He tossed the letter in her direction. “That was what I wanted to hear months ago. Before you lied to me and then kept lying. You’re one of them.”

“I’m not.”

“Was I an adventure for you too? A titillating, erogenous experience on the wrong side of civilized before you wed a man twice your age for his money and his wealth?”

“You think I’m like her? Like Cecelia?” she whispered, her eyes pools of brown against a pale face.

He didn’t think that, did he? But fury and shame were making it hard to think. She had lied. Over and over. And he had trusted her. Trusted her with his secrets and bared all the dark parts of his soul where insecurity and fear and vulnerability lay.

And she hadn’t even trusted him with the truth. With her bloody name.

“You would think I would have learned by now,” he said, running a hand through his hair in agitation. “You would think I’d be able to know when I am being used.”

“I never used you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You want to know why I didn’t tell you who I was?” she asked, her voice rising. “Because Lady Charlotte no longer exists. Lady Charlotte was a miserable, isolated woman who was nothing but a disappointment and a duty to her family.” Her expression was stark. “It was simply Charlie Beaumont from Aysgarth who came to Coventry. To stand on her own two feet and to be judged by her work and her character, unfettered by bias.” She took a shuddering breath. “I am exactly who you know me to be.”

“I have no idea who you are.”

She looked as though he had struck her. “I am the woman who loves you.”

“Loves me?” he sneered, something withering in him. “You don’t love me. You never even trusted me.”

She looked at him sadly. “And if I had told you my name at the very beginning? Would you have reacted any different than you have now? Would you even have spoken to me? Or would the demons from your past have simply become mine earlier?”

Flynn’s fists clenched and unclenched. He spun, heading for the door. He couldn’t stand here in the face of her duplicity. Worse, he couldn’t stand knowing that he didn’t have an answer to her question.

“I regret that I didn’t tell you my name. I regret that mistake, and I regret that you’ve chosen to believe the worst of me,” she said to his back.

He paused at the door, pride not allowing him to turn around.

“But I don’t regret falling in love with you, Flynn.”

He stepped out into the sleet and didn’t look back.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lady Charlotte.” King glided into the room with soundless stealth. His eyes slid over her altered appearance, though his expression didn’t change. “You look…well.”