Hugh’s brow furrowed and he took a step towards her. “Believed me?”

She barked a harsh laugh. “You see? Even you cannot comprehend it. Why was I so foolish as to actually believe that you’d changed? That you could ever be anything but a snake in the grass.”

It was as if she’d slapped him across the face, and she was quite tempted to do so, now she saw what that must have looked like. “What are you talking about, Elinor? I have changed. You know I have.”

“Really?” She folded her arms, feeling as though she had just donned armor to stand her ground. “So you have changed, and yet the Spinsters deserved it?”

He shook his head slightly, confusion radiating from him. Then his eyes widened, and comprehension erased the lines of confusion. “Oh…”

“Yes, Mr. Sterling. Oh, indeed.” She shuddered in revulsion. “I’d say I feel betrayed, but really, I feel more stupid than anything else.”

“It isn’t what you think,” Hugh told her as he started to move in her direction.

She retreated at once. “Don’t come near me,” she ordered, her voice almost thundering off of Deilingh’s walls. “Don’t ever come near me again.”

Something that looked like real pain seemed to enter his expression. “Elinor…”

Oh, he was a talented actor. Of course, he was. He’d fooled her, hadn’t he? He had fooled all of them.

Elinor slowly shook her head. “Despicable. Does your villainy know any depth at all?”

“Let me explain, love,” he pleaded, his voice harsh in its rawness.

“No,” she snapped, holding out a hand as if she could force him away by will alone. “No, sir. You’ve said quite enough already. I’ll thank you to never speak to me again, and to leave my family’s home as soon as possible. And may the devil take you on the winter roads, Hugh Sterling.”

She grabbed the edges of her skirts and marched away in perfect high dudgeon, feeling rather towering in majesty and righteous indignation. Aside from the strange crumbling sensation in her chest and the frantic pressing of her heart against her ribs, she felt perfectly right.

Tears began to stream again, but surely that was only due to high emotion.

Angry tears, surely.

Nothing else.

That was all.

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Some things are said to be worth the winter cold. This author will remain skeptical unless such things prove themselves. Or we do.

-The Spinster Chronicles, 2 December 1819

It was astonishing that no one had forced her from her bedroom to participate in the Christmas Eve festivities. Her claim of a fearful headache must have been believed, which was remarkable, as Elinor rarely had even the slightest headaches.

Had they discussed her while she hid away in her room?

Had Hugh spread malicious rumors and lies to further his own ends?