Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke - Tessa Candle Page 0,11
I—”
Her jawline grew squarer, and never before had he been so aware of how pitiably thin she had grown, but pride still radiated from every pore. “You mistake me, Foxleigh. It is not the amount of the offer that affronts me.”
“Then what, my d—” he stopped himself. He was making a real hash of things, adding endearments to his address would only make her more suspicious of his motives. “Please, be practical. I am only trying to spare you from starvation. Let me do at least this much for you, until I can do more.”
She levelled an icy stare at him. Perhaps he should not have added that last bit. “You have done quite enough. There is no sum on earth that would tempt me. I am not Marie Dubois.”
Foxleigh grimaced. Marie again, haunting his happiness, rising up like a spectral cloud of poison between them. “I know very well that you are not her. You are in every way as superior to her as—” He could not think of an appropriate analogy. “There is no comparison to be made. I am sorry that you ever heard about her. She was a mistake and in my past.”
Katherine issued a snort of contempt. “I can well imagine that you wish I had never heard of your affair, but did you really think the ton would keep quiet about such a thing? Did you spare a single thought for my feelings when you took up with her while you courted me?”
Foxleigh’s jaw dropped. This was what she thought? He imagined she might have heard of the affair, especially when Marie came back to town and was being so indiscreet. But whatever could have given her the idea that they were still involved after he met Katherine? “Who told you such a thing? Marie was nothing but a past acquaintance by the time I met you.”
“So you did not meet with her again when she came back and revealed she was carrying your child?” Her voice was cold. He would almost prefer her tears to this icy placidity.
“It is not my child.” He was furious—not with Katherine, but he could not keep the anger out of his voice.
“But you cannot deny it. You met with her, apparently on the very day that she paid a call to me to let me know how things were between you, and to reveal the presence of your sideslip growing in her. The affair was not over.”
“It was—wait a moment! She had the audacity to speak to you?” Ah yes, she had mentioned something like this before, right before he passed out. His memory was not at its best, and he really needed to stop losing consciousness. It was not very manly.
“I do not pretend to like your taste in mistresses, and when she said, in a nauseatingly saccharine tone, that she hoped in time I could come to see that we were just two women who both took care of you, I almost struck her. But however self-righteous her manner, I received the message very clearly: she was not going anywhere, and if I married you, she and her child would be permanent fixtures in my life. Whatever her motives, at least she did me the favour of being tactlessly truthful.”
God smite Marie with the pox! She had actually said such a thing to Katherine, lied about their relationship and claimed the child was his! How could he ever make Kat believe him? “Do not fool yourself! That woman only uses ‘truth’ as a pretty, thin tissue in which she wraps her deceptions. She treated you to the same tricks she plays on everyone!”
“She told me of your affair, which is more honesty than I received from you.”
“Because it was over before I met you. Why ever would I throw it in your face?” He grasped his hair in frustration, then winced as his bruised head pained him. “I am not a perfect man, Katherine. I do not claim to be a saint, but my love for you has always been true and faithful.” He could see from the anger and misery on her face that she did not believe him, that his professions rang false in her ear and only added an insult to the injury. Blast Marie to hell for breaking Katherine’s heart! No wonder Kat ended the engagement.
Katherine huffed finally and put her hands on her hips. “I have to make us something to eat. I am sorry you will only have a