Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
May’s cheeks burned with embarrassment throughout the rest of the day as she relived the way she’d jumped up at the sound of that darn bell.
It was the closest she’d come to revealing her identity.
Perhaps, it would have been better if she’d been unmasked right then and there.
It would definitely be easier than telling Elias, face-to-face.
But it had to be done. May couldn’t live with herself as things stood.
She’d sent the duke a note, promising to meet him under the cover of night, and whiled away the hours until the moon rose, and the house stilled once more.
She’d chosen the library, since it was the farthest from all private quarters and out of the path of servants.
It was ten minutes to midnight when May opened the library door.
She wished to be early, rather than lose her nerve altogether.
But, as soon as May stepped inside, she knew there was no coming back, for the duke already stirred in the darkness, rising out of a chair.
The nerves made her clammy and wild. May clung to her evaporating courage to no avail.
This was how it would end. Another moment and he would see her, her candle illuminating the guilt on her face, and May just could not take it.
Confessing was torture enough—if she saw the judgment in Elias’s eyes, it would shatter her too much to do what had to be done.
She blew the candle out in haste and covered the distance between them before the duke could react.
May threw her arms around Elias with sudden fierceness.
“Don’t say anything,” she whispered, her cheek seeking refuge on his shoulder, “or else I won’t be able to do what must be done.
” His hold felt off-kilter; her stomach knotted.
Was she to forfeit even the peace of what could be their last embrace?
He stirred under her touch, drew a deep breath, as if to say something, then halted.
May squeezed her eyes shut. “I haven’t been honest with you…
about who I am. But you must know I never meant to hurt you.
As soon as your arms wrapped around me, I knew keeping silent was wrong.
I guess I just wanted to make this dream last as long as possible.
What I am trying to say is—I haven’t tried to deceive you on purpose.
I know we cannot be—whoever heard of a union between a duke and a maid?
Yet I love you anyway, and I am so sorry to tell you like that, but—”
“May?”
Elias’s voice was coming from behind. Disorientation hit May as the man in her grasp pulled away—not Elias—not him at all, and she opened her eyes to find candlelight flooding from the doorway, and Lord Spencer where Elias should have been.
And there in the entry was the duke himself, jaw locked, eyes wide, as he took in the sight of her hands falling away from Lord Spencer’s shoulders.
She got the wrong man.
Her hard-summoned confession had landed on the wrong ears. It made sense now, the subtle wrongness as she’d wrapped her arms around another man. But she had been too preoccupied with her own fears to notice.
For a brief moment, time slowed as May’s mind struggled to catch up to the reality of her stuttering heart. Then, time started back up, and everything was in motion, and there was nothing good to be done, because while May may have got the wrong man, Elias had gotten a very, very wrong idea.
Elias’s fists tightened around Lord Spencer’s lapels as he slammed the man against a bookcase. Hot, seething rage blackened Elias’s vision. There would be no honorable duel, only punishment.
The bastard finally showed his true nature.
Oh, Spencer had the indecency to look mortified, too, as the two were shaken apart.
But the duke did not care for Lord Spencer’s convincing imitation of confusion or his expert military countermoves.
Elias would tear the man to shreds for laying his hands on May and insulting his sister.
Lord Spencer successfully managed to shove him sideways, but that only stoked Elias’s fire.
The image of May in Lord Spencer’s embrace, her cheek resting sweetly on the pretender’s shoulder, was branded into his mind.
It would take violence to erase it. Elias did not realize he was aiming a punch until it connected.
Distant pain spiraled up his nerves, though he was already regrouping, the rush of the fight shielding him from the impact.
Wipe him off the face of the earth.
“Elias, stop—there is no need for this!” May’s slight figure rose between him and his target, her palms outstretched toward him as if he were a spooked horse. “Lord Spencer did not do anything!”
The idea was laughable enough to slow Elias’s fists. He was unable to keep the astonishment out of his voice. “Why are you defending him? He touched you, May. The cheating scum broke my sister’s trust, and you—”
“I would never betray Hannah,” Spencer growled and moved toward him, only to pause as May directed him away with an imploring glance. “You’d better watch your words if we are to welcome you at the ceremony at all.”
What? “If you think you’re getting my sister to the altar after this, you are barking mad!”
“After what?”
Hannah. Elias bit back a curse. How did she always know to appear in the worst places at the worst of times?
His dear sister stood by the door, wrapped in her night robes.
Elias did not realize they had made such a ruckus it had reached her all the way at her wing already.
How was he going to explain what he scarcely understood himself?
His fingers brushed against his pocket. Elias had come here on May’s invitation, with a ring in tow, and instead—
“I found Spencer… embracing Lady May.”
“Let us get this straight: she embraced me,” Lord Spencer protested.
“It was a mistake!” said May. “He is not to blame!”
That was the worst explanation he could have asked for. Because, if he was being honest, it was May’s arms that he saw wrapped tight about Lord Spencer, her cheek resting on his shoulder. And Elias could not handle that if it was not for a good reason.
“No, you summoned me here.” Elias backed up a step. “You knew I was coming… and when I did, it was to see… this. That was why you called me, wasn’t it?”
“No, Elias, it is not as you think—” plead May.
The pieces started falling into place. “You wanted me to see the truth of him. The only part that I don’t understand is, why now? After you took such pains to convince me to give him a chance at all? Unless...”
“Unless what?” Hannah filled in the silence.
Elias looked at May with desperate intent. She was nervous—why was that? Why did her gaze stray as if she had something to hide? He stepped up to her until they were separated by an arm’s length, as if closing in the distance would undo all that was unspoken between them.
“Why couldn’t you just sit and let this be?” he whispered. “Your job was done, I said so myself…”
“Elias, would you listen to me, please? That is not why I asked you to come. I wanted... to talk to you. For goodness’ sake, I thought he was you! It was a simple misunderstanding!”
“Am I to believe he got here by mistake in the middle of the night? At this hour?”
A quick look passed between Spencer and Hannah, but Elias was too busy watching May to dwell on it. And there was something to watch, for the dismay that blossomed on her face was very well acted, indeed.
“What? I did not ask him to come! Are you saying that I lured him here?”
“What other explanation is there for finding you in his arms?”
“Hannah.” Spencer was looking only at his sister. “I was confused for a moment, but… I did not touch her. I swear it on my honor.”
Elias reeled back. It was undeniable.
The truth always came out. May was content to play along until Elias proclaimed their contract incomplete.
He thought he was being considerate, unwilling to appear mercenary in the face of their fledgling love connection.
Yet she must have thought only of the money she would no longer receive.
It made perfect logical sense, and oh, how he loathed it.
I was going to propose to her. Yet I am made the fool, once more.
“You are very good at your job, Lady May. I thought Spencer was impervious to your charms, but I guess you didn’t put much effort into it until your payment was in danger.” Every word was harsh and unforgiving. “Thank you for doing us all a favor and revealing your true self now.”
“So, this is what you think of me?” Her voice trembled as it dropped to the barest whisper. “I’ve put it all on the line for you… I’ve told you this was all a simple error—will you not believe me?”
Elias’s heart clenched, but his mind was unbending steel, screaming at him to stand strong and not succumb to this deceit. He had to cut the cord that bound them while he was strong enough.
“Do not tell me you took him for me! Fool that I am for loving you, I am not so gullible as to fall for the same deception twice. You came close—had you been less greedy, you might have had me. I thought the air of mystery surrounding you only meant I could learn everything about you as time went on. But deep inside, I knew it was too good to be true. I never should have ignored the difference in our stations. This, whatever this was, is over. I will see that you are properly compensated for your… time.”
Some small part of him screamed from the back of his mind, telling him to calm down and trust, but the avalanche had already come down, and all that was left was this: the aftermath.
May threw her chin up, eyes sparkling, though he could not tell tears from tricks of light.
“I summoned you here to confess the truth to a man I thought I could reveal my true self to, only to find out this is what you’ve thought of me all along.
I may not be a duchess or a lady, for that matter, but I know I am worth more than that. Goodbye… Elias.”
She disappeared into the hallway without granting Elias so much as a chance to process her words. He tried to wrap his mind around their implication, but there was no time to consider it as his sister rounded up on him.
“What did you promise to pay her for, brother?”
Elias had known this moment would come. He was prepared to face the consequences of what he’d started all along, but he would be lying if he said it was easy.
He met Hannah’s eyes head-on. “I brought her here to put Spencer’s loyalty to the test, and it’s a good thing, too, given what we discovered here tonight. ”
“You… what?” Hannah’s bewildered expression sharpened into hurt. “How could you do this to me, after what Father did to you?”
“It is not me you should be angry with, Hannah! I did what I did out of concern and love.”
“There is no love in that,” said his sister bitterly.
Spencer took his place at her side, and her fingers entwined with his, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Elias understood nothing of what had occurred this night.
Even after having definitive proof, his sister would believe that man over her own brother?
“There is only fear. And I won’t live in it. ”
They left the room without another word, and then it was just him again—alone, like he ought to have been all along.