“Well,” Caleb muttered. “We were having tea and enjoying a pleasantly mundane discussion about what we’ve all been up to these past ten years, when Lady Langdon let it slip that she ought to be glad her husband did not marry Emily after all.” His eyes searched Griffin’s face before he quietly added, “She claimed to have you to thank for her matrimonial happiness.”
Griffin stared at Caleb. “What?” He tried to think back, to some moment in the past when he might have discussed Emily with Langdon. She would have been too young when he’d left for Vienna, so if Langdon had formed an attachment to her and Griffin had cautioned him against it, it must have happened later.
By correspondence.
An unrelenting chill suffused his body, like a spindly hand reaching inside his chest to clutch at his heart. “Dear God.”
“I gather you now recall what Lady Langdon was referring to?”
Griffin gave a tight nod. He then downed the remainder of his drink before going to the sideboard and pouring himself another. Fortification would not be enough to get him through this. What he needed was a bloody miracle.
“Griffin?” His brother’s voice prodded him gently.
Griffin turned to stare at him blankly. Every dream he’d allowed himself to have today was crumbling and turning to dust. He would lose her over this. There was no chance in hell that she would ever forgive him.
“Langdon wrote to me roughly six years ago and asked for advice about a woman with whom he was contemplating an attachment. Her name may or may not have been mentioned. I do not recall, for I had no idea who Emily Howard was at the time, so it would not have mattered anyway.” He expelled a tortured breath, added more brandy to his glass and went back to his seat. “All I remember is that she was described as a woman from a good family whose dowry would help Langdon pay off a debt his father incurred prior to his passing. Beyond that, she was said to be unremarkable – a wallflower as I understood it. While Langdon wrote that he liked her character and enjoyed her company, he was critical of her appearance and doubted he would ever find her attractive. So he asked me to advise him on whether or not he ought to abandon all hope of a passionate union in favor of one that ensured his financial security.”
“Marrying for convenience is common enough.”
“Yes, but I knew Langdon wanted more, and he would not have asked my opinion unless he was struggling with some uncertainty. Besides, he was an earl while the woman he contemplated marrying had no title to speak of.” Griffin looked away from his brother, unable to meet his gaze any longer. “Since his heart was not invested, I told him to end things with her and keep on looking.”
“And thus put an end to Emily’s hopes of ever making a match, of escaping her domineering mother, and starting a family of her own.”
“She did escape though,” Griffin muttered. He hated how defensive he suddenly sounded. “She went to Clearview.”
“Yes. She did. But I daresay she’d rather have been a wife and a mother.”
Shit.
Caleb was right. “Emily’s smart. She’ll know I told Langdon that she wasn’t good enough for him. She’ll know I judged her before I met her. She’ll think the only reason I’m pursuing her now is because she looks different than she did back then.”
Caleb tilted his head. “Does she?”
Griffin Shrugged. “She says she’s lost weight. That it has altered her appearance.”
“Langdon did compliment her excessively on her looks when he arrived. His wife started looking rather displeased.”
“Perhaps Lady Langdon dredged up the past on purpose,” Griffin said. “She may have been jealous and deliberately sought to wound Emily.”
“If that was her motive, then she succeeded. I worried Emily might either fling her teacup at Langdon or burst into tears. Thankfully, she left the room before it came to that.”
Griffin scrubbed his hand across his jaw.Christ, what a mess!The idea that Emily was upstairs now, suffering because of him, twisted his gut. And the risk that he might have wrecked his chance with her years ago before he’d even met her caused panic to tumble through him. He was disgusted with himself, with his shallow dismissal of her. Although he was forced to consider that if she’d married Langdon, he would never have had a chance of making her his.
Griffin expelled a breath. He was sorry he’d hurt her, but he was glad she was still unattached.
He looked at his brother, seeking comfort in his steady gaze. “What am I going to do?”
Caleb’s mouth slanted just enough to convey that whatever the case, he was on Griffin’s side. “That depends on how you feel about her.”
Griffin spoke without hesitation. “I love her.” It felt good saying it out loud, as if putting his feelings into words made them real.
“Have you told her that?”
“No. Not yet. It only just struck me earlier today while I was out riding.”
Caleb grinned. “Love does tend to catch one by surprise, that’s for sure.” He sobered. “Apologize first. Grovel, if you must. Then tell her how you feel and trust that everything will turn out right.”
Griffin snorted. “That is easier said than done.” When Caleb said nothing, he explained, “When I asked her to marry me last night, she refused.”
