Chapter 32- Callum
Thank you for being honest with me. I feel I can truly trust you.
The words seared Callum more than any fiery brand could have. His honor lanced his very heart the entire way home.
If he were being honest, whenever Callum had envisioned telling Margaret about the journal, in his imagination, she’d already been in love with him. That was wrong, he realized. Of course it was.
Callum had to tell her, even though he couldn’t expect her to look up at him with lovesick eyes and forgive him immediately.
Margaret certainly liked him more than she had at the outset, but Callum doubted her feelings were so deep that she’d attribute such a thing to divine providence or fate’s intervention.
She certainly wouldn’t disregard the fact that he hadn’t told her the truth of it all this time.
The real Margaret was an intensely private person who’d initially rejected him in part because of the attention a duke’s regard had brought her. She would recognize that Callum hadn’t been fully honest about how and why their relationship had started.
A lie of omission was just as bad as telling an untruth. Perhaps worse, for one could convince themselves they’d done nothing truly wrong. Honor demanded that Callum tell her the truth as soon as possible. The best time to do the right thing was immediately.
He nodded, as solemn as a promise. “Tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow I will tell her the truth.”
Callum went directly home, wrote and sealed a note, then handed it off to a footman.