The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,56

have to tell us, of course,” Celeste assured her with a gentle hand on her knee. “But it’s obvious something happened, and we are sisters in this horrific experience, aren’t we? No one wants to judge, just help.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t judge,” Pippa said softly. “Though I would deserve it.”

They waited for her, letting her consider her next move. Truth be told, she so desperately wanted to reveal everything to them. She needed to say it all out loud, to pour it out because maybe it wouldn’t fester so much. Perhaps if she heard it out loud, she could find some way to fight it.

She took a long breath and let it fall from her lips. That she was in love with him. That she believed him in love with her, too. That they’d become lovers. And that it was over, which was why the tension had flowed between them today. When she was finished, she felt the tear slide down her cheek and hated herself for it.

But neither of her friends seemed to feel that way. Abigail put her arms around her and drew her closer, letting Pippa rest a head on her shoulder. “You two always had a deeper connection,” she said softly. “From the first moment he and Mr. Gregory arrived with you at the beginning of this madness, I saw the spark.”

“I will never forget when he came to the boarding house where I was staying while I searched for Erasmus. When Rhys walked in, it was like someone turned me inside out,” Pippa admitted. “I could hardly breathe. I hated myself for being so weak, and hated myself more when I realized the earl was Erasmus’s brother. How unseemly! How dreadful and wrong.”

“No, it isn’t,” Celeste said with a sharp shake of her head. “There is nothing wrong with any of us looking for love where we can find it. Erasmus was a great many horrible things, but his brother has never been anything but decent. And he’s handsome, too. Are you certain there is nothing that can be done about it?”

“Of course not,” Pippa said, getting to her feet and pacing the room. “We all know the situation. Rhys has a legacy to protect, a name and a title to rebuild. If he linked himself to me…even as a mere mistress…it would send ripples through Society that he would likely never recover from.” She sighed. “I-I wouldn’t do that to him. I love him too much.”

“Oh, Pippa,” Abigail whispered.

“Please don’t feel pity,” Pippa said. “I couldn’t bear it, and I must be able to bear so much more. I will take on a role helping to raise Kenley. Rhys wants to be a part of his life, too, to help him be prepared for whatever will come. I must find a way to let go of this. To bury it, even if I cannot kill it. So if I look at you two and see pity every time I mention Rhys’s name or am in the same room as the man…”

“I understand,” Celeste said. “You will have no pity from us, love. I promise. Only support.”

“Yes,” Abigail said, but a little slower. “Always our support.” She worried her lip. “So how was it, though?”

Celeste’s mouth dropped open and she pivoted toward her friend. “Abigail!”

“Please, as if you weren’t wondering the same thing.” Abigail snorted.

Celeste opened and shut her mouth like a fish, but her cheeks filled with color that proved Abigail’s point. With anyone else in the world, Pippa would have rebuffed the wildly inappropriate question, but here? Here she could be honest.

She moved toward them, clasping her hands to her chest. “I had no idea it could be like that. The man is…magical.”

“Excellent,” Abigail said, casting a quick glance toward Celeste. “You deserve nothing less. Though I suppose our Celeste wins the prize, for she married her gentleman.”

Celeste blushed bright as a plum. “You two!” she gasped.

Pippa laughed and the cheeky comment seemed to lighten the entire room. All of them moved to the sideboard to get tea. But even as she tried to return to some kind of normalcy with her friends, Pippa couldn’t help but think of the man who had left her side less than half an hour before.

And know that things would never be the same again, and the rest of her life would only be pretending that was acceptable.

Rhys bent his head and kept his gaze focused on the path before him. The park across from Abigail’s