Why he was cleaning a dilapidated greenhouse instead of attending to the hundreds of other tasks in need of completion, he couldn’t have explained with logic. But his heart knew. Eliza wouldn’t have wanted it to remain in such disorder.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Following her escape attempt,Eliza returned to her chamber and her recent practice of studiously ignoring her mother’s attempts to speak to her and admitting no one but Sophie.
The morning after, Eliza had relayed Bash’s speech to Sophie, expecting firm support. Instead, Sophie gnawed on her lip.
“Lizzie… he has a point. I’ve been certain that Lord Sinclair would sort everything and come for you. But it has been a week, and we’ve heard nothing from him. What if Papa is right and whatever he’s done really is unforgivable?”
Eliza’s heart instinctively rejected the notion. “A week is not so long.”
“I’m certain you’re right.” The hesitance in Sophie’s voice rankled Eliza. “Do you want to come downstairs? I’ve been helping Mama plan the masquerade. The process is more diverting than I expected—you could design the flower arrangements.”
“No, thank you.”
“Well, we’ll be downstairs if you change your mind.”
Eliza’s hope dwindled. With each passing day, the excuses she created for Benedict grew flimsier.
As such, she was eager to accept when May announced a visit from Rose.
While Eliza wasn’t fit for polite company, she was certainly fit enough for her cousin. She pulled the ties of her dressing gown tighter across her chest before sitting up in the bed.
When Rose’s dark curls and sea-blue eyes peered in from behind the door, a distressed tutting sound escaped her. She slipped inside, shutting the door behind her before striding across the room.
No sooner had Rose reached the bed than she enveloped Eliza in her arms. The warm embrace melted the tension from Eliza’s shoulders. When Rose pulled away minutes later, Eliza felt calmer, more at ease for the affection.
“I am so sorry,” Rose signed after she sat on the bed. “I wanted this for you almost as much as you wanted it yourself.”
“I want it for you too—someone to whisk you away from the wall and onto the dance floor.”
Rose shook her head, brushing away the sentiment as she always did when the subject of her future was raised. “How are you? Truly?”
Eliza hardly knew herself. “I… I just wish I understood. That someone would explain it to me. I cannot… He would not leave. He was… We were…”
Rose caught her lower lip between her teeth, worrying it for a moment before meeting her gaze. “I saw our mamas talking yesterday. They didn’t see me. I-I know why. But, Lizzie… I think your papa may be right.”
“What?” Eliza demanded aloud, incredulity lacing the word.
Somehow, Rose sensed the disbelief, because she caught her lip between both teeth. “It may be better to remain ignorant,” she signed.
“You must tell me. You must! I cannot bear it.”
Rose swallowed before beginning. “Lord Sinclair’s father—he lost a great deal of money to your father years ago—twenty-eight years ago.” She paused, waiting for Eliza to make the connection. When clarity did not settle over her expression, Rose continued. “The men your father won the money from to start the club with—the hundred thousand pounds… One of them was the Earl of Blackwood, Lord Sinclair’s father.”
Each individual word made sense. But combined…
“No,” Eliza protested. “You must be mistaken.”
“I know what I saw, Lizzie. He— Your father believes Lord Sinclair was courting you in order to blackmail and humiliate him on behalf of his own father. Uncle Michael did not wish for you to know. He was trying to protect your feelings.”
“But he… No...” Eliza’s heart rebelled against the very notion even as the blurry image in her mind cleared. Benedict felt as she did; she had been certain of it. So certain.
“I’m so sorry, Lizzie. I know it was driving you to madness not knowing. But was I wrong to tell you?”
Rose’s revelation made perfect, horrifying sense. Benedict—Lord Sinclair—had singled her out so swiftly and with such determination. He had pursued her doggedly. Brief moments and phrases, the nonsensical vagaries he’d dropped…
Now she comprehended them perfectly.
