“Your letters to Lord Windham, Lady Harriet. Or should I call you Hattie?”
Her letters to Cass? She stared up at him, frozen in shock.
No. No, it was impossible. Cass would never hurt her by showing her letters to a blackguard like Lord Egerton. He’d never show them to anyone.
But if Cass hadn’t told him, how could Lord Egerton possibly know about?—
“Twelve years’ worth of letters, I believe. Yes, Lord Windham told me all about it. He said you continued to write to him even after he gave up the correspondence.” Lord Egerton tutted. “Rather humiliating for you, really. But of course, the damage was already done by then.”
No, it wasn’t true. She opened her mouth to argue, to scream, to rail at Lord Egerton until he took it all back, every word of it, but all that emerged was a broken sob.
Lord Egerton saw his advantage and ruthlessly seized it. “I wonder what your brother will make of twelve years’ of such flagrant disobedience on your part, Lady Harriet? Rather shocking, isn’t it?”
“My brother would never?—”
“You going missing from the ballroom is more than enough to ruin you, but there are your sisters to think about, as well. I should think your illicit correspondence with Lord Windham combined with your shocking lapse of propriety this evening is more than enough to ruin all three of you.”
Margaret and Sarah, ruined? Margaret, who was almost certainly in love with Lord Hayward, and Sarah who’d only just begun living her life after so many years of illness…
How would she ever forgive herself if they were ruined because of her carelessness? It had beenheridea to come to London,heridea not to mention it to Johnathan. It had beenherwho’d told Cass they’d come for the season, and she still hadn’t told him the truth.
She’d lied to everybody. Her brother, Cass, her sisters, and Lady Fosberry.
And now she was at the mercy of a reprobate like Lord Egerton, because this was what came of keeping secrets and telling lies.
“You look distressed, Lady Harriet, but there’s really no need to be. I’m willing to marry you, despite your damagedreputation.” He pressed closer, looming over her until she shrank back against the door. “Now listen carefully, my lady. You’re going to tell your brother it’s a love match between us.”
“I will do no such?—”
“Indeed, you will, or I’ll see to it your sisters leave London in a cloud of infamy. We’ll marry, and your sisters’ reputations will remain as spotless as ever. As for you, I promise you I’ll be an ardent husband.”
She turned her face away from the drift of his hot breath against her cheek, but he caught her chin in a rough grip, his eyes glittering. “Come, my lady. Haven’t you even one kiss for your betrothed?”
It was no use fighting him. He was too strong, and there was no place to escape to, no place to go. She went blank as he lowered his mouth to hers, the terrace and the railing and Lord Egerton’s hated face all went blurry as his mouth came closer and closer?—
All at once the door she’d been pinned against jerked open. She toppled backwards and would have fallen, but before she hit the floor a pair of warm, strong arms closed around her, and she was caught against a solid, muscular chest.
The deep rumble of a familiar voice penetrated the haze around her, hoarse and ragged with rage. “Take a step toward me, Egerton. I dare you.”
Cass knew what anger was.He’d been angry at his father for as long as he could remember, but the fury pouring through him now was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
His blood burned with such rage it felt as if flames were roaring through his veins.
If Egerton so much as twitched, he was going to tear him limb from limb.
“Now, Windham. There’s no need to fly into a temper.” Egerton was backing away, his hands held out in front of him. “Hattie and I were just having a little chat, that’s all.”
“Hattie? Did you just sayHattie, Egerton?” Her childhood nickname on this vile scoundrel’s lips lit a spark inside Cass that was destined to burst into a conflagration. “You don’t call her Hattie, Egerton.Not ever. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, yes, of course. I beg your pardon, Windham.” Egerton backed away until he came up against the iron railing and could go no further. “I wasn’t going to hurt her. I was just?—”
“Yes, you were.” There was only one reason a villain like Egerton absconded from the ballroom with an innocent lady and brought her to a dark, abandoned terrace. “You dragged her here because you meant to hurt her.”
Hattie hadn’t gone with Egerton willingly. A besotted lady sneaking off for a passionate interlude with a favored gentleman didn’t leave her slipper behind.
She felt so small against him, her slender bones so fragile, and she was shaking, violent tremors wracking her body. Whatever Egerton had done to her, it had badly frightened her.
Gently, he eased her away from him. “Go back to Lady Fosberry now, Hattie.”
