Richard grimaced, his shoulders slumping as if the entire weight of the world now rested upon them. “Of course.”
“Heartly, I—”
“Not a word,” Richard clipped, cutting off Andrew. His eyes remained on Mary. “Do you have any idea of what your brother has done?” She shook her head, unable to speak as Richard raised his hand to the scarred flesh marring his cheek. “This is because of him, because he was too great a coward to do his duty and because he would rather run and hide, leaving me to face the enemy alone.”
It was a grave accusation, one that Mary could not quite believe. Still, she looked to Andrew, hoping he might deny it. Instead he said, “You got your vengeance though. Did you not?”
“What I took from you will never erase your actions at Waterloo. We had a plan, Carthright, but when I needed you, I found you gone.” He paused for a moment before saying, “And then you took credit for whatIhad managed to accomplish before being captured. You gained a title that you did not even deserve—land too.”
“Untilyoutook it all away from me,” Andrew practically shouted.
Unified gasps filled the room. “Dear God,” Mary murmured as she pieced it all together.
“And I enjoyed every moment of it,” Richard told Andrew. “Since you were foolish enough to stake it all at cards—”
“There is no honor in fleecing a foxed man,” Mary said, “no matter what he may have done.” The situation that was presently unfolding in the bright and sunny parlor was an absolute nightmare.
“Foxed?” Richard snorted. “You think he was foxed when he boasted at the gaming table that he would easily double his money?” He took a steady step in Mary’s direction, his eyes sparking with repressed fury. “Oh no, my lady. Your brother had his wits about him when he chose to risk it all, of that there is no doubt since my sources have confirmed it. So if he has told you otherwise... well, all things considered, I would not be the least bit surprised.”
Stepping aside, Mary distanced herself from her brother. From Richard too, since it would seem that there was a large part of him that she did not know at all. Recalling what her aunt had said, Mary couldn’t help but ask Andrew, “Did you really spend your entire fortune on repairing Carthright House?”
“The repairs I spoke of were made,” Andrew assured her, “and the staff has always been paid on time.”
“Tell her the truth,” Richard clipped.
A lengthy pause followed before Carthright spoke again. “Admittedly, the cost of running Carthright House was not as great as I wanted the world to believe.”
“What he means to say,” Richard grit out, “is that he made some risky wagers and that he lost.”
“And the investments you spoke of?” Mary asked, preventing Andrew from responding to Richard’s accusation. When Andrew shook his head, her heart fell. “You were supposed to use the money I gave you to regain control of your life... it was supposed to cover your expenses and help secure a stable income... but instead, you lied to me. You gambled it all away,” she said, addressing Andrew as if he were a stranger, “and Heartly won it.”
“Ironically, I had meant to gift the estate to you,” Richard told Mary, “but after this, I wonder if there will even be a wedding.”
She found that she could scarcely look at him, or her brother for that matter. “Were you ever going to tell me about this?” she asked Richard.
“I did not think it would be necessary,” he said. His eyes had grown vacant, adding further distance between them. “In fact, I had hoped to put it behind me, but it seems that will no longer be possible.”
A painful sob escaped Mary. “This cannot be happening. It simply cannot.” Retreating, she moved toward the door.
“Mary,” Richard said, the sound of her name reflecting the heartache that she was feeling.
She shook her head. “I need to think.” She swallowed convulsively. “Your actions aside, you have said some things just now that I cannot easily forget.”
“Mary,” Richard repeated, taking a step in her direction.
Refusing to listen, she turned away from him and left the room. There simply wasn’t enough space indoors for all of her emotions.
Chapter18
Sunlight spilled over Mary as she stepped out onto the terrace with leaden feet. The air out here was fresh, and yet it felt as though she was suffocating. Blindly, she made her way toward the steps and down onto the path below. How could this be? How could she have been so filled with joy no more than half an hour earlier, only to find herself burdened by grief now—her heart, no longer weightless, but like a dull rock, heavy inside her chest.
Ignoring the sound of her name being called, she continued in the direction of the lake, toward a vacant spot where she could be alone. As she went, she thought of Andrew, of how dishonorable he’d been if what Richard said was true. She did not want to believe it, but Andrew had failed to deny the accusation.
Shoulders slumping beneath the weight of this discovery, she considered Richard and how happy he’d made her. Still, there was no escaping the fact that he’d kept a very large part of his life from her. In a way, she understood. He’d wanted to put the past behind him and move on—had not believed there was any chance of her ever finding out about what he’d done. But his words! Lord, how they hurt!
Pausing, she tried to look at the situation objectively. Richard had spoken in anger. She knew that. Doing her best to move past the pain in her chest, she considered an important question: had Andrew not been her brother, would she have approved of Richard’s actions then? Did he not deserve some form of compensation for what he had lost and all that he had suffered?
Deep in her heart, she knew that he did—she knew that what Andrew had done was wrong, even if she did not know the specifics.
