The Problem with Seduction - By Emma Locke Page 0,112
let it be her father’s work.
Lord Bart didn’t take his eyes from the window. “I’m not sure how much you’re aware of our youngest brother’s proclivities. But then, perhaps you do know. Constantine has been paying off his debts. They’re monstrous.”
She did know that. But why would the moneylenders have beaten him now? She’d paid all of his debts to the cent, with blunt to spare.
Unless he had new debts. She felt numb. “I wish he would have confided in me,” she murmured. Had he worried she’d find him pitiful? But she knew it wasn’t his habits that caused his debt. And they’d been so close with the canal…
Remorse wracked her. If she’d told him about the quarry, might he have paid his brother’s creditors before they took it out on his face? Was this partly her fault? Surely, she was culpable.
Lord Bart drummed his fingers on his thigh. He still didn’t look at her. “Your offer of bailment is no doubt noble in your eyes, but it’s no help to Constantine or Darius. They must both learn responsibility. They’re almost thirty, for God’s sake.”
“I see.” She frowned and hugged herself. He was right. Settling Con’s obligations kept him dependent on her. She knew that. It was why she hadn’t mentioned the quarry. She’d thought he’d leave her.
What a horrid, horrid thing to have done to the man she loved. She gripped her elbows until her nails dug into her skin. She had to come clean to Constantine. She’d never forgive herself for not trusting him, not when it was so markedly clear that he’d go to any lengths to aid a person he loved.
Lord Bart sighed, a deep exhale that gave evidence to his worry and his weariness. “It wasn’t Constantine who drew the toughs. In a stroke of injustice, he was mistaken for Dare. As if it isn’t enough that Constantine has sold his soul to you for Dare—” For the first time, Lord Bart grinned. Even tense as he was, the effect was devastating. “I didn’t mean to imply you’re the Devil, Lady Elizabeth.”
“Of course not,” she murmured, but he’d unmistakably let his tongue slip. He very much did think she was the Devil. She could understand why. She’d treated Con despicably, and now she’d dragged his entire family into her misfortune. Even if she’d done it to save her son, she was still to blame.
Lord Bart leaned slightly forward. His fingers ceased drumming and fisted. She suspected this flare up was a side of him that he hid from others, but was about to let loose on her. Simply because she was there with him, closer than he allowed anyone to be. “It’s just so like him. Nothing I ever say or do will convince him to think of himself first. Look at his actions and tell me if he’s responsible or irresponsible, because I can’t decide. Ruining himself for his selfish prick of a brother. Taking a beating to within an inch of his life for him. Getting himself arrested, because he’s decided to protect you just as strongly as he shields any of us. What kind of man does these things?”
She should tell Lord Bart about the quarry now. Admit her hesitation was nothing more than a lapse of trust. She wet her lips. The dryness in her mouth made it almost impossible to speak, and then there was her fear. The quarry affected all of the Alexanders. They would all be angry with her, and then what would happen to Con? She couldn’t tell them she’d hoarded the information without explaining why. They’d demand to know how she could have “forgotten” to tell them.
Her tongue usually worked like quicksilver. She could come up with a plausible excuse, surely…
Enough. If she did nothing else honest for the rest of her life, she wouldn’t compound her mistake by slipping them a falsehood now. But that left her in a quandary. Would Lord Bart continue to represent his brother and try to save Oliver, if he knew he was defending a liar? Or would he wash his hands of her? Of them?
Her indecision lasted just a breath too long. Lord Bart sat back as the carriage slowed. “Don’t disappoint him. He’s always been able to see good in people the rest of us have given up on. If you take that from him, you’ll have destroyed one of Society’s greatest believers. All of his sacrifices will have been for nothing.”