“No, I—”

“It isn’t, is it?”

“No.”

“If anything, you’ve made it worse.” She shook her head. “We cannot continue to say we aren’t going to see each other and then do so whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

“You’re right, of course.”

She drew a deep breath. “There cannot be a repeat of this.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“I want your word. Promise me this will not happen again.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “I can’t.”

“And I cannot guarantee that I am able to keep my own feelings at bay.” Her voice softened. “I never imagined something so very wrong would feel so very right.”

“Celia, I—”

“But I cannot—I will not—allow this to happen again.” Even in the faint starlight he could see determination in the set of her chin. “The only way to truly deal with temptation is to remove it entirely.”

“What do you mean?” Fear clutched at his heart.

“As neither of us apparently has the strength of character necessary to manage our circumstances—” she heaved a resigned sigh “—as soon as possible, even before the wedding if it can be arranged, I intend to leave Danby to take up residence in London with my aunt. And...”

His breath caught. “And?”

“And I never want to see you again, Henry. I can’t.” She stepped toward the terrace door then paused. “It’s for the best.” She nodded and continued on her way, out of his life. Forever.

He stared after her. She was right, one dance, one kiss would never be enough with Celia. He was an idiot to have believed that for so much as an instant.

But then stupidity seemed to have become part of his nature of late. Since he’d met Celia, since he’d met Katherine, he’d done one ill-advised thing after another. But the most insane act of all still lay ahead. And that he could do something about.

Resolve swept through him and he started toward the ballroom. If Ned hadn’t yet come up with an idea to save Henry from this wedding, Henry would have to beg off. He was not going to sacrifice the rest of his life to a stupid mistake. After tonight, after everything Katherine had revealed, going through with the wedding would be absurd. Living with himself after going back on his word wouldn’t be nearly as hard as living with Katherine. Celia might never understand but then he suspected he had already lost her. He would be miserable enough spending the rest of his life without her; he’d prefer not to compound that with a wife he couldn’t abide. Father would have understood—once he met Katherine. Besides, his father never would have encouraged him to keep his commitment to a woman who was only interested in his family connections and his fortune. Father had a name for women like that.

Henry found Ned engaged in a lighthearted flirtation with a pretty red-haired lady. He caught his brother’s gaze and indicated he needed to speak to him. A few minutes later Ned joined him in the library.

“What did you say to Katherine?” Henry asked without preamble, handing his brother a freshly poured glass of whisky.

Ned studied him coolly. “Are you certain you want to know?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t like it. It involves a certain amount of deceit and deception and outright lies.”

“I am a desperate man, Ned. I am willing to accept anything that will save me.”

“It might jeopardize your standing as the good brother.”

“It’s a risk I will take,” Henry said wryly and sipped his whisky.

“So the good brother isn’t quite as good as one might think.” Ned grinned.

“Desperate times, Ned. Now, what have you done?”

“As we agree that one of the qualities your bride seems to appreciate most in you is the size of your banking accounts—”

Henry grimaced.

“—one can assume if you’d lost your fortune she would call off the wedding. So I simply led her to believe you were broke.” Ned took a sip of whisky. “I told her we both were.”

“Do you realize there are rampant rumors about that very thing?”

“Excellent.” Ned grinned. “You can thank Mrs. Blodgett and her friends for that. It was their idea.”

“Was it?”

“And a brilliant one at that.” Ned chuckled.

“But it’s a lie.” Henry stared at his brother. “Unless there is something you’re not telling me.”

“I suspect there are all sorts of things I haven’t told you.” He flashed his brother an unrepentant grin. “Did you meet that lovely widow I was—”

“Ned!”

“Yes, I suppose that can wait. Although she’s American and quite engaging... Not that it matters at the moment of course.” He paused. “I realize you do not condone deceit, Henry. And for offending your overly honest sensibilities, I do apologize. However—” he raised his glass “—it was done in your best interest and regardless of what you might think, I will not tell Katherine the truth. If this saves you from an unwanted marriage to that scheming witch—”

“It won’t.” Henry shook his head. “I spoke with Katherine earlier, hoping that she had realized what a mistake our marriage would be. It seems she is confident in your abilities to recover the family fortunes.”

“Surely not.” Ned stared in disbelief.

“Oh, yes. Furthermore, she doesn’t seem to think that you will ever marry, which means eventually I, or my future son, will be the earl.” Henry blew a long breath. “Apparently, she wants the position more than the money.”

“Well, this is certainly an unexpected twist in the game.” Ned thought for a moment. “We’ll simply have to come up with something else.”

“No, Ned.” Henry shook his head. “I’m going to beg off. I can’t marry her.”

“You’ve never gone back on your word.”

“Then this will be a first.”

“I can’t allow that.” Ned shook his head. “For one thing—you’d never forgive yourself. For another—it takes a great deal of pressure off of me for you to be the good, honorable brother. I would hate to give that up.”

“But—”

“I’ll talk to Mrs. Blodgett.” Ned’s forehead furrowed in thought. “She’s shockingly devious and somewhat diabolical. I find her delightful. Between the two of us, we’ll come up with a new plan.”

“I would much prefer Katherine be the one to end it.” Henry considered his brother then nodded. “Very well. I’ll give you until the day before the wedding, the day after tomorrow. But if you haven’t thought of something by then, I’ll break it off with Katherine. I won’t add insult to injury by leaving her at the altar.”

“Leave it to me, Henry. With Mrs. Blodgett’s help, I’m certain we can think of something brilliant.” He cast an affectionate smile at his brother. “And then you can be with Celia.”

“Yes, well, I’m afraid I’ve mucked that up beyond repair.”

“But I saw you dancing with her.”

“I thought just one dance, one kiss, and we could go on with our lives as expected.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “You kissed her?”

“It was a stupid thing to do.” Henry shrugged. “She never wants to see me again.”

“She’ll change her mind when you are a free man.” Confidence rang in Ned’s voice.

“Do you really think so?”

“Without question,” Ned said firmly. “Refusing to see you again is what Celia believes to be the right thing to do. And at the moment it probably is. But she is an intelligent woman. Once you are no longer engaged to Katherine, Celia will realize that the reasons you can’t be together no longer exist.”

“Are you sure?” For the first time tonight, the smallest spark of hope flickered inside him.

“One can never be completely sure with women. They are odd, curious creatures who cannot be fully understood or predicted. Especially when they are in love. But with a bit of persistence and determination, I do think there’s a very good chance that you can win her back.” He met his brother’s gaze directly. “I know you, Henry. You may well be able to eventually accept going back on your word but you’ll never forgive yourself for not fighting for the woman you love.”






Day Five


CHAPTER FOURTEEN


“I NEVER WOULD have imagined that we had it wrong.” Gwen paced the width of the library, doing her best to avoid Edward, who paced the length.

“I must say, I don’t like being wrong,” Edward muttered. “It’s not the first time of course, but I don’t like it. My father never made mistakes. He was, well, infallible. The perfect earl, if you will.”

Whose shoes were no doubt incredibly difficult to fill.

“Perfect or not, I daresay even an infallible earl would fail to suspect an ambitious female would be more interested in social position than in wealth.” Gwen still found it difficult to believe that Katherine would choose social position over money.

“There has to be a way to maneuver the woman into throwing Henry over.”

“But Katherine wants something that isn’t entirely within her reach.” Gwen pulled up short. “Good Lord, she is as much a gambler as her father. She’s betting you will not have an heir other than Henry.”

“Or she’s wagering I’ll die.” He shuddered. “And sooner rather than later, I suspect.”

“Perhaps we should be sitting outside your room at night?”

“Oh, would you, Gwen?” He cast her a wicked smile.

“Stop that, Edward.” She choked back a laugh. “This is serious.”

“I am serious.”

“No wonder you have a less-than-spotless reputation.”

“Had a less-than-spotless reputation,” he said firmly. “I have reformed a great deal in recent years. Responsibilities of the position and all.”

“Regardless, I have never met anyone as flirtatious as you.”

“Thank you,” he said in a most immodest manner. “It’s a gift.”

“Pity you haven’t put that gift to better use. If you had found a wife, you might already have a son and heir, and Katherine would have no reason at all to marry Henry.”