He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and he took the prized lamb.
Chapter 6
Cassie rose from bed at Mary’s insistence. The maid was peculiarly quiet, considering she must know. Everyone knew. But what frightened Cassie the most was Sidney’s stoic resolve to marry her.
Honor. Duty.
Those were not emotions. Those were obligations.
She was an obligation.
Her plan couldn’t have gone more wrong. Though the outcome was what she had always dreamed, instead the reality felt more like a nightmare. Now she would face her parents and brother, and the bad dream would only get worse.
They’d have questions, lectures, Tristan would make snide comments—ugh. She could imagine it now. It was like turning the cart all over again. She couldn’t explain what happened last night, any more than she could explain how the cart flipped. But it had. Her world had been turned upside down, only this time… She did have a hand in it.
At first it had seemed so easy. Note, secret meeting, mistletoe, kiss. What could have gone wrong? Everything. Apparently, she wasn’t the only woman who intended to lure Sidney to an assignation.
“Come along, your mother and father are waiting rather impatiently,” Mary said.
Cassie groaned. “I don’t want to go willingly to an inquisition.”
“Make up something silly. You were swept away in the excitement. It was the Mistletoe Masquerade, after all. You got the desired outcome. Lord Reardon is quite the catch. Better than the three gentlemen who proposed during the season.”
“But he doesn’t want to marry me. How can he? He’s being forced to.”
“Aye, he has to do the right thing. He’s a gentleman. A handsome one at that.”
Cassie glared at Mary’s back from above her dressing screen as she slipped off her nightgown.
“That is not what I wanted. I wanted him to fall in love with me.”
Mary gasped and turned. “I beg your pardon?”
“The intent was a kiss. Nothing more.”
“What more happened?” Mary asked with rabid interest, clutching Cassie’s stockings to her chest.
“Nothing. We were caught. I never intended to be caught.”
“That’s what they all say. But you did want him?”
Cassie sighed. “I did—I do. But the intent of the kiss was to see if he could have feelings for me, to see me as more than Tristan’s sister.”
Mary came around the screen and helped Cassie finish dressing.
“Men are simple creatures. Of course he’ll want you.”
“You didn’t see his face when he told me we’d marry. He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want to marry me. He has to.”
“Marriages have begun on shakier ground before. He’s a good man. He always treats the staff with respect. That says a lot about a person.”
Cassie moved to sit before her vanity. “I just wish…it had all been different.”
Mary nodded with sympathy as she brushed Cassie’s hair. Her nimble fingers made two plaits and wound them together into a bun on Cassie’s head. Mary plucked a few strands from her temples to make flirty wisps.
“There. You’re ready for the inquisition. What more could they possibly want of you? You’re marrying a viscount. It may not be the best of circumstances, but marriage does make amends.”
Cassie smiled weakly. “Thank you.”
She dragged her feet going down the stairs, praying her brother would sleep well past noon. He seemed to have a way of saying “I told you so” with just his eyes, whenever she’d made a mess of things.
But this was different. It wasn’t ink on her mother’s favorite shawl or a creek she couldn’t jump across. If Sidney hadn’t offered for her, she would be ruined, her family name made a mockery.
And at the worst time possible. It was almost Christmas. Cassie always loved this time of year. They didn’t get snow this far south, something Cassie had always wished to see, but the evenings frosted overnight, and most mornings sparkled like gems. She liked to bundle up with a hot cup of tea and sit on the terrace. She adored baking with her mother for the charity baskets, always a big undertaking in the kitchens where everyone helped.
It was the time of year when everyone drew close to stay warm, spent evenings talking or reading, and even her brother chose to be less of a scoundrel. But as she reached the breakfast room, all the cheer she normally felt was gone. In a single night.
“We’ll cancel the party.”
Cassie overheard her father saying from inside the breakfast parlor.
“I can’t have a drawing room full of people judging us,” her mother replied.
“They will judge us anyway. The sooner we get the wedding over with the better.”
Cassie paused outside the door. The footman stared at her in question. She shook her head, and he nodded, stepping back to his position without her parents noticing either of them. Cassie hid behind the door and listened. A little reconnaissance might be useful.
“It’s not her fault,” Tristan said. “We know how she is. Impulsive, reckless. I don’t know why she did it, but she wanted him to meet her there. I believe that. Sidney…how could he resist? He says he didn’t know it was her. That, I don’t believe. I hate to think it of him, but…”
Cassie cringed. So, he was awake and part of the firing squad.
Her mother sniffed. “Why would she send him a note?”
Cassie couldn’t take any more. She had the answers. It was time to just…confess. To everything. This was not Sidney’s fault. He should not bear any of the shame.
She pushed away from her niche and stepped into the room. “Don’t think anything terrible of him. It is my fault. I sent the note, and it was clear after we were discovered that he didn’t know it was me.”
Three startled gazes held her frozen.
“But why?” her mother asked.
“I just wanted a mistletoe kiss. I never thought we’d be caught if I chose somewhere secluded. And if…if he refused me, then no one would know. No one would see my humiliation but him.”
“Everyone saw the two of you,” Tristan grumbled.
“I can’t help that Lady Delilah had the same idea but doesn’t know north from south. It was…bad luck.”
Her father scoffed and folded his arms. “Bad luck? I’d say you’re damned lucky. As terrible as this situation began, you’re now engaged to a viscount and will be married as soon as he returns with a special license. I’ll brook no argument on that score.”
Cassie looked down and folded her hands in front of her. “I won’t argue.”
“Why? Why him for your little lark? It could have been anyone else, Matlock, Carrington?” Tristan asked. “You have countless admirers.”
Cassie was unsure if he was angry for her or at her. “No man of my acquaintance compares to Sidney. I’ve—I’ve known him so long now, and I…I love him. I wanted to know if he could love me back, if he could see me as something more.”
Tristan wiped his hands over his face and paced before the hearth. “A girlish fantasy.”
“A girlish fantasy would not have endured as my feelings have,” Cassie argued. “Don’t belittle me. I’ve had a season and three proposals. As you say, I have many admirers. But Sidney is the only one I want. Do you think I wanted to be caught? To be nothing more to him than a duty? Do you think I enjoy standing here and telling you any of this?”