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Knighton glanced at Juliet. “I’m sorry, my dear, but I do think we have to tell them our story.” He set his shoulders, then began, “You see—”

“No,” she interrupted, “it is my affair, and I will tell it.”

Sebastian could scarcely hold his surprise. The shy Juliet he’d known wouldn’t have volunteered.

Knighton seemed surprised, too. “Very well, if you wish.”

Taking a deep breath, Juliet drew herself up. “When I met Morgan Pryce in Stratford-upon-Avon, he styled himself Captain Will Morgan and claimed to be on leave from an army regiment.”

As briefly as possible, she explained what had happened: how “Will Morgan” had courted her and convinced her to elope with him, how they’d traveled night and day to Sussex, where he’d claimed to be meeting friends who’d carry them by ship to Gretna Green.

Sebastian wasn’t sure what to make of her bloodless tone. Had his encounter with her faded into the past so fully that it no longer touched her? That would make matters easier for him, but if she no longer felt strongly about what had happened, why was she here after so long?

She spoke of her horror at discovering that Captain Will Morgan’s real name was Morgan Pryce, and that he was working for a smuggling gang who’d charged him with kidnapping her and bringing her to Sussex. Then her impassive façade cracked. Her self-reproach at not having realized the truth sooner affected Sebastian more than he liked, and he had to look away to regain control of his emotions.

Behind her, his uncle’s eyes held a faint, mocking amusement. “A kidnapping? Morgan would never have kidnapped a lady and certainly not on behalf of smugglers. Although I’m sure some men would do such things, it wasn’t in Morgan’s character.”

Sebastian gritted his teeth.

“Nonetheless, he did it,” Knighton snapped.

Knighton took up the tale where Juliet had left off. Sebastian could feel her probing eyes on him as Knighton laid out his past actions with ruthless efficiency. How “Morgan” had brought her before the smugglers, whose purpose in having her kidnapped was to extort a ransom from Knighton. How “Morgan” had demanded information from Crouch before he would hand her over.

Sebastian ached to look at her, to discern how she felt about all of it. But he couldn’t risk her reading his feelings. Just as he hadn’t dared try to see her during the past two years, not with so much at stake. Hadn’t dared approach the lovely, mature woman she’d become.

And damn her for growing into that. Even at eighteen, she’d borne the promise of future beauty, a golden angel with graceful curves and rich, honeyed hair. But now…

Had it been only two years since she’d offered him those shy, naive smiles that had posed such a threat to his peace of mind?

Devil take his peace of mind. She now posed a threat to something weightier—his estate and tenants, his brother’s future, his very own life. If her brother-in-law was as bent on revenge as he seemed, he could shatter everything, so Sebastian must play this out very carefully.

Knighton was still explaining how “Morgan” had behaved in the final moments, when there came a knock at the door.

“That must be the tea,” Uncle Lew remarked as he bade the servant to enter. “How timely. After a tale like that, I’ve got the shivers.”

Sebastian glared at his gloating uncle, but everyone else merely watched in silence while the maid brought in the tray.

“That’ll be all, Mary,” Sebastian said curtly.

The maid bobbed her head and hurried off, as timid around him as his maidservants always were.

Even after she left, no one touched the tea tray. Sebastian fixed Griff with a stony look. He wanted one particular point repeated for his deuced uncle’s sake. “You say that ‘Morgan’ did the right thing in the end. That after he gained this information he wanted, he refused to hand her over, but instead helped her escape the smugglers, thus thwarting their plans to get a ransom from you.”

Knighton whisked a hand in the air dismissively. “Yes, but the damage was done. He’d carried Juliet alone with him over half of England day and night, if you take my meaning.”

Sebastian certainly did, and if he was implying such an abominable thing, then Juliet had lied to the man, blast her!

“He stole her maidenhead?” Uncle Lew’s smug humor vanished as he frowned at Sebastian.

“No!” A wild blush stained Juliet’s cheeks. “No, he did not.”

Sebastian’s anger ebbed. Ah, so she hadn’t lied. Thank God. He’d have a hard time explaining that to Uncle Lew.

“But she was compromised all the same,” Knighton went on with fierce determination. “Worse yet, her other sister, Helena, and my man of affairs had gone after her and were taken by the smugglers as well. It was only through their efforts that the smugglers were completely routed. Morgan, however, vanished in the final battle.”

“After seeing Juliet safe,” Sebastian put in.

Knighton glared at him. “Yes—or as safe as a compromised woman can be.”