Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,88

my frustration, I’ve said many things to you that I didn’t mean, not the way I wielded the words—like weapons designed to cut to the bone—but the situation with your family couldn’t be ignored. Your standing and status matter, though not to me. To Catherine.

As I said, I won’t deny my wishes to separate my sister from your brother. But Georgie’s happiness is my purpose, always. On learning the depth of her feelings, I told her I would support her, and I would have. But it’s our aunt who stands in their way, not me.

On the matter of having damaged Wickham, I can only refute it by laying out the truth of what happened between us all. Wyatt was once my closest friend, and though he knew Georgie then, it wasn’t until she started at the firm that he sought her out. It never felt right, the two of them. I know now that it was because lies clung to him, only visible in glimpses—a slip of his mask, a moment when he thought no one was looking—but Georgie loved him and was happy. Any attempt to talk to her about my suspicions resulted in a fight. When they got engaged and he refused to sign the prenup I had drafted, there was no more trusting Georgie’s heart.

So I did some digging, hired an investigator. And I learned the truth for myself.

Wickham had developed a gambling addiction, one that put him into six-figure debt. I believe he loved my sister, but addiction changed him. His “business trips” were spent in Atlantic City, his debt spread out over a dozen credit cards and a handful of bookies. His rush to get married came on the heels of threats to his person from the people he owed. He claims I paid him to leave, and I did pay him, in a sense—I gave him the money to clear his debts. Not that he cared—I’d cut off his access to the coffers, an offense he’d never forgive. But I never threatened him, and I certainly never threatened Georgie. When presented with the truth, Georgie made up her own mind.

This is why I believed he was using you—partly because he uses everyone and partly because I suspect he has designs on revenge. I don’t know if you’re aware, but he’s been in contact with Georgie, asking to see her. And I can’t imagine he has noble purposes.

This is the truth as I know it, and if you haven’t already rejected it, I hope you’ll absolve me of these two accusations—I won’t ask for anything more. I should have told you all of this the moment I learned what he’d accused me of, but I wasn’t master enough of myself to know what I could or should say. I don’t know what lies he’s told you, but my only hope is that you’re now aware of who you’re dealing with. If he hurt someone else I care for, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try to stop it.

If your hatred of me makes this letter valueless, please talk to Georgie. She’ll tell you everything.

You won’t hear from me again. But know I wish you all the happiness in life, Laney.

—Liam Darcy

My hand covered my mouth as I read it again, too upset for comprehension, especially when it came to Wyatt.

I wanted to deny it, to believe it all a lie. For a moment, I did. I folded up the letter, put it in its envelope, and threw it in the trash. Within minutes, it was back in my hand, unfurled so I could read it again. I pored over the accusations while my mind worked the problem of deciding who was lying. I remembered the day Wyatt had told me about Darcy, the pain on his face and the bald honesty in his words. Had any of it been true?

Again, I read it, hesitating as I weighed it out. Because if this were true, Darcy was no villain after all. Haughty in his explanation, sure. Controlling enough to hire a private investigator to spy on Wickham. But he was faultless in Georgie’s broken heart beyond uncovering the truth. The lies Georgie had endured, the pain Wyatt had caused her … it was almost too much to stomach, somehow so much filthier than the lie that Liam had interfered without reason.

If it were one of my brothers, I might have done the same.

Everything slid into focus. The new perspective shook me as I replayed conversations