Holding her breath, she waited.
“I fear your fiancé has not been very honest with you.”
Slowly, she released the air from between her teeth as her heart knocked in a completely different rhythm this time.
“Apparently, Alexander Cutler is not a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.”
She gasped. “What? How absurd. Of course he is.”
“No, Judith. He has never been an officer. My solicitor checked this out thoroughly.”
“But…but…. That cannot be.”
“Tell me, Judith. Did you ever see him wearing a uniform?”
“Yes. It was the last time I had seen him before my parents died. Our meeting was very brief because he was leaving, but he was definitely wearing the uniform of a lieutenant.”
Trey shook his head. “Then he must have stolen it, because there’s no Alexander Cutler listed in the Royal Navy.”
Anger shot through her and she fisted her hands by her side. “Alex did not steal anything, and he most assuredly did not lie to me.”
“Then explain to me how my solicitor could not find him in the Navy? Does Mr. Cutler have a different name, perhaps?”
“No.”
“So then why is he not listed?”
Confusion pounded in her head. None of this made sense. Why would Alex lie to her about being a lieutenant? He wouldn’t. Didn’t he know she could find out easily enough? “I don’t know,” she whispered.
Trey moved closer, standing in front of her. “Judith, I hesitated to tell you before I had more information.” He laid his hand on her shoulder.
She slapped at his hand, knocking away his touch. “I think you have the wrong information. I don’t know how, but I cannot believe he’d lie to me about that. We were planning on getting married.”
Tears pricked her eyes, so she turned sharply and opened the door to leave. He grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. Blinking, she hoped to get rid of the moisture before he noticed, but she failed miserably.
“Judith, my solicitor is still looking into this. We will find the truth, I promise.”
“I appreciate all you have done, but something is not right.” Her voice choked, so she cleared her throat.
He caressed her face then gently pulled her closer as his arms slid around her shoulders. With her palms against his chest, she tried to hold back, but he was stronger and her weak body fell against him.
Her cheek rested against his chest as she fought the tears still building. Although emotion tightened her bosom, she relaxed inhis embrace as his hands stroked her back while soothing words whispered from his lips.
Curse him for doing this to her.
She should be thinking about Alex and why he hadn’t come forth. At this point, she should be wondering if her dreams of being Mrs. Cutler were ever going to come true. Instead, all she could think about was how comfortable she felt in Trey’s arms. Beneath her palm, his heartbeat thudded against her in a quick rhythm. She realized how quickly passion flared between them. She had to leave before her mind became weak.
Forcing herself to pull away was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but she stepped out of his embrace. He watched her with tenderness in his gaze, and she wanted to cry. She wouldn’t. Not in front of him. “I must return to my room now. Good night, Trey.”
She hurried out the door, not hearing what he’d muttered. It didn’t matter anyway. Nothing he could say to her could stop the confusion swimming in her heart. Little by little, her life sifted away, and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.
*
Trey leaned againstthe white column of the porch as he gazed across the estate. Hawthorne had invited Judith to go riding this morning. And once again, they had ridden out of Trey’s view. It was all he could do not to saddle his horse and follow.
Was Nic touching her right now? Wooing her with words of love?
Trey bunched his hands into fists, grinding his teeth. Why was Nic calling on Judith in the first place? Had his latest mistress become uneventful? That could be the only explanation. Besides, Nic didn’t like women who spoke their minds as Judith did, so why was he even with her?
