If he married her, there would be no difficulty with wanting her. Of course, she would despise him. But plenty of people despised their spouses. Lucas’s parents, for example, had hated each other. And that had…ended terribly.
Hugh shook his head. “It isn’t a ridiculous notion.”
Lucas came approached him and grabbed his arm, giving him a solid shake. “Are you telling me that or yourself?”
Hugh stared into the concerned gaze of one of his best friends. He dropped his head in defeat, for there was no hiding his true heart from this man. “I’m not sure. But I don’t think it is a ridiculous notion.”
“To consider marrying a stranger for revenge? For some sense of self-flagellant duty?”
Hugh shook off Lucas’s arm and glared at him. “Plenty of people have married for far worse reasons.”
“Notourpeople.” Both men turned to find Diana at the door. Her lips were pressed together in a thin white line that told him she didn’t approve of his plans any more than her husband did.
“Did the young lady leave?” Hugh asked, his throat suddenly dry.
Diana nodded slowly. “She seemed a bit…off kilter when I returned. I have no idea what you said to her, but her expression was positively bloodless. She made some excuse and departed abruptly.”
He frowned. He hadn’t been trying to frighten her. That was a very bad start considering what he was pondering could come next.
“Well played, Brighthollow,” Lucas muttered.
Diana gave Lucas a look, and he threw up his hands and walked away like he was surrendering to her.
Of course he would. She was his everything.
Diana stepped to Hugh, and she smiled at him with kindness and understanding. In that moment, he didn’t care that she knew the truth about his sister and what she’d been through. He knew she would keep that secret to her grave. She was incapable of any cruelty.
“Hugh, your friends have all married for love. None of us would want to see you settle for any less than the happiness we’ve found.” She touched his hand gently, the touch of a healer, seeking a way to fix him.
He shook his head slowly. “Love is not the destiny of every man.”
“So seven of your friends have said before you, and foolishly so!” Lucas barked out from his desk.
“Not helpful, my love,” Diana said without looking at him. She smiled at Hugh. “Though not entirely without merit. Think of what you would give up.”
Hugh looked at her, and then he closed his eyes. Through his mind he saw images of his married friends, easily brought up. Stolen kisses and meaningful glances, joyous celebrations of children and laughter. He saw their struggles and their pleasures and all the things they had earned through their love. He saw it and he knew he would never have that. Not if he forced this young woman’s hand.
“Perhaps I don’tdeservewhat my friends have found,” he said softly.
Her eyes grew wide and pained. “Hugh,” she breathed.
He stepped away from her. “I knew my sister was…struggling and I didn’t pursue it. I thought it was a phase that would pass.”
“How could you have known what was really going on?” Lucas asked, all the heat gone from his voice now. “We were all that age once—I remember acting out. No one could have assumed Lizzie was pondering something so wild as to run away.”
Hugh clenched his fist at his side. “But when she was wronged by this…this thing…this man, I did nothing. I said nothing. I paid him his devil’s price and I let him walk away. And now someone else will suffer. Someone else will become his prey because of my pride. I do not deserve happiness or love or anything else. It’s my duty to do all in my power to prevent him from damaging another person.”
Diana moved toward him. “Then tell her the truth! I spent an hour with Amelia before I left to allow you your meeting. I like her a great deal. She seems kind and clever, witty and bright. If you were pursuing her for any other reason beyond this foolishness, I would say she was a good match for you.” She caught Hugh’s hand and squeezed. “At least give her the chance to make up her own mind about this man.”
He shook his head slowly. “She is in love with him.”
Diana cast a quick glance at Lucas. “Shethinksherself in love with him because of the lies he’s told her, the image he’s presented. Many a lady makes a foolish mistake based on those things. It doesn’t mean it’s real or lasting.”
Lucas cleared his throat and moved toward her. Hugh watched, mesmerized, as Diana stepped away from him and into the circle of her husband’s arm. Lucas leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple, and in that moment they were in their own world. It had a language Hugh didn’t understand, a history he could not study. And he envied it. Down to the core of his soul.
“I’m sure you’re right that she has been taken in, just as Lizzie was,” Hugh croaked out. “But that doesn’t mean that what she thinks she feels isn’t real in this moment. My sister ran away with this man when they felt their relationship was threatened. What if I tell Miss Quinton the truth and she…she goes to him with my accusations? God knows how much worse it could be then.”
Lucas’s jaw set. “You think he might hurt her?”
