“I acted like a woman in love,” Suzette snapped, suddenly furious. The letter—his letter, she was sure though he hadn’t yet admitted to it—had rained down all sorts of shame on her when she’d read it, but she was not going to feel that shame again. Giving a humorless laugh, she looked down her nose at him and added, “I’m not surprised you didn’t recognize it was love you were witnessing. I don’t imagine any woman could ever feel that fine an emotion for you. But take my word for it, what you saw was a woman in love giving herself to the man she loved and planned to marry.”

“Love, was it?” Jeremy sneered with disbelief, and then added with cold amusement, “And yet look how quickly you agreed to marry me in his stead.”

“You made me think he didn’t want me,” she said defensively.

“Yes, I did. And that was so easy it was almost pitiful. Was your faith in him so weak? Was your love so weak?” he asked with apparent disgust.

Suzette paled. Was her faith weak? Should she have dismissed the letter as a fake when she read it? While she and Daniel had never spoken words of love to each other, and in fact, she doubted he felt that for her, she was relatively certain he liked her at least. And now that her heart was no longer breaking she was quite certain that Daniel wouldn’t treat any woman so callously. Had he wished to break off the engagement, his honor would have forced him to do it in person and as gently as possible. She half suspected he would have also endeavored to ensure she wouldn’t have suffered for his decision, either by offering to loan her the money to pay the marker or by finding a replacement husband of good character willing to take his place and marry her. He was just that kind of man.

“How crushed you were to think he cared so little,” Jeremy commented, and then tilted his head and said, “Or was it shame you were feeling for rolling about in the hay with him like a whore?”

“I am not a whore,” Suzette said with dignity, but Jeremy merely looked her up and down as if she were unclean.

“No doubt you would have wanted to act in just as base a manner with me,” he said almost accusingly. Danvers then shuddered, apparently repulsed by the very thought, and assured her, “You would have been disappointed.”

“I’m sure I would have been,” Suzette said dryly and was satisfied to see him flush with impotent fury.

“That’s not what I meant!”