She was nowLady Sarah, and he felt like such a buffoon—as if everyone was laughing at him, knowing she had played him for a fool. Captain Hawk would haveneverallowed a woman to treat him as such, so why Broderick was allowing one to do so now, he didn’t know.
Only a few candles were lit in the hallway, but he easily found his room. He opened his door and walked in—then stopped. A brighter candle lit his room. Strange, since the only time he had been in here today was to wash up and change his clothes after his night of drinking, and he certainly hadn’t lit a candle.
Then movement from the end of his bed drew his attention, and a woman came toward him. As she walked into the light, he recognized her. Relief sprang from his throat in a sigh, yet the beating of his heart started another worry in his chest.
“Emiline. What are you doing here?”
“I must speak with you in private.” She motioned around the room. “We cannot get any more private than this.”
He opened the door again. “I wish you would leave. We have nothing to discuss.”
“Close the door, Broderick. I’m not going anywhere, and if you try to make me leave by force, I shall scream and wake the whole inn.”
Frowning, he closed the door and glared at her. “What makes you think I would use any force? Don’t you know me by now?”
She shrugged and stepped closer. “I thought I did. But apparently, we both have secrets.”
“Besides being the earl’s daughter and lord chancellor’s niece, what else are you hiding?”
“I want to tell you why I played the part of a lady’s companion.”
“Then I suggest you keep that hidden, because I don’t want to hear what you have to say.” He unbuttoned his overcoat and shrugged it off, laying it over the back of a wooden chair that stood near the window.
“You may not want to hear, but I’m going to tell you anyway.”
Her tone of voice was stern.Stubborn woman!Then again, that came as no surprise. She had always been that way.
“Broderick, I did what I did not to play a trick on you and your family, but because I had to. My father was fearful of the danger I would be in if people knew who my uncle was. He trusted Mr. and Mrs. Crampton, but since he couldn’t trust anyone else, Father had me play the part of Lady Sarah’s companion. Then when you told me about the driver of our coach wanting to harm Lady Sarah—and then those men who came to your uncle’s estate when we were riding the countryside—I knew I had to keep my identity hidden.” She took a deep breath. “I know I should have trusted you, since we were growing close, but for years I have longed to feel normal—for someone to treat me normally, instead of as an earl’s daughter. During my stay in Paris, men courted me, but I knew the only reason they were interested in me was because of my large dowry.”
Broderick really didn’t want to hear this, because the longer he listened to her sultry voice and looked upon her beauty, themore his heart softened. He didn’t want that kind of reaction. She’d lied to him, no matter what her excuses were.
“Emiline, you must give yourself more credit than that. You are a very lovely woman.”
She laughed lightly as a small blush touched her cheeks. “Apparently, only to you. Out of all the sonnets and flowery words told to me, my beaus never once called me a lovely woman.”
“Then the men in Paris must be blind.”
She shook her head. “Or perhaps you like me a bit more than they did.” Stepping closer, she kept her eyes locked with his. “Broderick, I know you like me, and I also know how upset you are right now. You have every right to be, but I pray you’ll understand and forgive me.”
“Emiline, a lie is a lie, no matter how much you sweeten it up, and I cannot condone it, or forgive you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Can you stand there and tell me you have never lied to me?”
He scowled. “What do you mean?”
“Or is it just the Marquess of Wilshire who lies?”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a marquess.”
“Yes, you are, you just haven’t accepted that fact yet.”
“Who told you?”
“Your aunt.”
More anger shot through him. “Did my aunt tell you why?”
“No.”
