was all about the Molineuxs. They destroyed so many lives. Your predecessor treated his wife—my friend—so cruelly. He terrorized me when I was a child. The duke before him was a murderer and was never brought to justice!”
“Foolish woman!” he snarled. “Was this all due to a personal grudge against a man I didn’t even know? Did you not stop and think what might happen if your vile words were used to rouse a rabble?”
“I didn’t mean to rouse a rabble,” she said. “I started to doubt the words I wrote, but Mr. Stock said they were selling well, and I thought there was no harm in it.”
He stared at her.
“He promised he’d read my poems once I’d finished the articles,” she continued. “Can’t you understand that? I wanted my poems published so badly, and nobody would take them.”
“So you sold your integrity,” he said. “I suppose I’d expected too much when I believed you were different compared to the cold-hearted women of society. But you’re the same. Worse, even, for you deceived me into thinking you possessed a shred of honor.”
His words, spoken with such cold detachment, tore through her heart.
“Don’t say that!” she cried. “You can’t think I wanted anything destroyed.”
“And yet, I find my home, and most likely my business, destroyed,” he said. “You’re no better than the revolutionaries of France who tore down the houses of the aristocracy and ruined lives, murdering their way through the country to get their greedy hands on what they wanted.”
“How can you say such things!”
She reached for his hand, but he remained still.
“Fraser, please!” she cried. “Let me speak to Mr. Stock. He can withdraw the article. It was the final one.”
“It’s too late,” he said. “The damage is done.”
He threw the chemise at her. “Get yourself dressed.”
“Let me explain,” she pleaded.
“There’s no need. I only want you out of this house.”
“You’re throwing me out?”
“I’ll take you home in my carriage,” he said. “I wouldn’t toss anyone out on the street, however much they’ve sinned against me. You have ten minutes to get yourself dressed. I’ll await ye by the front door. I care not in what manner you leave this establishment, but it’s better for you if you undertake the journey fully clothed.”
“What will you do?”
Emotion rippled in his eyes, then he blinked, and it disappeared.
“At this moment,” he said, “other than ridding myself of you, I neither know nor care.”
“Fraser, please!” she cried. “I love you!”
His eyes hardened. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“I do!” she said. “You’ve shown me what it is to love, and that I was wrong to judge others. Does my love mean nothing to you? Do you not care for me? Even a little?”
Regret flickered across his eyes, then he shrugged. “I feel nothing for you, Miss Hart, other than disappointment.”
Before she could reply, he left the chamber, slamming the door behind him. Not long after, she heard him bark an order, then silence fell, punctuated only by the ticking clock and the beating of her shattered heart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As soon as the carriage drew to a halt outside Lilah’s home, Fraser opened the door and climbed out. Lilah followed. She slipped on the step, and he tightened his grip on her hand. Hope fluttered in her heart, but it was extinguished when he withdrew as if her touch burned him.
She smoothed her hair, painfully aware of her disheveled look. She hadn’t been able to reach the ties of her gown, and she prayed that her pelisse concealed her state of undress. Her petticoat had a small tear near the hem, and several threads in her stocking had been snagged. Sarah would likely remark on it tomorrow unless Lilah mended them herself.
A hand grasped her elbow and steered her toward the door. She tripped on the steps at the quickness of his pace. Did he have to show such eagerness to be rid of her?
The front door opened, and Lilah gave a cry of shame and recognition.
Dorothea stood before her.
“My God! What’s happened? You look terrible!” Dorothea glared at Fraser. “What have you done to her, you ruffian!”
He let out a cold laugh. “I’ve done nothing which she did not beg for. I suggest you ask what she has done.”
“Delilah?”
Thea’s soft inquiry released the tears which had been threatening to spill. With a sob, Lilah pushed past her sister and fled inside. She rushed up the stairs, almost knocking a maidservant sideways, and didn’t stop until she reached the safety of her