Tabetha’s obsession with winning a grand title was somehow connected to her father. He realized that now. But knowing why she needed the recognition wasn’t going to change what she wanted—what she needed to accept herself.
Even if she did love him, no doubt it would prove to be fleeting. Hell, he’d saved her from Culpepper. Likely she was experiencing nothing more than a temporary bout of hero worship.
What he failed to comprehend, however, was why she’d allowed him to make love to her after she’d remembered.
Three times during the night and once again when they’d stopped.
Even if he couldn’t see her out of the corner of his eyes, he could feel her fidgeting. Touching her bonnet, smoothing her sleeves, fussing with her bodice.
“I didn’t go with Culpepper just because I want people to envy me.” She broke the silence. “I know everyone thinks I was just mad about winning a duke, but there’s more to it than that.” She sounded broken, defeated.
“Why don’t you explain it to me then?”
“Months before his death, my father wanted to travel to London to take Westerley to task. He’d been hearing that my brother’s exploits had gotten… out of hand. Bethany was visiting Felicity, and Mother had been ill.”
Stone kept silent, sensing where this might be going.
“I didn’t want to stay at home to keep my mother company. I told my father that I needed to stay at Lady Agatha’s school. I insisted that I couldn’t miss the term if I was going to become a duchess.”
Stone frowned. “And…?” There had to be more to it than that.
“And then my father died. He died, Stone!”
Good God. These Westerleys took the notion of guilt to unsurmountable heights.
“His death had nothing to do with you.” In fact, Stone had been present at the duel when her father was killed. “You must know it was because of Westerley, that it was because he’d, er, associated with the wrong married woman.”
She was shaking her head vehemently. “He wouldn’t have done that if my father had not stayed home with my mother.” She turned and pinned her caramel-colored gaze on him. “So that I could stay at school. And that left Westerley without my father’s guiding hand. ‘You won’t regret it, Papa,’ I told him. ‘Because your daughter is going to be a duchess.’ Those were my last words to him.” She covered her hands with her face. “My Last words, Stone! And now I’ve broken my promise.”
She bent forward.
He pulled Poppy to a halt, dropping his arm around her back. He’d half expected this but…
Stone shook his head. “You do realize Westerley blames himself?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She dropped her hands. “It never would have happened if I hadn’t been so selfish.”
“I suppose your sister blames herself in some way as well.”
“She didn’t do anything wrong.”
Stone stared at her. “You’re as bad as your brother.”
“It just got out of hand… all of it. Becoming a duchess began as a promise but then I could think of nothing else. And…it doesn’t make sense… The way I treated you—anyone who didn’t meet my standards—it was unforgivable.”
It was hard to stay angry with her when she was like this. But he did not expect to hear the next words that came out of her mouth.
“I’ll tell him I’m untouched, if you want an annulment.” She stared ahead lifelessly.
“Is that what you want?” He felt numb.
“I know you never wanted any of this,” she answered just as the village came into sight.
A wave of unrecognizable emotion swept over him, and he clenched his fists around the leather strap.
Because this emotion wasn’t unrecognizable. It was fear.
And damned if he knew what to do about it.
