Lottie grasped her hand. “I understand, but in this case I think you shouldn’t heed his wishes.”

“Thank God you came here. We’ll need to contact your uncle’s solicitor immediately.”

Lottie nodded in agreement. Mr. Jenkins was her solicitor as well.

Mrs. Houston then leveled her eyes. “I’m also going to contact Alec.”

“Why?” Lottie tore her hand away. “This isn’t any of his concern.”

“But if your uncle has been in decline for this long, and if Mr. Wetherby did know and said nothing, then his work may have been compromised,” she pointed out.

Lottie’s breath caught. She hadn’t thought of that.

“And besides, even if you did quarrel, Alec would want to know if you were in danger. No matter what happened in Venice, he still cares for you.”

Lottie stared at the unlit hearth. “Perhaps he did once, but he feels nothing more than a sense of obligation toward me now.”

Mrs. Houston clucked her tongue. “I don’t believe that for a minute—”

“He said those very words, Mrs. Houston. After I told him I loved him.” Fresh anger and hurt flooded her veins with such force she vaulted from the chair. “That I had always loved him. That I didn’t care about his parents or his past. But he wouldn’t hear any of it!”

Mrs. Houston motioned for her to sit back down. “It’s true I don’t know the circumstances, but I think you need to understand how his past has shaped him. You may truly not care about the differences in your station, but I imagine Alec would find that difficult to accept.”

“What differences?” Lottie spat. “We are both the children of gentlemen.”

Mrs. Houston gave her an exasperated look. “Tell me you aren’t that naive. He is illegitimate. His own family does not recognize him. That has always haunted him.”

Lottie crossed her arms. “He hardly seemed ‘haunted’ while he was explaining that our friendship was based on nothing more than convenience,” she muttered. She had gone over their exchange so many times that his look of mild irritation was burned into her brain. It was free of turmoil. Of devastation. She might as well have been a persistent fly, or an overzealous saleswoman.

“Is that what he told you? And I suppose the whippings he received were for fun as well?” She let out a laugh of disbelief. “No, Lottie. Nothing about your friendship was ever convenient. But he has always sought to protect you, above all else. Since you were both children. Your bond was extraordinary even then. We all saw it.”

Lottie angrily shook her head. “It was nothing of the kind. Alec made that very clear.”

“He’s used to thinking of himself as a burden, especially to you.” Then Mrs. Houston dipped her chin. “And believe me, I can understand why.”

A fresh wave of misery broke over Lottie. She could not accept that Alec had turned her away out of selflessness. That so many of his choices had been made to preserve her standing in a world she had never cared for. Or that their parting had been one last attempt to save her reputation. Couldn’t he see that in doing so he robbed them both of love? No. Even Alec would not be bullheaded enough to do such a thing.