Chapter 22 #2
I stared up at his face—at the stranger who seemed to be staring back.
Had I truly touched his face, run my fingers through his hair, and kissed those lips?
My gaze moved frantically over his features.
Alarms rang through the back of my mind, and then my eyes settled on his ear.
I did remember every detail of that day in the garden, including the way the paint splatters had trailed toward the large freckle on his right earlobe.
The light in the ballroom was dim, but not dim enough to hide the fact that the freckle was gone.
My head spun with confusion.
“Forgive me.” Mr. Campbell’s face was stoic once again. “I have no wish to forget it, but I am not thinking clearly at the moment. It must be the heat of the room. Please excuse me.”
I watched him walk away, my vision blurring at the edges.
I blinked hard, fighting the tears that threatened to escape.
Kate had tried to warn me, but deep in my heart I had still believed that Mr. Campbell cared for me.
Why had he seemed like an entirely different man just now?
His eyes had not looked quite the same. His countenance was unfamiliar and cold. Even the freckle on his ear was gone.
I paused. But how could such a thing have occurred?
I scowled at the floor. Had I imagined it? Had it only been a spot of paint after all? I envisioned the moment I had rubbed the paint speckles from his face. That perfectly round freckle hadn’t been invented by my imagination. I knew it.
Then where on earth had it gone?
As far as I knew, freckles did not simply fade in a matter of days. I searched my brain, but I couldn’t think of any explanation for the drastic changes in Mr. Campbell. I took a deep breath in an attempt to compose my emotions, but the turmoil refused to settle.
I felt a light touch on the back of my arm, and then Kate was standing beside me.
Her concerned expression undid the ties that held my emotions together.
A tear escaped my eye. I wiped it away quickly, ducking away from the other guests’ view as Kate led me to the nearest wall.
“What on earth happened?” she whispered.
I turned toward the wall as I composed my expression, the shadows of the candlelight helping to hide my sudden tears. “He pretended not to remember.” My voice sounded distant to my own ears.
“And he left?” Kate’s jaw lowered.
I nodded.
Her eyes sparked dangerously. “I will destroy him. His reputation will suffer for this, not yours.”
I was grateful for her desire to defend me, but I couldn’t entertain ideas of revenge at the moment. One strange thought refused to leave my mind.
“I don’t think that man was Mr. Campbell.”
Kate scowled. “What?”
I closed my eyes, shaking my head in an effort to clear it.
“He looked different. He sounded different. He…” I didn’t want to mention the freckle, but the image refused to leave my mind.
My voice trailed off. I was losing my mind now.
Who else could it have been but Mr. Campbell?
It was useless to search for excuses for his behavior.
“Perhaps you should sit down.” Kate looked even more worried than before.
“That was certainly Mr. Campbell. Who else could it have been?” She gestured at the green velvet chairs against the wall.
I stared blankly at the dancers ahead as I sat down, the loud music drowning out the last of my rational thoughts.
Across the ballroom, I spotted a familiar face.
Mrs. Aldworth sat up straight, her fox-like features gleaming with pride.
I hadn’t particularly enjoyed the woman’s company at the Beresford’s dinner party, but she seemed nearly as well-connected to gossip as Mrs. Wickerton.
I had seen the two of them conversing in the drawing room.
I followed her gaze to her two daughters and their dance partners.
The girls were both dressed in pink, though one wore a lighter shade than the other.
Their hair was exactly the same shade of auburn, arranged differently, but their faces were identical.
When they smiled, it was even more impossible to tell them apart.
I stood abruptly and followed the perimeter of the room toward Mrs. Aldworth.
Kate would most likely not wish to be my friend anymore, given how erratic my behavior had been that evening, but I couldn’t stop my legs as they carried me to Mrs. Aldworth’s side.
I heard my pulse in my ears, my breath short as I curtsied in front of her.
She looked surprised to see me, but returned the greeting. “Miss Sharp, why are you not dancing?”
The answer to that seemed obvious. “I was not asked.” I gave a soft smile, though it required all of my energy. I needed to ask her about Mr. Campbell, but I didn’t know how to start the conversation without sounding too eager.
“Oh?” Mrs. Aldworth raised her eyebrows. “I thought I saw you conversing with Mr. Campbell a moment ago. I would have expected him to ask you to dance.”
Well, then. That was not as difficult as I had thought.
I lowered myself tentatively into the chair beside her.
“I don’t believe he is fond of dancing.” I swallowed hard.
I didn’t want to think about that man right now, but an idea had struck my mind while looking at Mrs. Aldworth’s daughters, and it refused to leave me alone.
“Well, that is a shame.” Mrs. Aldworth looked out at the crowd with a grimace. “There are far too many ladies sitting this dance out. I would venture to call him impertinent for not asking one of us.”
Before I could stop myself, I nodded my agreement. The Mr. Campbell I had first met had been just that: impertinent in every sense of the word. He had been the same way tonight.
I drummed my fingers on my knee, taking a deep breath. “May I ask what you know of Mr. Campbell’s brother? Do they…resemble one another?”
As expected, Mrs. Aldworth looked stunned at the sudden inquiry.
But then her lips turned upward in a secretive smile, and she leaned closer.
“You must be referring to his twin. He doesn’t like to speak of him.
In fact, he keeps him a secret from most of his acquaintances because of a scandal that once occurred in Derbyshire. ”
Twin.
The idea had crossed my mind a few moments before, but to have my suspicions confirmed set my heart pounding faster. “Do you mean to say that Mr. Campbell has an identical twin brother?”
“I have not seen his brother with my own eyes, but Mrs. Wickerton claims that they are every bit as similar in appearance as my daughters.”
Realization poured over my skin, sending a cold chill down my back. “What is the name of his brother?”
“Clark Campbell.” Mrs. Aldworth seemed proud of all the gossip she had accumulated.
I stared out at the place I had just been standing with Mr. Campbell.
Had it been Colin or…Clark? I knew in my bones that I had not encountered the same man tonight that I had been courting.
He had mentioned lemonade when there had been none.
He had acted oblivious to our kiss. He had been missing the freckle on his ear, and he had been cold and distant just as he had been before he had ever called upon me.
Could it be possible that Clark had been impersonating Colin?
It now seemed to be the only explanation, and it made my head spin.
But why would he do such a thing?
I calmed my racing thoughts, focusing on one question at a time.
“What do you know about the scandal in Derbyshire?” I had limited time to gather as much information as possible from Mrs. Aldworth before the dance ended.
She seemed thoroughly pleased to be sharing Mr. Campbell’s secrets, smiling sweetly as if she were scooping sugar into my teacup instead of revealing potentially ruinous gossip.
“As the younger twin, Mr. Clark Campbell inherited nothing when his father died. Colin obtained the fortune, and Clark began behaving recklessly with his allowance. He accumulated many gambling debts, which his brother kindly saved him from. Three years ago, he was courting a wealthy young lady in Derbyshire. According to Mrs. Wickerton, his motivation was questionable to all of the neighbors. But the young lady had fallen in love with him. On the day of the wedding, he left her waiting at the church. He never came. He had run away and left his brother to repair his mistake. Colin paid the family a large sum as recompense, and to keep the scandal quiet, but resolved to cut his brother off.” Mrs. Aldworth pressed her lips together with a rueful shake of her head.
“I do not blame him for hiding his connection to such a dishonorable man.”
I pieced the story together in my mind, struggling to comprehend it. “Was there speculation that Clark Campbell was a fortune hunter?”
Mrs. Aldworth nodded. “Oh, yes. He was certainly after that young woman’s dowry. What compelled him not to follow through with the wedding is a mystery. But I imagine part of Colin’s distaste for his brother comes from his hatred of fortune hunters.”
I twisted my fingers together, struggling to keep my expression composed.
Too many harsh realities were crashing down on me at once.
Part of me was relieved to suspect that the man I had encountered this evening was not Colin.
But another part of me was horrified at the possibility that the man I had been courting was his twin.
Clark.
I thought of the day I had seen the curtains move in the upper window of his townhouse.
I had seen a man’s face behind it, and though I was certain I had imagined it, the face had looked much like Mr. Campbell’s.
A chill ran across my neck. I crossed my arms tightly, a dull ache forming in the back of my head.
My emotions spun so wildly I struggled to interpret them, and I suddenly felt quite faint.
“Are you unwell, Miss Sharp?” Mrs. Aldworth leaned forward with a frown.
I was not well at all. My stomach lurched as I dared to examine what could have motivated Mr. Colin Campbell to send his brother to impersonate him in Bath. I considered myself quite observant, blessed with enough cleverness to avoid deception, but I had been played for a fool.
I remembered that night at Lady Benton’s dinner party when I had confessed to Mr. Campbell that I was seeking a fortune.
He despised fortune hunters…
Perhaps even enough to seek revenge on one.