“Ah.” Chen poured tea into cups, his movements precise. “I saw Lady Olivia when she left. She did not appear herself.”
“How did she appear?” Ben couldn’t help but ask.
“I do not claim to be an expert when it comes to the emotional state of young ladies, but if I had to guess…” The healer sampled his tea. “Heartbroken.”
The reply twisted a knife in Ben’s gut. He hated the idea of Livy hurting…which frustrated him even more. After all, she was the cause of her own pain, not to mention his.
“It is her own bloody fault. Sheliedto me, Chen,” he said bitterly. “After my marriage, you know how I value honesty. Livy promised to be truthful and obedient, and she’s been neither. She’s been keeping secrets from me this entire time.”
“I hope I do not regret asking.” Chen sighed. “What sort of secrets?”
As Ben told his friend about the Society of Angels and Livy’s shenanigans, his righteous indignation grew. Howdareshe take such risks, put herself in danger? Did she have no bloody sense at all? Obviously, he’d hadno choicebut to put his foot down.
“Can youbelieveLivy was doing all of that and behind my damned back?” he concluded.
Chen’s mouth gave an odd twitch. “It does explain her proficiency with daggers.”
“That is not amusing,” Ben said, scowling.
“Not at all.”
Ben clenched his jaw. “And she had thenerveto accuse me of limiting her freedom. She is a gently bred young lady—a duke’s daughter, for God’s sake! She knows full well her behavior is beyond the pale. Was I supposed to just stand there and allow my future bride to run around pell-mell, courting disaster at every turn?”
“To be fair, Lady Olivia seems quite capable of taking care of herself.” Chen cleared his throat. “And, if anything, she prevented a disaster last night. She saved your life, and from what she told me of her group’s undertaking, they have discovered some critical facts concerning the true identity of the villain behind the Devil’s Bliss. ‘Master Fong’ was a subterfuge.” The healer paused, muttering, “Why am I not surprised that it is an Englishman spreading the opium?”
“You are takingherside?” Ben asked in disbelief.
“I do not see sides in this situation. Merely perspectives.”
God save him from Chen’s philosophizing.
“From myperspectivethen, Livy betrayed my trust,” Ben said savagely. “I told her from the start that I would not tolerate a relationship built on lies. Indeed, that was why I hesitated to start things with her; in my gut, Iknewshe was not a biddable sort, yet I let her convince me otherwise. Which makes me the biggest fool alive.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps your gut knows something that your brain does not,” Chen said.
“Hell’s teeth, stop talking in riddles.”
“Loveisa riddle, but I shall do my best to lay it out clearly. I believe that you fell in love with Lady Olivia not in spite of who she is butbecauseof it. You have known her from the time she was twelve years old; I have known her for less than a fortnight. If I am not surprised that she is a spirited and independent female, how can you be?”
Flummoxed, Ben thought it over. “I suppose…well, I am not surprised, exactly. Even so, she should not have lied to me.”
“Why do you think she did?”
Ben’s first instinct was to say that Livy wanted to twist him around her little finger and manipulate him…but the explanation struck him as false. He’d known her too long and that had never been her character. He forced himself to dig deeper, past his anger and the bitterness of betrayal. Why would Livy lie to him?
He realized with a flash that she, herself, had given him the answer.
I didn’t want to lie to you, but I was scared to tell the truth.
Why wouldLivybe scared? She was bold and fearless, the most determined female he’d ever met. Understanding prickled through him like sensation returning to a limb that had fallen asleep.
“Because she loves me,” he said hoarsely. “And I made her obedience a requirement of being with me. I made her think that she…she could not be herself.”
Remorse throbbed in his chest. How could he have been so unfair? If he truly thought about it, he adored her spirit and independent ways. Yet he’d been afraid too, he recognized. Of repeating his past. Of losing someone he loved, the way he’d lost his sister, his parents…and even his wife.
But his relationship with Livy was different from those others. He knew in his bones that Livy’s loyalty to him was steadfast. While she had lied to him, she had done so for entirely different reasons than Arabella had. His wife had twisted the truth to manipulate him.
Livy had done so because she’d wanted to be herselfandto be with him.
