“I do not care. Let them hear!” Anne screamed. Cathy could feel the desperation and total loss of control in her voice. Nobody in their right mind would simply scream about their secrets, knowing they could lead to their ruin. “I have shed my dignity and done things that I could be prosecuted for, even shoving Miss Priggish into the rose bushes. You need to take responsibility for your child. It is not fair that I alone should suffer from a mistake that we share.”
Cathy stifled a gasp by covering her mouth with her hand. She felt her scalp tighten as the blood drained from her face.
What is she talking about?
Her heart pounded in her chest as she pressed her other hand to the wall in her attempt to regain balance.
“I told you that I cannot do that, Anne,” Brandon said, almost apologetically.“What we had was a tryst. This was never meant to happen. I mean... I was always careful. How can you be certain that it is mine?”
That cad!
“I am expected to marry someone who has not been publicly associated with someone else,” he continued, and Cathy couldalmost see him shuffling on his feet.
“How dare you! How can you be concerned about that when you were the one who seduced me? You were the one who sought me out, even though you knew I was engaged to Tristan! We did it together behind his back. Now, you leave me with no other choice. I will have to tell everyone my child is Tristan’s and hope that he... what? That he will push his wife away and take responsibility? He already had a reputation for being a rake. People will believe it. His wife did when I told her, but he will deny it.”
“That is true, but I... Anne, you are carrying my blood!”
Cathy seethed in quiet fury where she was standing. Tristan was betrayed by his closest friend and his betrothed while he prepared for a wedding he believed would be imprisoning him.
“I am carrying your blood, yes, but you have no claim on me now that you have shown you have no interest in taking responsibility,” Anne challenged, and in that moment, Cathy agreed with her.
Still, she felt wave after wave of nausea as she realized that Tristan was never the villain here. It was clear that she was wrong about him. Instead, he was the one wronged, placed as a shield for a friend who had displayed such cowardice for a passion that was forbidden in the first place.
I cannot stay here.
Cathy pulled at her collar, which suddenly felt too tight. Wearing anything other than her Miss Priggish clothes was only for Tristan’s eyes, after all. Now, she was suffocating in her dress. She had to leave the nightmare she had heard before she was discovered eavesdropping.
But where is Tristan? The butler told me that he was here.
Cathy walked as fast as she could, making sure no one could hear her. Then, she collided with something solid and warm, a wall of familiar muscle. Strong hands gripped her shoulders, steadying her. It was only then that she realized that she was trembling and was about to faint. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of Tristan, his eyes flinty and furious, cold and hot at the same time.
Relief and shame crashed all over Cathy at the sight of him right there by the Farstone doorway.
“Cathy? What are you doing here?” he rasped. It was not that long since she had talked to him, but she realized just how much she missed that voice.
“I came looking for you,” she sobbed, her hands clutching at his lapels. It was instinct, one that she had no way of stopping. His heat was so close. So close. “I am so sorry.”
Tristan gave her a look that was part agony, part relief. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the door to the drawing room flung violently open. Anne stormed out, her face flushed red and damp with tears. Her bonnet hung at the back of her neck, swaying by its ribbons. She screeched to a halt when she saw Cathy and Tristan. Brandon immediately followed her, half-stumbling out. His cravat was undone, and his face was deathly pale.
“Your Grace,” he gasped, his eyes wide with fear and shock.
“What is the meaning of this, Brandon?” Tristan demanded. The trembling, quiet fury was more terrifying than if he had yelled the words.
For a moment, nobody spoke. Anne’s chest was heaving as her eyes darted from one person in the same space to the next. Brandon did not look like he wanted to meet anyone’s eyes.
“I need the father of my child to take responsibility,” Anne said defiantly. “We—”
“I have never touched you in my life, Anne,” Tristan retorted, recoiling from his former betrothed. “Not once. Not even when we were to be wed. We were never a match. Your interests and mine never met anywhere, and it is particularly loathsome that you would use my name to give your child a father and hide the reality of your tryst with my own close friend. Don’t you think it is a whole level of depravity?”
“Tristan,” Brandon interrupted, stepping forward. His brows were furrowed, and he kept on looking back and forth between Anne and Tristan. “She is in a delicate state. You cannot see it yet, but…”
His voice trailed off, and Cathy felt an absolute rage at hearing how shameless both Anne and Brandon were being. She stepped away from Tristan and faced the two with her chin held high. Miss Priggish seemed to be present, but she was no longer defensive. She was ready to defend the man she loved.
“A delicate state?” Cathy echoed, her voice high and pitchy. “You speak of being delicate when you two are the ones who brought yourselves into this situation. Lord Farstone, you are despicable for not taking responsibility for your actions. You seduced your good friend’s betrothed before their wedding, and you had the audacity to judge him for doing right by me. You are a coward who would gladly ruin other people’s lives so that you can keep your own hedonistic and rakish lifestyle.”
“And you,” she continued, turning to Anne. Her eyes flashed. Anger burned in her chest. “You are not the victim you want us to believe you are. You knew what could happen when you let your passions take over. Not only that, but you were willing to marry Tristan even when you knew you were already compromised by someone else. Then, you did not even stop there. You were planning on using my husband for blackmail. Is it not what this is all about?”
Anne looked startled, her eyes turning to Tristan as if she expected him to defend her. But she found nothing but a cold wall.