She gazed round one last time, every object, each shadow seeming to burn itself with aching clarity into her mind. ’Twas here that Gray first came to her after their wedding, here where he’d soothed and cared for her. Here where he’d simply held her, safe and warm, until dawn on the night they finally were to consummate their union.
These and so many other memories throbbed with a life of their own, making the ache swell until she thought it would swallow her up. But it couldn’t. She must consign her memories to the dust now. Those and all of her secret dreams of a future with Gray.
Dashing her hand across her eyes, Catherine moved toward the door. It was over. She was leaving.
But as she reached the portal, she heard a loud noise in the corridor. Startled, she stepped back; at that moment the door crashed open and slammed against the wall. Gray stood framed in the opening, rain-soaked, his chest heaving, his expression feral.
He went still and gazed at her for what seemed like an eternity. His shadowed eyes burned, dark and vulnerable, his muscled frame outlined in stark relief by his wet shirt and breeches. Finally, he just shook his head.
“Damn you, lady,” he growled softly, “but I want to know who the hell you really are, and what kind of game it is that you’ve been playing with me.”
Chapter 15
She stood frozen in place, dwarfed by his ridiculously large cape. Gray clenched his jaw. Hell, she looked more like a naughty child caught raiding his closet than a deceitful imposter bent on his destruction. Her breeches clung to her legs as deliciously as ever, her eyes bluer than he remembered. And damn her, but she was gazing at him with a look he might have mistaken for love if he hadn’t already discovered the awful truth about her.
God, she was beautiful.
The thought came unbidden to his mind, and he shoved it aside angrily, striding into the chamber. The locket swung like a weapon from his fist.
“I stopped in Somerset on my way home from the grand assize, lady,” he grated. “And I found this.”
He stopped right in front of her, offering up the necklace. She moved nary a muscle, nor did she utter a sound in her defense.
“Well?” he demanded, thrusting it at her again.
She took it from him then, and the gentle brush of her fingers against his made him wince, made the ache he’d borne since that moment at the tavern lance deeper in his belly. He watched as she opened the pendant and looked at her own portrait. Her gaze was somber. Almost sorrowful. And yet still she didn’t speak.
“By the Rood, woman, just tell me. For once, let me hear the truth coming from your lips.”
She stood motionless, her expression filled with pain. “I’m so sorry, Gray. You’re right. You deserve the truth. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, but I—I—” She made a choking sound and squeezed her eyes shut. “Nay! I cannot tell you. Not here. Eduard’s spies—”
“Spies?”Gray broke in bitterly. “You mean other than you?”
She flinched, and the ache in his gut bloomed wider.
“Eduard hired spies to watchme,” she said quietly. “To report of my every move, my every word, back to him.”
“If that is true, then I can assure you, they are no longer a concern. When I arrived, I ordered all of the revelers back to the castle before barring every gate under heavy guard. ’Twill remain so, with none allowed to enter or leave Ravenslock until I am satisfied that there is no further danger to me or my people.”
She remained silent, looking at the floor.
“Go ahead,” he challenged her. “Speak! There’s naught to fear now in revealing the truth.”
Slowly, she lifted her gaze until it connected with his; a jolt of agony went through him, mocking him with its power. God, but he was a pitiful excuse for a man, a weak wretch to still want this woman—this betrayer—so much, even after all that she’d done to him.
“I never meant you harm, Gray,” she whispered. “You must believe that.”
“Must I?” he managed, his throat aching, tight. “Was it not you who came here under false pretences, you who feigned marriage with me, making our union and everything that came after it a lie?”
“I swear that I never wanted to deceive you.”
“And yet you did. Every time you let me call you Elise. Every time you let me call youwife.” His already hoarse voice broke on that last word, and he took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “For God’s sake, tell me why! Did you and Eduard plan this to make a fool of me? To humiliate me further at Court?”
Exquisite pain shifted over her face, that face he loved so well, but she shook her head. “Nay. ’Tis worse than that.”
“Then tell me, damn it.”
Biting her lip, she paced a few steps away, her fingers clenched tight. Finally, she faced him again. “All of this began when Elise died. She took her own life, driven to it by Eduard’s cruelty. When he discovered that she had escaped him, he came up with his own solution to the problem. He forced me to marry you in her place so that I could aid him in committing the terrible deed that he’d already planned…” Catherine gazed at him blindly, her eyes pleading with him.
