, as if she did not want to hear any more bad news. But I had to confess it.
‘Mr Hart tried to kiss me in his study. It was after I turned down his reprehensible suggestion that he become ... intimate with me. I made to leave, and he grabbed me and attempted it. Of course, I struggled to get away and did not submit to his advances.’
