She nodded. “Yes—yes, I think that’s best.”
“Is there anything else?”
“This really isn’t what I wanted for either one of us,” she said quietly. “I know it isn’t what you wanted, Norman. I didn’t mean to put you in a bad position. I’m sorry things have turned out the way they have—truly, I am. And I’m grateful to you for helping me—for helping Marina. She was irresponsible, and I don’t know how I’m going to forget about that—but she’s still my sister, and I want the best for her, no matter what it costs me. No matter what I have to do. I hope you can understand that.”
Norman didn’t want to stay here any longer and talk about whether he could understand her plight. He was marrying her—that would have to be enough. “I have to get home,” he said. “We can discuss this further at another time. I’ll be in contact with your father.”
She nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Norman turned and walked away—and as he did, he found himself fervently wishing that she hadn’t thanked him.
And that she hadn’t begged him.
It hurt him more than he could have anticipated to see her broken down like this. Her spirit had always been the thing he admired most.
Now that spirit seemed dimmed—dimmed by the prospect of marriage to him.
CHAPTER 15
Norman paid a visit to Lord Crownway the very next day.
He wasn’t sure exactly why he did it. There was no reason to. It wasn’t as if additional arrangements had to be made. He was already engaged to marry Susan. They had already celebrated their engagement publicly. On the surface, nothing had changed.
Beneath the surface, of course, everything had.
But Lord Crownway couldn’t have known that. He beamed as he ushered Norman into the house. “You can’t seem to stay away,” he said, his smile so wide that it showed a considerable number of teeth. “You know, I meant to reach out to you, Your Grace, to see whether you might not be willing to move the date of the wedding? We ought to try to have it sooner rather than later. I know how eager Susan is to begin her new life as your Duchess."
Norman fumed. That wasn’t at all true, and he knew it, thanks to the conversation he’d had with Susan in the park. It bothered him to see her father using her like this, presenting her as if she was desperate to marry when he knew otherwise.
But perhaps she had convinced her father that itwastrue. After all, hadn’t he witnessed her lying to everyone around both of them from the moment he’d met her? He knew she was capable of doing it.
They were both capable of doing it.
“Lord Crownway, I couldn’t have said it any better myself,” he said, though the lie was more difficult today, for some reason, than any of the lies he had told so far in his relationship with Susan. “In fact,” he went on, “that’s the reason I’ve come here today. I wanted to take the opportunity to speak with you about our arrangement, and to see whether there was any mutual benefit in moving things along.”
“Well, you and I are thinking alike,” Lord Crownway beamed. “Why don’t you come into the sitting room? My daughters are in there playing chess, but I’m sure Susan would abandon that in favor of time spent with her husband to be.”
And before Norman could say anything about just stopping by to finalize the arrangements, Lord Crownway was throwing open the doors that led to the sitting room.
The two sisters were indeed sitting over a chessboard, and Norman was pleased to see it. He had grown to anticipate theway Susan doted on her younger sister, and it had taken him aback to see that she was angry at Marina—it was a side of Susan he had simply never experienced before. And though he understood all too well the way anger could sink its teeth into a person, it made him sad to see such a thing happen to Susan.
She’s forgiven her sister, then. That’s good.
But both ladies froze at the sight of him.
Marina’s eyes darted from Norman to Susan and back. She stood up, then sat back down, as if unsure what she was supposed to be doing.
“Stay, Marina,” Susan said quietly. “I’ll need a chaperone. Father—would it be all right if we had some time to ourselves?”
“Of course,” Lord Crownway said. “After all, you’re going to be married, and as long as you have a chaperone with you…”
He trailed off, then tried again. “Susan, His Grace has come to suggest that you marry earlier than planned. Of his own free will he suggests this. I told you that he…”
He trailed off again.
What did he tell her?
He didn’t need to know, Norman decided. It wasn’t going to make any difference. “Your father is right,” he said. “I thought it would be best for everyone involved if we settled this quickly. I know how important it is to you, and to your whole family. And it’s important to me too, of course, he added hastily.
