But Charlotte plunged ahead, as if she hadn’t heard. “As it happens, you couldn’t manage it on your own, after all. You’re as good as wed to Camden West, and I—I . . . dear God, what a fool I’ve been.”
The cold shiver Eleanor felt earlier shot down her spine again. “What do you mean, you’ve been a fool? I know you rather liked Julian West, but—”
“Liked him? Oh, Eleanor. It’s far worse than that. I thought I loved him, and he’s ruined me.”
Eleanor’s breath stopped. She gulped at the cool night air to will her lungs back into motion.
Ruined. No. It couldn’t be. When? There hdn’t been time—
Her hand flew to her mouth.Oh, dear God. Lindenhurst. Julian West had come to Lindenhurst. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to find Charlotte, seduce her, then creep out the next morning, before anyone was the wiser.
Charlotte watched with a grim smile as Eleanor reached the obvious conclusion. “I see you’ve worked out for yourself how it happened. While you were busy uncovering Camden West’s secrets, I was, well . . . revealing mine to his cousin.”
Eleanor clawed at the railing. The stone scraped her fingers raw, but she didn’t feel it.This was her fault.Why hadn’t she told Charlotte the truth? She should never have lied, but she’d been so sure she could manage Cam, so sure she could take care of everything herself, and—
Oh, no.She froze as realization dawned.
It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.
But it was. It was the only explanation for Charlotte’s sudden change of heart about Hadley. She’d accepted him, a man she liked and admired but didn’t love, because of her disastrous affair with Julian West.
Eleanor groped blindly for Charlotte as a wave of nausea hit her.
Charlotte squeezed her hand. “As soon as you told me about Amelia, I realized my mistake. I knew it wasn’t possible Julian could be ignorant of the circumstances of her birth, and even less so that the seduction at the Foster’s ball was a coincidence.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears. She’d been so intent on jerking the strings from behind the curtain, she’d forgotten who was on the other end, and now Charlotte would pay the price for it. “I’m sorry, Charlotte—so terribly sorry.” She wanted to say so much more, but her throat closed, and she fell silent.
Charlotte’s face softened. “I don’t blame you for it. I went into the garden with him. I let him seduce me. Nothing you did afterward could change that.”
Eleanor looked down at Charlotte’s hand, still wrapped around hers. “Youshouldblame me, Charlotte. I never should have—”
“You’re my sister, Eleanor. I would forgive you anything.” Charlotte smiled, but she looked as if her heart would break. “Let’s not ever mention it again. It’s done.”
Eleanor nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. They stood for some time, gazing silently out at the garden, but at last Eleanor roused herself. “Do you suppose he cares for you? Julian West, I mean.”
Charlotte shrugged, but her chin was trembling. “He says he does.”
“But you don’t believe him?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe him or not. I can never trust him now.”
Eleanor paused. She had to ask. She had to know. “Yet you love him still, don’t you?”
Charlotte’s face crumpled. “I thought I loved him, but I believed he was someone else.”
Someone else.
A gentleman or a scoundrel, a hero or a villain . . . or both at once?
Julian West had made a mistake—one mistake. A grievous one, yes, but that one mistake wasn’t who he was. It wasn’tallhe was, any more than Cam’s mistakes were all he was.
Blackmail, threats, revenge—yes, Cam was guilty of it all. Fury, bitterness, and the ghosts only he could see. He’d let them into his heart, and they’d torn it open. But for all that, he was a man of his word, and somehow, despite everything, his heart could still hold love so deep, so abiding, it took her breath away. Amelia, Mary and Julian West—one had only to look at Cam to see he’d move heaven and earth for any of them.
A hero, or a villain. Cam was both, and so were they all.“It’s not too late, Charlotte—”
“Itistoo late. For me, it is. I trusted Julian West. I shouldn’t have, and I won’t make that mistake again. But you, Eleanor—it’s not too late for you.”
“But—”
