“You came,” he murmured, hope sparking within him. She was looking at him so tenderly, and he couldn’t help but remember that long-ago day when she had been the Queen of May Day and had kissed him so spectacularly in the woods. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t want anyone to hear it. If word got back to Heath... “Where is the maid?”
She smiled. “I dismissed her. I thought perhaps it was time we spoke in private.”
Glad they were on the same page, he leaned forward and gripped her hand. He hadn’t yet completely given up on her and prayed she’d give him an explanation that made sense. “Why did it take so long, Violet? How could you keep me waiting after everything we shared? After all that you promised me?”
As he spoke, the fog of sleep lifted, banishing the glow of the one afternoon they’d spent together and replacing it with her terrible betrayal. He knew his heart was in his eyes, but he had to know the truth. He had to hear her say that he’d never mattered to her at all. That all she’d ever really wanted was to improve her station.
“I never made any promises to you.” She frowned and bit her lip, pulling her hand back. “Ever since you’ve come back, you’ve been looking at me as though I owe you something, as though there was more between us than a stolen kiss. That was just a bit of fun. I thought you understood that. But now I’m married to Heath, and I truly do love him. So, I’m sorry if I hurt you, but you must stop this. You must forgive me.”
He stared at her, stunned by her audacity. “If it had just been that one day, do you think I would be acting like this? It was the letters, Violet! How could you have written me all of those beautiful letters, while all along you were courting and thenmarriedto my brother?”
She stood abruptly, her lovely face furrowed with confusion. “What letters? I never wrote to you.” She bit her lip, shaking her head. “I do remember seeing a letter from you, right after you left, but I didn’t even open it. I threw it out because I didn’t want to lead you on.”
Her denial made him furious, and he fumbled to reach the drawer in the nightstand, pulling out the letters he’d so treasured, snapping the thin ribbon that held them neatly together and thrusting them at her. “Are you trying to pretend that you didn’t write these to me? That this isn’t your handwriting?”
She took a step back, looking terrified by his sudden fury, and he forced himself to lower his voice and gain some modicum of control. Despite what she’d done to him, she was still his brother’s wife; she was still a gently bred lady. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to shout. I just thought that you cared for me, Violet. I thought youlovedme. Some days, your letters were the only thing that kept me going.”
“May I see one?” she asked, reaching out with a trembling hand.
He frowned. “Of course.” Why did she want to see them? She’dwrittenthem. Hadn’t she?
She opened one, and her beautiful emerald eyes scanned it briefly before she sighed and sat back down, pressing her hand to her forehead and giving him a look filled with... pity? “This isn’t my handwriting. I’m so sorry, Flynn, but I’m not the one who wrote you these letters.”
He sank back against the pillows, feeling as though he’d been punched in the gut because he could tell by the way she was acting that she wasn’t lying. “If you didn’t write them, then who did? What are you trying to say?”
Violet sighed and lifted a placating hand. “I can only imagine that she saw me toss that first letter and dug it out of the bin. She’d always been smitten with you, and she must have responded as me because she thought you wouldn’t reply if she tried to do it on her own. She’s always cared for you. I hope you won’t be too angry with her.”
Though she didn’t name the person she thought it had been, he suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt.
Daisy.
He groaned, embarrassed heat rushing through him. How could he have been so easily fooled? “I’ve been corresponding with Daisy all these years. Not you.” It was a statement, not a question. All of the puzzle pieces suddenly slammed into place, showing him a picture that he should have seen long ago. Of course, it had been Daisy.Of course.
Violet nodded. “That’s her handwriting. Not mine.” She suddenly smiled. “It all makes sense now. The way you’ve been acting. Your anger and confusion. I’m so sorry, Flynn. When I get ahold of that little brat, I’ll—”
“No,” he interrupted, shaking his head, for some reason unwilling to listen to her bad mouth Daisy. “She was just a child. She didn’t know what she was doing.”
“Well, she’s not a child anymore!” Violet snapped. “When I think of the trouble she could have caused between Heath and me with this foolishness! What if you had gone to Heath? He would have been very angry with me for no reason!”
He gazed at her, feeling as though he was suddenly seeing her as she truly was for the very first time. She did not actually care about how this impacted anyone but herself. She’d never cared about Flynn at all. She’d never meant to wait for him, not even the day she’d said the words.
“Well, no harm was done,” he forced himself to say, suddenly wanting her gone with every fiber of his being. “Thank you for coming down here, Violet. I am so glad we managed to get to the bottom of all this, and I’m very sorry if I was less than pleasant to you when I arrived. I’m sure you can imagine now how shocked I was to find that you were married to my brother.”
She gave a tinkling laugh. “How terrible it must have been for you. No wonder you’ve made yourself so ill! You must have been so disappointed. To have thought that you and I were having a love affair, only to find out it was only silly little Daisy!”
Despite everything Daisy had done, he found himself wanting to defend her. If he’d had any inkling that Violet was as shallow and vapid as he now knew her to be, he would have been glad to have known that it had been Daisy he’d been writing to all along.
“Well, thank you again for stopping by,” he managed. “I’m feeling rather tired now. I’d like to rest.”
“But you just woke up!” she said with a bit of a pout. Now that she knew her marriage was not at stake, she seemed more than willing to sit around and poke fun at him and her sister a little longer.
“Violet, I do not wish to speak about this any longer.” The look he gave her must have shown something of his true feelings, because she suddenly stood up, looking a bit rattled.
“Fine, I will leave you to your rest.” She was halfway to the door before she glanced back at him over her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll want to set Daisy straight. Let her know you could never care for her. Would you like me to summon her?”
He shook his head, inwardly cringing at the very thought. “I will talk to her in my own time, in my own way. I don’t need any help from you, Violet.”
With a pout, she closed the door behind her, leaving him alone with his rioting thoughts.
