He reached over and caressed the ringlet by her ear. “You still have no color in your face.”
“Yes, well… when receiving such news that another man was killed the exact same way as Ludlow, it’s no wonder I’m rattled.”
“Very true.”
She fidgeted on the sofa, uncomfortable with the awkward silence. “So Tristan, yesterday you had mentioned remembering something.”
“I did.”
“Will you please tell me what it was?”
“Remarkably enough, it was what happened the night before the duel.”
“Thenightbefore? Pray, what could have happened that night?”
He arched an eyebrow. “I believe I already know the answer, but I need to ask you nonetheless… Did you send me a letter to meet you at Henry’s Cliffs the night before?”
She creased her brow and shook her head. “Of course not. My parents had me heavily guarded for fear I was going to sneak out and meet you someplace so we could run away to Gretna Green.”
“Just as I expected.”
“Why, Tristan? What happened?”
“I had received a letter with your name on it. In the letter you stated that you wanted me to meet you at the glade. When Trey and I arrived and didn’t see you, we felt that it had been a trap. We were correct.”
Surprise flooded through her. “Hollingsworth met you the night before?”
“Yes. He was a coward and didn’t want to meet me for the duel and have the crowd watch him die.” He reached his hand over his shoulder and brushed his fingers across a section on his back. “Last night I had remembered exactly what happened at those cliffs, but it wasn’t the bullet that had pushed me over as I had originally thought.”
She furrowed her brow. “Did you… jump?”
He hitched a breath and stared at her with wide eyes. “Jumped? Are you jesting? You thought I had jumped off the cliff?”
She shrugged. “Well, there were so many rumors going around, I didn’t know which ones to believe.”
He studied her through hooded eyes, scratching his chin. “Will you tell me what Hollingsworth told you had happened?”
She sighed heavily. “He didn’t say much. He rarely ever did, but when he showed up the next morning at the house and said you were a coward and didn’t come to the duel, I feared the worst. But many people had gone to the cliffs that morning and they all had the same story—that you were not there.” She swallowed hard. “Other rumors started spreading a week or so after it had all happened about you going to the cliffs before anyone else had gotten there to try and talk Ludlow out of the duel. When he wouldn’t relent, you had tried to shoot him, but missed. When he got his weapon out, you fled and jumped over the cliffs.”
Tristan cursed under his breath. “And youbelievedhim?”
The tone of his voice accused her of something she should have known already. Before marrying Ludlow, all she knew about him was that he was a domineering man who took advantage of people—her father being one of them. After she married Ludlow she learned quickly enough that he was a deceiver. He’d hinted about her family having some deep dark secret, and all he was talking about was that her father had gambled away her dowry and left the family in financial ruins.
“It wasn’t just him that told me, and I didn’t want to believe, but others were there and could see you had not shown up for the duel. Then when you were found alive, Ludlow tried to convince me that you had faked your death because you owed him money. By that time, I was so confused about everything.” She choked back a sob. “If only your brother had said something to me—or anyone—I would have believed. But he said nothing.”
He huffed and leaned forward, loosening his cravat. “I want to show you something.”
She held her breath. Why was he undressing?
Once he’d removed his cravat, he lifted his shirt over his head, and turned his back toward her. “Do you see that large scar on my shoulder?”
The scar was still puckered and slightly red. Reaching out to touch it, she stopped herself before her fingers could make contact. “Yes.”
“This is whereyourhusband shotme.” He turned back to her and pulled the shirt back over his head.
She frowned, chiding herself for even believing that story in the first place. Yet, there was a part of her that hadn’t believed at all. She’d just been waiting for Trey to tell her what really happened. “I’m sorry, Tristan,” she whispered.
“What other rumors were going around?”
