“What wasn’t you?”
“It wasn’t me with your mother. It was my father.”
She blinked. “How did you…they weren’t supposed to speak of it. At least, I thought they’d hold my confidence.”
“They did.” He took her hands in his. “Lady Isolda was listening and told me.”
Diana looked away and even though it was dark, enough moonlight reflected off the ocean that he could see the stain of a blush upon her cheeks.
Moonlight? James glanced to the sky. The storm was gone completely and there was barely a cloud in the sky. Had it gone with the ghosts?
He shook his head. It no longer mattered. What did matter was before him.
“Lady Isolda confronted me and as I knew I’d barely ever spoken to your mother, let alone anything else, I asked my mother and she confirmed that your mother and my father had been lovers at one time.”
She simply stared at him, suspicion still in her eyes.
“I swear to you Diana. It was never me.”
“But the man was so certain of what he’d heard,” she insisted. “And, unfortunately, I’m all too aware of my mother’s reputation.”
James winced. “If you don’t believe me, ask her. Ask your mother which Lord Somerton had been her lover.”
Diana pulled back and stared at him, then frowned. “I wish I had, when we were still in London.”
“Would she have told you?” James asked in shock.
Diana snorted. “Mother made no secret of her lovers, and never even attempted to keep the information from me. If asked, I’m certain she would have provided names.”
That information was not something to be shared with an innocent miss. “Then if you asked, she’d tell you.”
“Yes, she would.”
At least Diana would now know the truth, though he wished she’d simply trust him.
She studied him, her emerald eyes lightening. “But I don’t believe I will.”
“You’d have proof that it wasn’t me,” he reminded her.
“I’ve all the proof I need.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his.
“You do?” James asked in surprise. He thought for certain that Diana would want clarification, as this was the one matter that had kept her from him.
“If you knew my mother at all, you’d know she’d tell me the truth. As I don’t wish to hear about your father’s skills in the bedchamber, I shan’t be asking her.”
“Certainly, she wouldn’t say such things to you?” James questioned as further shock took over. “Such matters are not discussed with an innocent miss.”
Diana laughed. “My mother has never sheltered her daughters and she’s been quite forthright in her explanations and delight when discussing intimacies shared between a man and a woman.”
Diana’s face grew redder with her words and James’ body heated.
“The only information my sisters and I lack in such an education is experience,” she shrugged.
Desire coursed through him and James pulled Diana close. “If it’s experience you seek, I’d be happy to oblige.” Then he pulled her down onto him as he fell back and then rolled until she was pinned beneath him.
“You shan’t ruin me, James Bryant. I shall not anticipate the vows with a rake such as you.”
She may have laughed, but James was still uncertain what to make of her words. “Do you not want to marry me?” After all this time, everything they’d shared, the honesty between them, was she about to rip out his heart again.
