“I’d like to go to Lady Opal’s,” she explained. “I need to see my aunt.”
Chapter Nineteen
Graham sat in the quiet, pretty parlor, looking around as his heart throbbed. He had returned to his home and made his arrangements an hour ago, but a driving voice had been pounding in his head for days. So finally, he had gotten on his horse and come here. To this place he had once vowed to never return.
He moved to the fireplace and looked up. On the wall was mounted a painting of the inhabitants of this place—the Duke and Duchess of Crestwood. Simon and Meg. His best friend and his once fiancée.
Not that long ago, seeing their portrait would have made Graham flinch at Simon’s betrayal. Now he saw the picture through very different eyes. He saw the love that was between the pair even in the painted image. She was seated, with Simon standing behind her. His hand rested on her shoulder and her own was lifted to cover his. He glanced down with a small smile, as if he were enraptured by her.
Which of course he was. Always had been, it turned out. And Graham understood that far better now.
The door behind him opened and he turned to find Meg standing there, her eyes wide as she stared at him. She was lovely, she always had been, with chestnut hair and dark eyes and a lively, expressive face. Right now he saw her shock reflected there. Her wariness.
“Graham,” she breathed. “My God, when Finley said you’d arrived I thought he had gotten into the mulled wine. But you are here.”
Graham took a step toward her. “I am. Does Simon not wish to see me?” he asked as a swell of pain spread through his chest. Perhaps he had waited too long to speak to his friend. Perhaps it was too late.
Meg shook her head. “Oh no, not at all. Simon is out, that is all. He should be back momentarily, and I know he’ll want to see you. My God, you’re truly here. Please sit. Let me get you tea.”
Graham was about to tell her that he didn’t want tea, but she was already racing to the sideboard, pouring from the service there and sweetening his drink just as he liked it. Because of course she would remember that detail. This was Meg, after all.
He smiled as he retook his seat and reached for the cup she brought him. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
She sat across from him and shook her head. “Oh, please don’t do that. It’s Meg, it’s always been Meg. If you’re here I have to hope that it will be Meg again.”
He inclined his head in acquiescence. “Very well, Meg. You look well. You look happy.”
She hesitated and he could see she questioned how to respond. But at last she nodded. “Iamhappy, Graham. It was difficult at first, of course. Simon and I had our struggles. Even now, there are whispers, which I know you’re fully aware of. But I am happy.”
“Good,” he said softly. “I would hate for all that turmoil and hurt not to have a happy ending for you. Youdeservehappiness and love.”
She drew in a sharp breath at that statement. “Thank you, Graham. You deserve the same and more.”
He swallowed. He’d come looking for Simon, but now that he was here with the woman he’d once planned to marry, he recognized that she had answers for him, to questions he’d never thought he’d ask.
“When did you know you loved Simon?” he asked.
Meg shifted at the direct question. It clearly made her uncomfortable, like she was betraying him by admitting any part of the truth. But at last she straightened her shoulders and met his eyes. “You want my honesty, yes?”
“I do.”
“I was fifteen when I first realized that I loved him,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion, but not regret. “A year before James arranged for my marriage to you. In truth, I had probably loved him since the very first moment I met him.”
“Howdid you know?” he asked.
She tilted her head, and he could see her reading him. Meg had always been able to do that with everyone around her. She could see what people were at their core, she could see what they needed. It was her greatest asset and always had been.
“When I pictured my future and could not imagine it without him, I knew.” She leaned closer. “And I’m so very sorry I wasn’t brave enough to say something to James that very moment. If I had been braver, none of what happened a few months ago would have had to come to pass. And you and Simon both wouldn’t have been hurt.”
He considered that for a moment. Perhaps months or even weeks ago, that might have been the words he needed to hear. The apology. The admission of guilt. But now…
“I didn’t understand what happened at the time, you know. I couldn’t understandhowyou two could do what you did. But now, with months between that moment and this one and…and with other things intervening, I think I understand more.”
Her expression softened. “Do you? Could you?”
“Yes.” He let out a long, heavy sigh. “The heart is not something one can control, is it? We want what we want, there is no arguing or negotiating that. In our case, we were each driven by a need not to hurt anyone else. And instead we werealldamaged. I don’t pretend that you and Simon weren’t hurt by what transpired. Nor do I imagine that it could have ended any other way. If you and I had married, it would have been devastating to us all. So I want you to understand something, Meg.”
She stared at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “What is that?”
