The Duke Didn't Want Love — He Wanted a Practical Wife. Then Her Carriage Arrived 40 Minutes Late
Chapter 12
Theme:
Font Size:
24px
"They resemble my initials. I did not write them there.""You have examined the accounts.""With your permission. I have never witnessed the delivery of slates to Briarcombe."He should have begun by asking where she had been, who had handled the document, what actual delivery could be verified. Instead, he heard himself say: "I need to know why your initials are here."Her face became very still. "I cannot tell you why another person has written something in my name.""Vane believes—""Mr. Vane believes many things. What do you believe?"Avery did not answer at once. He looked at the genuine mark on the older sheet, then at her hands, folded so firmly that the fabric of her gloves creased between her fingers. "I must understand the papers before I decide.""You have already decided whom I must satisfy.""That is unfair.""Is it?" Her voice did not rise. "I have told you that I did not sign it. You have not asked me one question that begins with the possibility that I am telling the truth.""I am trying to be careful.""So was I in my former employment. I was careful with figures. I was careful with the truth. And when a respectable man said I was difficult, everyone found it easier to believe him."Avery moved toward her. "Helena—""Why did you not believe me, Avery?"The question held no fury; that made it unbearable. She waited, looking at him as she had looked at him beside the stagecoach, with steady eyes and no willingness to pretend about what mattered. He wanted to tell her he did believe her, yet he had chosen the comfort of Vane's history over her plain denial, and she could see it. Words crowded his mind, none honest enough to survive being spoken."When it was easy to trust me," she said, "you said you did. What happens now that it is difficult?""I need to ask Vane about the way the papers were kept."She closed her eyes for the briefest instant. "Then you have given me your answer."He felt as though a door had opened beneath his feet. "I have not accused you of theft.""You need not accuse me of anything. You have made me prove that I deserve to be heard before you will hear me."Marian appeared at the doorway, concern plain in her face. Helena turned to her. "I should like to go home, if you please."Avery stepped forward."Our engagement must end for now," Helena said. "I cannot promise to build a life with a man who places my word below that of someone he has known longer. I have lived under that judgment before; I will not consent to it again."Marian did not argue. She gathered Helena's things, and the carriage returned along the nine-mile road in the failing light.Helena sat upright for most of the journey, answering her companion's gentle questions in sentences that were painfully precise. Only after she had reached her own room did her composure give way: she pulled off one glove and saw that the blue thread seam at the thumb had come loose; she stared at it until tears blurred the small, familiar repair.