The sentence was barely out of his mouth before she effectively collapsed in a dead faint.
Mara awoke a short time later. She was lying on the bed, a cold cloth across her forehead.
“Here, drink this.”
A glass was pressed into her hand as she slowly sat up. Still in a haze, Mara took a large gulp of what she assumed was water but coughed and sputtered when the spice of brandy effectively burned her throat. While it took her a moment to catch her breath again, the warming effects of the alcohol seemed to bring some life back into her chilled body.
“Feeling better?”
Mara turned her eyes on Roarke who sat on the edge of the bed and gave a slight nod. His sandy blond hair was in disarray, and his hypnotizing gaze was fixed on her. She knew that if he’d tried to look more appropriately masculine and handsome at that moment, it would have been impossible. She longed to reach up and run her hand along his face to feel the day’s growth of bristles on his jaw line. How easy it would be to lean forward and gently touch her lips to his. The rush of desire would soon follow as he took her into his arms, touching her in places only he had ever seen…
Unfortunately, the illusion was shattered the moment he spoke. His voice was husky and potent as it should be, but the words caused a frisson of panic to slice through her veins.
“Who is Lily?”
She closed her eyes, fighting against the pull to give in. She had to remember that Lily’s very lifedepended on it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I can see you’re going to make this difficult.” His eyes glittered. “All right, how about you start with where you were going, for if York was your intended destination, I’m afraid I must be the bearer of bad news and tell you that you’re headed in the wrong direction.”
She considered allowing him this much, before reluctantly admitting, “I was on my way to Cornwall.” Her eyes snapped open to meet his. “To Eversleigh Hall.”
As she suspected, a frown creased his forehead. “Is there something I should be concerned about? That is myestate you’re talking about.”
She weighed her words carefully. “I don’t…believe so.” When he raised his brows at her hesitation, she was forced to add, “But that’s why I’m going, to make sure if there is an issue, I will handle it.”
Roarke was silent for several heartbeats before he returned to his original query. “Who is Lily?”
Mara bit her lip as all the cards were laid out on the table between them. She realized that they had reached an impasse, for to evade his question now would only keep them running around in endless circles. Now that he’d learned of Lily’s existence, he wouldn’t give up until he knew everything. She—and Lady Eversleigh—had been fooling themselves to ever believe that he would forget the past.
But was it her place to reveal it all?
While she seriously doubted that love could be found among such ruins, at least her conscious would be clear for the first time in nearly eight years.
It was time to break free. She didn’t have to tell him everything to give him a portion of what he wanted, and hopefully, that would be enough.
So with a deep breath, she clasped her hands in her lap and looked Roarke directly in the eye. “Lily is my sister.”
To say that Roarke was surprised would have been an understatement. In all the times he and Mara had sneaked away together on the estate and talked about the future, their dreams, and even their personal life, had she ever mentioned any other siblings. Come to think of it, he didn’t recall any reference to her mother either.
Strange that he’d never seemed to ask.
“I’m listening.” And he realized that for the first time since they’d met, he honestly was. He’d been so infatuated and blinded by his love for Mara that he’d never bothered to truly get toknowher. He’d wanted to marry her, to possess her, but obviously he’d overlooked the things that should have been most important.
Mara looked down at the hands tightly clasped in her lap and started to speak in a soft, but firm voice. “Lily is my older sister by six years. She was our mother’s first child, but we have different fathers.” After swallowing visibly, she continued. “While I don’t know all of the details behind Lily’s birth, I do know that her father abandoned our mother after he learned of the pregnancy. He was…” she paused to glance at him. “The son of a marquess.”
Roarke’s jaw tightened. Unfortunately, it was a sad tale he’d heard many times before. Illegitimate children ran rampant throughout England, as well as most of the world. “Go on.”
With a deep breath, she began again, “As you can imagine, my mother was left destitute once her condition was brought to light. She was let go from her position as a housemaid, and after her family disowned her, she was forced to live off of charity until she met my father. He took pity on her and married her just before Lily’s birth. He was the one who told me that it was a difficult process for my mother. She was in labor for days. When Lily was finally delivered, she was nearly stillborn, but by some miracle of fate, she survived, although she has never been quite…right because of it.”
Roarke nodded, for he’d also heard of such tragic things happening before.
“I think that my parents were able to find some sort of happiness—until I was born. Since my mother was older then and because she’d had such trouble birthing Lily, I was just too much for her. She died when I was two days old.”
Mara tried to surreptitiously wipe away a tear, but Roarke noticed the moisture glistening on her cheek. He yearned to comfort her, but he knew the best thing to do at the moment was allow her sufficient space so she could finish her story.
“Ever since I was old enough to remember, Lily was a handful for my father and rebelled at every turn. When I was seven years old, she ran away.” She gave a heavy sigh tinged with sadness. “My father was sick with worry, as Lily was only thirteen at the time. For nearly six months it was as if she’d vanished from the face of the earth. He did everything in his power to find her, but in the end, she was the one who showed back up on our doorstep.” Her eyes were haunted as she looked at him. “She looked like she hadn’t bathed in days and had lost so much weight…”
Mara shook her head as if the memory was too awful to relive. “During her convalescence, I spent a lot of time in her room, reading or just chatting about nothing in particular. She tolerated my presence for the most part, but I could tell that with each passing day she was growing more restless. Not even a month had passed when I went to check in on her one morning only to find that her bed was empty. She was gone again. The next time I saw her was years later at Eversleigh Hall. Sadly, my father never got the chance to reconcile with her for it was only after she learned of his death that she even bothered to return.” She frowned, “I think in some strange way she resented the fact he wasn’t her true sire.”
