shared my hurt and bafflement over my sister’s treatment of me. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being able to confide in Alana until that moment, how difficult it was not to have her advice and support. Now, when I needed it. Simply being able to share the burden eased its weight off my shoulders, allowing me to breathe more easily.
When I’d finished, Charlotte smiled at me sympathetically, clutching my one hand while I used the other to dab the remaining tears from my eyes with my handkerchief. “I’m sorry you’ve been enduring this all alone, and while expecting. But things are not so bleak, Kiera.”
“But I kept a secret from Gage I should never have withheld,” I protested.
“Yes, you did. But for the very best of reasons. And Gage will see that eventually. He’s simply wounded and angry right now. Give him some time to come to terms with what his father has done, with the discovery he has a brother.” She lifted her hand to tuck a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear. “If I know anything about Gage, it is how much he loves you. This won’t make him stop. In fact, it might make him love you more.”
I frowned in puzzlement at this statement, but before I could ask what she meant, she continued speaking.
“As for your sister, I suspect there’s more to her behavior than she’s telling you.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If you can find the reason behind her strong emotions and responses, a reason beyond even the fear she feels for you, I think you will have your answer.”
“You know something.” It was a statement, not a question, for I could see in her eyes that this wasn’t some hypothetical suggestion.
“No. Yes.” She frowned. “Maybe. I will think on it. But in the meantime, the next time she attacks you, see if you can probe deeper into her reaction.”
I nodded, unsure that I would be able to remain emotionless enough to do so. Or whether Alana would remain in the room long enough. She had the infuriating habit of walking away from an argument once she’d believed she’d won rather than waiting to listen to what I had to say in return.
I twisted my hands in my lap, and Charlotte eyed me patiently, recognizing that there was still something troubling me we hadn’t addressed. “But what about the way I flinch from Gage whenever he’s angry? I know he would never hurt me.” I pressed my hands to my chest. “I know it in my heart. And yet I can’t seem to help it. My body reacts before I can stop it.”
She grasped hold of my hands, waiting for me to look her in the eye. “I’m going to tell you something you told me once. Your husband’s actions are not yours to atone for.”
I blinked, fighting another wave of tears as she continued in her own words, knowing she was speaking of Sir Anthony.
“Even the wrongs he did to you.” She shook her head. “It’s not your fault any more than it’s mine what our late husbands did to us, or that our bodies have longer memories than our conscious thoughts.”
I nodded, unable to speak.
“Whatever pain or anger Gage and Rye are feeling when we quail or cringe, it isn’t so much at us as on our behalf. For they know there’s nothing they can do to erase the cause of it. All they can do is love us forward.”
My lips curled into a trembling smile at the impact that that truth had on me, soothing an ache inside me I hadn’t even known I needed to heal. “That’s very wise.”
“Well, I was helped along to it by the very best of women,” she proclaimed, chucking me playfully under the chin.
I smiled wider under her regard.
“Now, other than to see you looking so splendidly fecund . . .”
I laughed as she leaned back to gaze at the evidence of this.
“I really came to invite you to a dinner party my great-aunt is hosting.”
“Didn’t you and Lady Bearsden just return to Edinburgh?” I gasped in amused wonderment.
“Yesterday. But you underestimate my great-aunt. She has been known to send her staff into a flurry by deciding within an hour of her arrival that she’ll be hosting a soiree that very night. This time she’s at least giving them three days’ notice.” She tapped the back of my hand. “It’s on Wednesday and is certain to be enjoyable, for rather than