was not going to be deceived again. Mr. Northam was the man for me.
“See, my lord? I told you we would find her here.”
I spun around. Lord Williams and Alice walked toward me, Alice with a grin of triumph on her face, Lord Williams with a frown set with determination.
“I knew you’d be here, Margaret,” Alice repeated.
I glanced down to make sure my dress covered my ankles before sliding off the stone, trying to appear relaxed and unaffected by their sudden appearance. “Yes, I came out to . . . I needed a walk.”
“It’s going to storm,” Lord Williams said, indicating the clouds still some distance away.
I shrugged. “The rain will do us all a bit of good.”
“We should not be caught outside in it.”
I didn’t blame him for not wanting to ruin any more clothes. “It is still a ways off. But if you are worried, you needn’t remain.”
“Perhaps it will only be a light rain and we can play in it,” Alice chimed in.
“Yes, perhaps,” I replied. “Though from the looks of it, we should plan for something heavier.”
Lord Williams nodded in agreement.
“Alice, shouldn’t you be at your studies?” The hours after breakfast were usually devoted to her education.
She smiled shyly. “I came to show Lord Williams where you were. Mama said it was all right.”
“I wager she made you promise to return right away, though, didn’t she?”
Alice frowned. “Yes, she did. But we were only studying history, and I know it all so well already. I would much rather be out here with you.”
Lord Williams smiled. “Ah, you already know the whole of history? You must be quite brilliant.”
“Well, I don’t know all of it,” Alice admitted.
“Why don’t we return together?” I pushed off the rock and stepped toward Alice.
“Actually, Miss Brinton, I would like a word with you. In private,” Lord Williams said.
Did this have to do with the letter? “Alice, tell Mother we will be along directly.”
Alice glanced between us, something akin to eagerness lighting her eyes, and nodded. “All right.”
As she retreated up the path, I frowned. She had never been so easily persuaded to return to her studies, especially history. What was she about?
“Miss Brinton.”
I turned my attention to Lord Williams.
“Last night, when I mentioned Edward Rosthorn, I had not realized his connection to you and your family. I assumed you were acquainted, given your close friendship with Miss Rosthorn, but I was not aware that you and he had formed an attachment. I must apologize.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “My lord—”
His sigh interrupted me. “Please call me Gregory.”
Gregory. I shook my head in refusal. “Mr. Rosthorn and I were raised practically as brother and sister. You have nothing to apologize for.”
He stepped closer. “There is no need for pretense. I know of your former engagement to him.”
Suddenly light-headed, I leaned against the boulder for balance. Why was he bringing this up now? “I’m sorry, my lord, but I assure you—”
“Your sister told me everything,” he insisted, his voice cutting through mine.
I frowned. “I do not know what Alice told you, but you should not give credit to all her words. She was a child—only eight years of age at the time. Events are sure to have been distorted through misunderstanding.”
“Are you telling me that you were not engaged to Mr. Rosthorn?”
There was no way around such a direct question. “No. It is true. I was engaged to him.”
“And he broke it off?”
“No. I did.”
“Why?” He was determined to know. It showed in his eyes, in the firm set of his jaw.
I realized that the truth I was about to share was probably the surest way of guaranteeing Lord Williams’s retreat. I should have told him everything that first day.
He would judge me. People always did.
I squared my shoulders. Let him judge me. “He had a mistress—or perhaps a stream of them. His father wouldn’t allow him access to the estate funds until he’d married and settled down. As I told you that first night, I have something of a dowry attached to me. Marriage to me was an easy way for him to gain access both to his father’s funds and to a little extra on the side—my dowry is enough that it would have allowed him to keep his mistress, or mistresses, without much difficulty.”
“Then how is it he came to marry Lady Swenson?”
I shrugged. “No doubt he tricked her into falling in love with him.” The same as he had me.
The lake reflected the darkening clouds, the water almost as