“I didn’t know what to do.” He shrugged. “So I did nothing.”

“How very clever of you.”

“It wasn’t clever,” he snapped. “I know that. I knew that then. It was stupid of me not to act. I was an idiot.”

“Then we are agreed.”

“And I was afraid, I suspect.”

“Come now, Grayson. What on earth did you have to be afraid of?”

“I was afraid that you didn’t feel the same, and if I declared myself, I would lose you as surely as if you married someone else. At least, if I kept my feelings to myself, it wouldn’t destroy what we had.” He drew a deep breath. “So I did nothing.”

“We have established that.”

“I felt helpless, Camille. I felt lost. I was about to lose the woman I knew in my soul was the only woman for me. And finally I decided I had to do something, or I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

“So you did so on the day before my wedding.”

He nodded. “I told you that I loved you, and you said I was being silly, but you did appreciate my attempt to save you from a marriage without the true love you had always wanted.”

Her breath caught. “I remember.”

“And then I kissed you.”

“And then you kissed me.” She could barely say the words over the ache in her throat.

“And that’s when I knew you shared my feelings.” He swirled the brandy in his glass and watched her. “I have never forgotten that kiss, nor will I ever, although you claim you have.”

She shrugged. “It was just a kiss.”

“Not to me.” He studied her closely. “Then I made the asinine comment that you would marry me if I had money. It was unfair of me and not very nice.”

“No, it wasn’t.” She swallowed hard. “And I said the first thing that came into my head. Which, admittedly, wasn’t very nice either.”

“I knew you too well not to have realized they were just words. I should have ignored them, but I didn’t. And that was when my heart was broken.”

She stared at him. “Your heart or your pride?”

“I don’t know,” he said sharply. “So I left.”

She met his gaze and tried not to let all she was feeling show on her face. “And never came back.”