Harriet would never make that mistake. “How long have you known your true identity?”

He sighed, and rocked back on his heels. “I don’t know how that’s pertinent to—”

“How long?”

“I’ve always known.”

Her irritation threatened to blossom into something more. All of her suspicions had been true. “May I ask why you’ve lied to my family?”

His gaze hardened. “From the moment I awoke, your mother was there, telling me I was Captain Frakenham. Who lied to whom?”

She lifted her chin. “That may be. But why did you go along with it?”

“Why not? It seemed as if you needed a Captain Frakenham, and I, quite frankly, had nothing better to do.”

She couldn’t answer that. They had needed a Captain Frakenham and, as much as she hated to admit it, he’d become quite adept at his part. “I find it difficult to believe anything you say, considering the charade you’ve perpetrated.”

“Speaking of charades,” he retorted easily, “there is no Captain Frakenham, is there?”

For a mad moment, she briefly considered continuing the lies. But there was no help for it—he would divine the truth sooner or later. “Oh very well. I suppose you deserve to know. Mother made up the captain.”

The lout didn’t even have the decency to look surprised. “To protect your interests at the bank.”

“Once Mr. Gower arrived, there was no gainsaying the bank. We are so close to coming about. All we have to do is sell the wool, and we’re done with them. We just needed two more—”

“—weeks. I know.” He tilted his head to one side, and he regarded her through his remarkable blue eyes. “I suppose it all comes down to this: you and I have lied to each other since the first day we met.”

In that moment, it was as if the magic of their one, solitary dance, the passion of the few kisses they’d shared, the warmth of companionship that had been steadily growing, suddenly dissipated like the morning mist.

He was right—they had deceived one another from their first meeting. It was not a propitious way to begin a relationship.

Not, of course, that she wanted a relationship with such a pompous jackstraw, it was just that she was only now beginning to realize how much she enjoyed him and his kisses.

In fact, just thinking of that last kiss, when his tongue had touched hers ever so suggestively—she shivered, then caught herself, somewhat shocked at how hard her heart was racing.

“Why were you willing to assume Captain Frakenham’s identity? You even agreed to work here, in the fields.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I was on my way out of the country when I was attacked. I thought that if I became Captain Frakenham while recuperating, not only would it assist you, but it would also stop the local gossips from tattling to the world about my real identity.”

“Why would that matter?”

“Because my brothers would not look kindly on my leaving the country without notifying them.”