Twice the Temptation (35 page)

“What did he say when—well after?” Olivia asked, breaking the silence. 

“Goodbye. He said goodbye.” Catherine hated that word. She’d despised it a year ago when he’d said it to her then. Last night it had become the most despised word in all the English language and had she the power, she would strike it from existence. It wasn’t right that a word so simple could only bring heartbreak to those in receipt of its sentiment. 

Meghan exchanged a look with Olivia before saying, “I don’t believe for one minute that this is the end. It is understandable that his initial response would be anger. But I’m quite certain that once he has some time to think on the matter, he will come to understand and forgive you for it. The uniqueness of your situation will compel him to.” 

Catherine had no idea where her friend’s faith was coming from but she thought it misplaced. Meghan hadn’t seen his face, the blank look in his eyes or heard the finality in his voice. He had washed his hands of her. 

Catherine shook her head and removed her hands from theirs. “Not this time. He believes me to be too much like his mother, whom he does not regard favorably.” 

Olivia and Meghan exchanged speculative looks and then turned to regard her. Catherine shook her head, indicating it wasn’t a subject she wanted to discuss. 

“Well I for one refuse to believe that the Catherine Rutherford I know is giving up,” Olivia said. “Do you believe that men like Mr. Lucas Beaumont grows on trees? Can be easily plucked like a flower from a bush? While he is an American I’ll grant you, he has a great deal else to recommend him. He is excessively handsome, learned, and wealthy by anyone’s standards. Rhys finds his company agreeable and says he is more intelligent than the majority of his peers. You now have proof that it is
you
he truly loves. In my opinion, that’s the sort of man a woman should be willing to fight for. That either of you would deny yourselves a future together would be the greatest of all tragedies in this whole affair.” 

From Olivia, Meghan turned her gaze back to Catherine. “I would not have said it as eloquently, but all of what Olivia said is true. You must fight for him. If you let him go, your heartache will be ten-fold should you meet up with him in the future—and chances are that you will—and he’s married to someone else. Has children that by rights should be yours.” 

Meghan’s words pummeled down hard and unrelenting, the pain it caused, excruciating. Charlotte could clearly picture the scene, Lucas with his beautiful wife on one side and dark-haired, hazel-eyed children on the other. She blinked in a valiant attempt to banish the image from her mind’s eye to no avail. 

“What am I to do?” she asked, turning pleading eyes to her friends. 

Meghan smiled, looking triumphantly resolute. “You are going to remind him precisely why he fell in love with you in the first place.” 

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-
F
OUR
 

L
ucas had returned to his leased house the following morning. That evening, he planned to take the train back to London.

By the afternoon, he was prowling the first-floor rooms like a caged animal, replaying the scene with Catherine from the prior evening again and again in his mind. He couldn’t ever remember feeling that level of betrayal. Not even when he was young and his mother had put the interests of veritable strangers above his care and wellbeing. 

He was pacing the library when his valet informed him Lady Avondale was there to see him. He joined her in the drawing room minutes later. 

“Charlotte,” he greeted upon entering. 

She had been standing with her back to him as she admired the figurines on the étagère and turned nervously when he spoke. 

One of the things that had first attracted Charlotte to him, beyond her beauty, was the air of guilelessness about her. She’d made no pretense of false modesty, which he’d found thoroughly refreshing. Today, she looked young and innocent, her dress a soft gray with splashes of pink and white. But her eyes held a culpability she couldn’t hide and told the tale of her participation in the deceit. 

“Lucas.” She watched him warily as he approached, a hesitant smile on her lips. 

“What has brought you here today?” he asked and lightly bussed her cheek. He sported a day’s growth of whiskers but he was certain that wasn’t the reason she seemed to flinch when his lips barely brushed her skin. 

Lifting his head, he asked dryly, “Or perhaps I should ask what name you would like to be addressed by today as it appears someone has absconded with your true identity?” 

Charlotte squirmed and averted her gaze. “May we sit?” She nodded toward the sofa and armchairs set around a low wooden table. 

Lucas waited until she had made herself as comfortable as she was going to be in the next half hour before he did likewise. 

She exhaled heavily and met his gaze directly. “I am so very sorry, Lucas. Please accept my sincerest apologies. But this was the only way to eliminate the doubts my sister had about your feelings for her. And to set matters straight, it was I who convinced her to do this. She was loathe to deceive you.” 

“I should have known the truth the moment she claimed she’d made a mistake going back to her husband. I should have known then that that was a lie,” he said softly. 

Her gaze dropped to her lap, where her bared fingers were laced together like a prayer. 

“Does your husband know anything about this? Does he know you’re here?” Lucas was almost certain he did not. 

“Yes, he knows I’m here. I told him about the scheme the minute I received the message from Katie informing me among other things that you had left the house party. Even had things not gone wrong, I always planned to tell him just as Katie was going to tell you.” 

“Just when was she going to tell me?” he asked sarcastically.
Before or after I took her on the bed?
 

“I’m sure she would have told you when she thought you’d be more receptive to the truth. We wouldn’t have allowed you to believe that I was unhappy in my marriage.” 

Lucas shook his head, weary and stupefied. “But why would
you
permit this? What if this crazy scheme of yours resulted in gossip about us? Did you even consider that? What it might have done to your reputation?” He was sure her husband would have found a way to blame him for that and would have made every attempt to run him out of England. 

“Believe me, no one would believe that you and I were romantically involved. They’d more believe that it was Catherine with you. In any event, we’d have never allowed it to get that far out of hand.” 

Lucas didn’t know whether he should be relieved or offended. The notion wasn’t that absurd. He’d had many married women place themselves directly in the path between him and a bed. 

“Oh do not look so affronted. You are quite aware of your appeal. It’s simply that no one would believe that I would ever cuckold my husband any more than he would ever be unfaithful to me.” 

Oh yes, their undying love for one another, something he himself had witnessed firsthand. 

“Oh Lucas, please don’t hold this against Katie. She does love you ever so dearly.” 

“Yes, so she proves daily,” he said wryly. 

“You must forgive her. I know you are angry now but I hope this won’t cause a permanent rift between you.” 

“There is nothing between us now.” Even as he uttered the words, he knew it was his pride talking and not his heart. He wouldn’t be able to evict her from his heart for some time to come. And if the year apart from her was a good gauge for his feelings, he may never stop loving her. Just the thought of being forever without her was suffocating. 

Charlotte’s eyes went wide in alarm and she was quickly at his side on the sofa, her hand clutching his arm. “Oh but that can’t be,” she whispered, her eyes imploring, her expression anguished. 

“Charlotte, while I can understand a certain amount of wariness on Catherine’s part given the circumstances, but what she did…” All Lucas could do was shake his head. Her actions weren’t a simple matter of having doubts or misgivings. She didn’t trust him at all. And that kind of distrust couldn’t be eliminated by one deceitful event. 

“Listen, there are things you don’t know about us—about Catherine. If you only knew, you would understand why this has been so hard for her.” 

Lucas straightened, angled toward her, and asked sharply, “What is it that I don’t know?” God he was pitiable but he’d latch on to any reason that would help excuse what she’d done. 

“Unfortunately, it is not for me to tell you. But Katie will in time, I am sure.” 

Lucas gritted his teeth in frustration. What hope did he have in salvaging their relationship if he didn’t know what he was up against? He didn’t want to be beating his head against a wall, the damn thing felt as if it had been pounded enough in the last day. 

Again Charlotte placed her hand gently on his sleeve. “Before we came to live with James, our life was not a particularly happy one. It is not that we wanted for material things. We had it better than most orphans, our father saw to that. But as you know, we never knew him or our mother. Until James learned about us and took us in, the only love we knew was of the love we had for one another. It was only in the past year that I came to realize that an upbringing such as the one we had changes a person. It changes how we see the world and how we perceive love.” 

“I am very fortunate that my husband is a patient and forgiving man. And I thank God every day that he loves me despite my numerous faults. I hope you will see your way to forgiving her as I am sure you won’t permit what has happened to mar our friendship?” Her voice rose at the end in question. 

A soft light lit her eyes and it blazed with love when she spoke of her husband. Charlotte had never told him why she’d left the marquess on their wedding day. But he knew the man hadn’t known about his son until she’d returned to London. 

But whatever the reasons for the breakup, her husband had forgiven her, and Charlotte had never looked happier. Lucas would love to believe he and Catherine could achieve the same level of happiness. 

But his doubts persisted. “Yes but what if my actions last evening weren’t enough? What will she do then? God knows the likes of what she will attempt to subject me to. Will I be forced to choose between the two of you, who to save as you both dangle from a cliff, or which to rescue from a burning house?” 

The light slap of her hand on his arm brought a small smile to his face. 

“You are being silly,” she chided affectionately. “Really, I never took you for a man prone to theatrics.” 

“I am quite serious,” he said, his expression sobered. “You would be my sister-in-law. One day I may say something, smile at you in such a way that has her mind conjuring God only knows what.” 

A sad little smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Do you know what I learned this past year? I learned that true love can and will stand the test of time, distance and human foibles. My husband’s love for me taught me that. It survived my failings as well as his, although mine were by far the most injurious. I pray that for both your and Katie’s sake, yours will as well.” 

Lucas wanted nothing more than to believe her but…he’d long ago learned the lesson that one should not wish and hope for someone to change. 

Yes, he loved her. But he knew that sometimes loving someone was not always enough. 

T
wo days after the house party ended, Catherine stood beside her friends on the platform of the Reading train station. Accompanying Olivia and Meghan on their hour-long journey to London were their respective chaperones, Miss Thomas and Mrs. Griffin, who chatted amicably with one another, and their three lady’s maids.

The breeze was a cool respite for the hotter-than-usual spring day. The whistle of the coming train sounded in the distance. It should arrive within minutes. 

“Will your brother and his family be traveling directly to London from Devon?” Olivia inquired of Catherine as she adjusted her bonnet.