“What about them?” he asked angrily. “My parents didn’t approve of my going in the first place. I had to ... borrow money from them. I had to!”
It sounded as though he’d stolen from his family, and now they didn’t trust him.
“But surely they will at least let you live at home until—”
He was shaking his head. “Only Viola has stood by me, sending me money when she could. I hoped you, too, would be a good friend. For what we once meant to each other.”
Charlotte shook her head. “I will not give you anything. I wouldn’t when Viola asked me to, and I won’t now.”
“”You will,” Lionel said, looking down at his glove, giving it a tug, and then back at her. “Or I will ruin you.”
A shard of fear sliced through her, but then she pictured Charles’s intelligent face.
“My fiancé won’t believe you,” she declared, revolted by Lionel’s behavior. “No one who knows me will believe anything you say.”
“No?” Lionel cocked his head. “I think you are as naïve about the world as ever. Men don’t like to think they’ve been made a fool of, not even a hint of it. And we did meet alone. How many times? Who’s to say what we did or what you might have done with me?”
She didn’t know exactly what he meant, but she could certainly guess some of what he intimated. Nevertheless, the one thing she was sure of was that Charles loved her.
“I’ll tell him you’re blackmailing me for money,” she said, even though she would have to confess to having had atendrefor this odious man.How mortifying!
“Viola will tell the world you were my lover.” His words came out coldly, assuredly, and without mercy.
Gasping, she felt lightheaded.Would Viola?Charlotte feared she would. This time, she took a step toward him, her hands held out beseechingly.
“Lionel, why would you do this to me? I cared about you, I did. You know that. But I have fallen in love with someone else. And I don’t have money to give you.”
“You will, and plenty of it.”
“I cannot give you Lord Jeffcoat’s money! If he discovered it, what would he think of me? I would never betray him like that.”
“Oh, Charlotte, you’ve already made a terrible mistake coming here today, don’t you think? If he ever found out, your engagement would be over. Why would you meet me unless you thought I had something to hold over your pretty head? That’s what he’ll think. Or worse, that you wanted to pick up where last we left off?”
He reached out and drew her toward him.
“We kissed,” she said, looking up at him, wanting him to admit the truth. “Nothing more. That’s all we ever did.”
And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. At the same time, Lionel looked past her and his eyes widened, his face going pale.
Turning swiftly, she saw Charles nearly upon them. His manner was calm, his visage like stone. It terrified her more than anything that had happened yet.
Yanking herself free, which was easy since Lionel had turned to putty, she faced the man she loved.
“How did you find me?” she began, struggling to feel relieved for he had always helped her, but this time...
His first words left her cold. “Itrustedyou.”
Trusted? In the past but no longer?She worried that Lionel — curse the man — was correct. It would take a lot of explanation to turn this burgeoning nightmare back into the gorgeous day it was earlier.
Before Charlotte could say anything more, Charles pushed past her and planted his fist in the middle of Lionel’s face.
CHARLES FLEXED HIS fingers, then shook the discomfort from his hand. He wished he’d started with a blow to the blackguard’s stomach and then an uppercut to his face. He had little satisfaction in seeing the stranger sprawled on the ground, blood spurting from his nose, already defeated.
Who was this man who’d ruined everything?In the next instant, he didn’t care to find out. After all, it wasn’t him with whom he had planned on spending his life.
Turning to Charlotte, Charles thought she looked ... different. Same big brown eyes, her lustrous hair artfully arranged for work so it didn’t hang in her eyes — but her expression was one he’d never seen before.Was it guilt? Fear?
He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like it. And her soft, full lips were tight with worry over having been discovered in some sordid mess.
