He paced the room, naked and seemingly unaffected by that fact, even though she was. She was even more affected by his demeanor, though.
“Why are you angry? Don’t youwantan ally in your quest to end this union, even if we come at it from different motivations?”
He barked out a laugh as he faced her. “Oh, my dear, if this wasn’t so entirely depressing, it would be funny.”
She pulled the coverlet around herself, suddenly feeling vulnerable. “What are you talking about?”
“Tonight you decided that Celia must not marry Stenfax. Well, tonightIdecided the absolute opposite. My brothermustmarry your sister.”
Rosalinde’s mouth dropped open at that declaration and she stared at him. At last she found her breath. “I-I am dreaming. This cannot be real.”
“I’m afraid it is,” he said, running a hand through his thick, short hair. “God’s teeth, what a bloody mess.”
“You can’t just make a statement about how you’ve changed your mind and not explain yourself,” Rosalinde said. “Especially about something so important. Why do you want Stenfax to marry Celia all of a sudden?”
He let out a sigh, and in that sound Rosalinde heard how broken he was. How upset. She wanted to comfort him, but by the way he went back to pacing, tense and unhappy, she recognized that she couldn’t. He might share pleasure with her, but if she touched him now he might recoil.
She couldn’t bear the rejection.
“Gray,” she said softly, forcing her tone to be even and unemotional. “Pleaseexplain.”
“I met with your sister before the others arrived,” he admitted. “And I couldn’t help but be impressed by her. Perhaps I have simply come to see she is what you say.”
Rosalinde arched a brow. “And so you claim you have changed your mind on such a flimsy reason? After months of being determined to end this union, you wish me to believe that a single conversation with my sister has changed your heart?”
“I suppose that would be sporting with your intelligence.” He let out a long groan.
She shot him a look. “Just a bit, yes. I’m willing to believe that Celia might have softened you to her, but not that it has made you turn around and change your mind. Don’t you have any trust for me, Gray? Won’t you tell me even a fraction of the truth after all we’ve been through and shared?”
He moved toward her, and her heart stuttered as he sat down on the bed next to her. He observed her for a moment before he said, “Being honest, being open, it doesn’t come easy to me. It is not my nature.”
She wrinkled her brow. “Sharing ourselves with others isentirelyour nature. But it leaves us vulnerable and that makes some recoil. I promise you, Gray—whatever you tell me, it will stay between us.”
Gray reached out to take her hand. He held it, staring at it, and then he shook his head almost in surrender. “Did anyone ever tell you about Elise?”
Rosalinde hesitated. “I admit I know of her. Everyone knows Stenfax was engaged before and that the engagement was broken.”
Gray flinched. “Yes. But do you know anything more about her?”
“Not much. Just the basics that gossip retells. She left Stenfax and married—the Duke of Kirkford, I think I remember. I’ve never met her, if that’s what you’re asking,” Rosalinde said. “And as far as I know, Stenfax hasn’t told Celia anything about her. Why?”
“Of course Stenfax wouldn’t speak of her. He refuses to do so. And most of the whispers have died down now that so long has passed.” Gray rubbed his eyes. “Where do I begin?”
She squeezed his hand gently. “At the beginning seems as good a place as any.”
He exhaled a long breath before he said, “Very well. Elise’s mother and our mother were good friends, and she used to come here in the summers and spend a few weeks every year. She was younger than us, seven years younger than Lucien, four younger than me. She and Felicity were thick as thieves, of course, but they always insisted upon tagging along with us. And she was…well, she was fun. Both she and Felicity could hold their own when it came to boyish pursuits, so though we groused, I don’t think either of us cared all that much when they made themselves part of our expeditions.”
“She was a childhood friend,” Rosalinde said slowly. Gray’s face was hard to read as he spoke, like he’d put a flat mask over his features.
“I suppose I would have called her that once. Felicity certainly would have. But the year Elise came out, it became clear that something had shifted. Lucien couldn’t stoplookingat her. They weren’t officially courting, but anyone could see they were bonded, closer than friends.”
“Ultimately he courted her, though,” Rosalinde interjected.
Gray rubbed a hand over his face. “Stenfax was young, not sure he wanted to settle down. I…encouraged him, God forgive me. After dancing around it for almost three years, he finally began to court her. I was happy for him at the time, it seemed they would be a good match.”
“But the engagement was broken,” Rosalinde said softly.
Gray bent his head. “Oh yes. Elise showed her true colors eventually. Just a few weeks after their engagement, she broke with him. She married a duke instead, Kirkford, who had more money and whose title had more weight than ours. She wrote Lucien a letter to end it. A goddamned letter. When he came to confront her, to force her to look him in the eye when she said she didn’t love him, she refused to see him.”
