His Grace crossed to the table and retrieved her glass of brandy that had remained untouched all evening and pressed it into her hand.
“I do not condone what you did to my cousin,” Tessa began. “But I also feel that I know you well enough that you had a very good reason.”
“I thought I did at the time,” Frances admitted.
There was no longer simply a hole of emptiness but pain the likes of which she had not experienced since he had left her so long ago.
She had accused him of being a coward and afraid of love before he walked out on her and in a moment of clarity, Frances realized that her actions, her revenge, was for the same reason. Yes, she loved him, but she was so afraid to trust and love because she did not want to hurt again, that she may have just sabotaged any hope for happiness.
This is why she kept reconsidering if her actions were wise or not, but she pushed the reason aside because she had been too afraid to risk her heart and soul again.
“What did he do to you?” Tessa asked quietly.
Did she explain or simply leave?
“To my knowledge, you did not know Seth until a few weeks ago, and even he couldn’t have pushed you to revenge in such a short time.” Her eyes widened. “You are both from Laswell,” she stated as if just coming to that realization. “What did you do before you met him in London?”
More tears filled her eyes, but Frances was not certain she should tell anyone about the secret friendship that she had once shared with Seth. However, she ended up telling Tessa and His Grace everything, then begged them to keep her secret because if anyone learned, despite the innocence, she would surely be ruined.
Somehow in her telling, Tessa had walked Frances from the gaming room and into the drawing room and led her to a chair. Frances had not even remembered walking there and only came to realize where she was when she finally wiped away her tears and looked around.
“Do you still love him?” Tessa asked gently.
“Yes, but I do not want to,” Frances answered. “He likely hates me now, which is deserved after what I did.”
“What you did?” she argued. “He is lucky you only took his club.”
Frances blinked at Tessa’s anger. “How dare he turn his back on you after ten years of friendship, and love! To ignore you when you came to London as if you were strangers!”
“He claimed his reputation would hurt mine,” Frances found herself defending Seth.
“It was rather poor,” Tessa admitted. “It would have been recovered had he been there for you, by your side.”
“Perhaps,” Frances offered. “It does not matter. His gambling club was more important to him than me, which is why I took it away.”
She set her now empty glass on a side table and stood.
“Where are you going?” Tessa demanded.
“I must first call on him, then I will return here and pack my things.”
“Pack?” Tessa asked in alarm. “You are leaving?”
“I assumed that after what I did you would sack me.”
“That was before I knew your reasons and as much as I adore my cousin, Seth had it coming.”
Frances blinked at her.
“There are no other gentlemen who you wish to ruin, are there?” His Grace asked, to which Frances laughed for the first time since she sat down to play cards with Seth.
“No.”
“Then all is well and I expect you to continue in your duties.”
The relief that swept through her body with the knowledge she still had a position was a surprise. Frances had not wanted to return to Yorkshire. She had just assumed that she would have no other choice.
“You can also call on Seth tomorrow,” His Grace offered. “I will take you.”
