Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke - Tessa Candle Page 0,19
else. But her dire proclamations did not have the effect she was hoping for. It was true that he had imperiled Katherine’s reputation, though there were no witnesses to his brief stay at her cottage. However, he was only too happy to restore her good name entirely by marrying her.
He turned to the black haired beauty who had stood by in silent dignity while Marie hurled every dart and insult in her arsenal. “My dearest Katherine.” He took a step toward her. “Kat. Will you make me the happiest of men and consent to be my wife?”
Her lovely mouth dropped open, but before she could utter any reply, a horrific howl came from Marie. He swung around and gaped as the crazed woman dissolved into a fit of histrionics, with much loud wailing about her broken heart and the inconstancy of men, and endless blubbering. She actually pulled at her own hair and hurled herself upon the snowy ground.
It was a ludicrous display. He was struck by the great contrast between the two women in his presence. One was blameless, with every reason to weep, yet holding her head up with poise and self-possession. The other was the author of her own comparably minor woes, but wept like an utter madwoman, for the mere sake of manipulation.
He sighed and shook his head at the scene before him, truly repenting his past decisions. He spoke to Katherine over his shoulder, “How can you forgive me for being such a blasted fool that I could not see what she was? How can you ever value the love of a man who once wasted his affection on an object so far beneath your merit, dearest, most wonderful Katherine?”
He turned to lock eyes with her so she might see into his heart, to repeat his proposal again and again. But she was gone. He cursed. Was she once more running away from him? He rushed back down the path. He would not let her slip through his fingers a second time.
Chapter 13 A Late Harvest
Katherine knew she should not remain to witness what was such a private conversation between Foxleigh and Marie, but she could not tear herself away. And, of the three of them, she was the only one with any right to be there. This was, of course, irrelevant. Rights had always been proportional to wealth, even if Katherine had only learned this hard lesson after her fall from the glittering tower of fashionable London.
Her heart fluttered. Fox was marvelous and handsome and completely right. As she watched him tear a strip out of Marie, Katherine found him almost irresistible. She went from wishing to kiss him, to wishing to drag him back to her cottage. His dark eyes flashed and his strong jaw clenched in a way that brooked no disagreement from the nasty scheming succubus.
Katherine was stirred, but she also felt vindicated—not only for the persecution she had suffered that day, but for everything Marie had done to destroy her happiness. Vindicated, but not compensated. No, that was something Katherine would never be.
And yet, even as she enjoyed the spectacle of Marie’s comeuppance, a cloud of guilt drew over her brow. She had thought the worst of Foxleigh, based only on the testimony of this snake in the grass. It was heart-breaking to realize how much she must have hurt him. How utterly gullible and foolish she had been to believe a single word of what Marie had told her so long ago.
After hearing their exchange, Katherine was certain that Foxleigh had only ever been guilty of making a very ill-conceived attachment with the merry widow, before he met Katherine. It was not a nice thing to think about, but he did not deserve Katherine’s abandonment. She had ruined everything by being a precious, over-protected, credulous little ninny. She had broken his heart and abandoned him at a moment when he was still in mourning. And she did it without even asking to hear his side of things.
What he must have thought of her! Had he believed, even for a moment, that she broke the engagement because of the paucity of his inheritance? He must have done.
Katherine’s cheeks burned. It was too awful, too mortifying. But what else was he to think? As he said to Marie, the timing was a remarkable coincidence.
She groaned internally and wished the earth would swallow her up. She thought she could bear anything—losing him, being homeless and poor forever, even the horror of watching