He nodded. “I saw him last night. It was obvious. But your secret is safe here.”
She closed her eyes and shrugged. “I don’t care. It’s better this way. If Eastleigh thinks to marry me off to some stranger, now I can simply tell the truth about what happened and no one will have me.” But she did care. She was in pain, terrible pain, and she had to go away, she had to be alone.
“Don’t do this to yourself. This was not your fault. You are young and inexperienced, a perfect target for someone like Devlin. How could a girl like yourself resist my brother’s seduction?” His laughter was harsh. “It is times like these that I detest him. He is better off gone and we should hope he never returns.”
“You don’t mean that,” she managed.
“I feel that way now, as I have all night. The truth is, he is my brother, he would give his life for me, and I do love him. But I will never forgive him for this.” Sean’s eyes were as dark as a stormy sea.
The immense betrayal struck her again.He was gone.He had taken her innocence, and now, he had left.He didn’t care.Not about anyone, not about anything.He was a monster, not a man.“I have to sit down,” Virginia choked. “My knees are oddly weak and I cannot see.”
“You appear as if you will faint again,” Sean said grimly, sweeping her into his arms. He carried her to the house.
Virginia had no will to resist. It was too late to do anything about it, but she realized her heart was broken because she had, stupidly, fallen in love with a terrible man.
VIRGINIA LOST TRACK OF THE DAYS.It began to rain, more often than not. Sean gave her free rein and she spent her mornings on horseback while the sky remained clear. Her afternoons were spent wandering the house or reading one of the many books she found in the library. Sean went out of his way to avoid her when once he had been so gallant, amiable and kind. He was courteous when their paths happened to cross, but distant, as if a stranger. Virginia took her supper on a tray in her bedroom.
She thought about escape and made the attempt one single time. She found some coins in Sean’s bedroom, where she dared to trespass. Dressed as a boy, she took the bay mare and set out for Wexford, some hundred miles to the east. It was another gray, rainy day. She had expected to be able to find her way quite easily, but at the first crossroads, she was at a loss, for there was no sign. The choice was north or south, and Wexford lay directly east. She surmised she should go right, which was north. Many hours later she realized she was heading directly north, deep into the heart of Ireland, and that somehow, she was lost. She was also soaking wet and freezing cold, enough so to think about turning around and going back. And the little mare was tired and beginning to falter. But she didn’t have to turn back. Late that afternoon Virginia paused at a roadside inn to ask for directions, which only confirmed that she was far off her course. And that was when Sean appeared on a black charger, frantic and furious. But instead of shouting at her, he didn’t say a word. He booked two rooms and Virginia was given a hot bath, clean dry clothes and a hearty meal. The next day they returned to Askeaton, riding the entire way in terse silence.
And when the manor lay in sight, Sean pulled his steed to a halt. Virginia halted also and their gazes locked. “I want your word,” he said fiercely. “Give me your word you will not attempt another escape. If you do not, I will have to put you under lock and key.”
This was their first real conversation since the day Devlin had left. “I don’t understand,” Virginia said slowly. “You have said repeatedly that you disapprove of what your brother is doing, yet you will not look the other way so I can escape?”
He was grim. “I more than disapprove. But I swore to Devlin I would keep you safe at Askeaton and I will.”
“You don’t have the backbone to go up against him,” she said.
His expression hardened and his eyes flashed. “He wants us to marry.”
Virginia choked. Surely she had misheard, hadn’t she? But the walls of her world, already so fragile, crumbled then and there.“What!”
“He thinks it would be best, in the end, after the ransom, if we wed,” Sean said.
Virginia could not absorb the words, the notion. She spurred the mare into a gallop, racing for the manor and the surrounding barns, reeling from the blow.She was to be handed off to his brother. He had used her once and now he thought to cast her off to Sean.
At the house she dismounted, handing the mare over to a groom. Sean galloped up to her and slid off his horse. “I know. It’s inexplicable.”
“Stay away from me,” she warned, striding toward the house. She felt as if she had been punched in the chest. She couldn’t breathe and a red haze had formed over her eyes. Pain and anger blurred, impossible to separate.
If she hadn’t hated him before, she hated him now.
And images from that night overcame her, heated and lusty, images she wished were a result of her imagination and not the very real past.
She could not wait to be ransomed.
That night, Sean came to her room. Standing in the hallway, he politely asked her if she would come downstairs to dine. Virginia stared at him from the sanctuary of her bedroom, clinging to the open door. He looked grim, an expression now characteristic for him, and he also seemed torn. “Don’t do this,” she said.
“I’m not doing anything. But after what he did, I treated you intolerably. I want to start over. I am not the enemy, Virginia. The truth is, I am your friend.”
She hugged herself. Their gazes locked. “Why did you turn away from me when I was so broken—when I needed a friend?” she whispered.
He hesitated. “Because it hurt me, too.”
It was a moment before she thought she understood. Was Sean saying that he had feelings for her, and that Devlin’s seduction had made it impossible for him?
He smiled gently. “I think it’s time we had a truce. Besides, it’s damned lonely in that dining room, night after night. I miss your amusing stories.”
She was touched. She plucked his sleeve. “I’m sorry, too. It’s not you I hate.”
