Honor (9 page)

Theo rose, glided across the room, and placed a concerned hand on her niece’s arm. “Do you love him?”

“I rather think it’s more a matter of my desiring him,” Honor said dryly.

Ah. All was not lost. “If you don’t want to marry him, become lovers. It’s much simpler.”

“Robert says he doesn’t want me for his mistress. He wants me for his wife.”

“When your uncle Oak asked me to marry him, I was the happiest woman on the face of the earth. But I knew I loved him, you see, and I didn’t want more from life than to be his wife.” Theo patted Honor’s arm. “You, on the other hand, positively overflow with unladylike ambition. You want to be a lawyer.”

Honor tugged at her locket. “Robert says we respect each other’s work and could help each other.”

“That’s true. Another man would expect you to give up your dream so he could achieve his.”

Looking pensive, Honor strolled back to the sofa and sat down. “There’s so much to consider. I’d have to leave Boston. I’d be living with a man I know little about, sharing his life and his bed.”

“My dear, one can know a man forever, and he’ll still behave like a stranger. That’s part of the adventure of marriage.”

“Then there are practical considerations.”

“Such as?”

Honor’s expression of distaste was comical to behold. “I’ve always had servants, but at first we’d be struggling and couldn’t afford them. Will he expect me to clean house and cook?”

Theo burst out laughing. “Good reasons to remain a spinster if ever I heard any.”

When Theo sobered, she said, “Life is a series of choices, sweet Portia. All choices have their consequences, and every choice has a price.” How well she knew that.

Honor rubbed her temples, then rose. “I’m so confused. I have a great deal of thinking to do, Aunt Theo, so if you’ll excuse me—”

“Wait.” The moment she had been dreading was at hand.

With a heavy heart, Theo walked over to the desk, took a small key from the top drawer, and unlocked the lower right-hand drawer. She removed the incriminating papers and handed them to Honor. “Before you decide, I want you to read these.”

Honor took the papers. “What are they?”

“I hope they’ll help you to make up your mind about Robert Davis.”

With a puzzled frown, Honor settled back on the sofa and read the first page. Theo watched the frown deepen and Honor’s eyes gradually widen in shock and disbelief. Then Honor leaned forward, both hands gripping the papers intently.

Minutes later she finished reading and flung the papers down. Like huge black pools, her eyes dominated her ashen face, and she looked as though she might faint. “I don’t believe this.”

Theo sat down beside her and clasped her cold, lifeless hands. “Everything you’ve read is true. I wish to heaven that it weren’t.”

“How…”

“I hired the best private investigator in Boston. That is his report.”

Honor pulled her hands free and jumped to her feet. “Aunt Theo, what a despicable thing to do!”

“I know you’re furious with me, but I make no apologies for going behind your back. We knew nothing about Robert. I wanted to make sure there were no skeletons rattling in his closet.”

Honor paced around the library, her brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”

“I never intended to show you the report unless you became serious about him. Now that you’re considering marriage, I felt you should read it and make an informed decision.”

“These allegations can’t be true.”

“I admire your loyalty, but the detective told me that all the information in his report can be verified by people who knew Robert when he worked in Lowell. The investigator listed everyone he spoke to. If you wish to go to Lowell and talk to these people yourself—”

“That won’t be necessary.” Honor rubbed her forehead. “Robert never said anything about this.”

“He obviously wanted to keep his unsavory past hidden.” Theo rose and put her arm around her niece’s shoulders. “Perhaps I am condemning him unfairly. He may have a good explanation.”

“In life as in the law, there are two sides to every story. I can’t condemn Robert without hearing his side.”

“I hope for your sake that he can explain himself satisfactorily.” Theo’s arm fell away. “I know I’ve caused you pain, but I had to, for your own good.”

Honor’s eyes shone with sadness. “If this report is true, then he has betrayed my trust and played me for a fool.”

“You mustn’t blame yourself.” She thought of Wes. “Love can blind us all.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to be alone to think about this.” She walked toward the door, her footsteps heavy.

“What do you intend to do?”

She paused and turned. “I’ve invited Robert to dinner tonight. We shall see what he has to say for himself.”

Walking down Commonwealth Avenue toward Honor’s house, Robert couldn’t stop smiling. She was going to marry him. He could feel the certainty in his bones.

His proposal today had taken her aback. She hadn’t been expecting it. She struggled to be rational and logical, weighing the pros and cons of accepting it like a lawyer deciding whether to take a case, but he could tell that deep down inside, she wanted him.

When he arrived, he found Honor sitting on the sofa in the library and poring over her notes. She hadn’t dressed for dinner but was still wearing the same flattering, pale blue shirtwaist and dark blue skirt that she had worn to the park today. She smiled when he walked in, rose, and kissed him on the cheek.

“Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I still have some questions to ask you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Do you ever stop being a lawyer?”

“Never. Would you like some sherry before dinner?” She poured him a glass, brought it over, and sat across from him in the wing chair instead of beside him on the sofa. That should have warned him. “Now tell me about your life in Lowell.”

He shrugged. “I’ve already told you.”

“Overseeing the whole mill must have been a great deal of responsibility for so young a man.”

“It was, but I was good at it. I liked being the boss.”

Honor sipped her own sherry. “An ambitious young man with so much responsibility…the ladies must have flocked to you in droves.”

He studied her for a moment, but she had put on her inscrutable lawyer’s face. “No, not in droves.”

“But there were women who sought you out.”

An annoying suspicion niggled at the back of his mind. “Yes, but as I told you this morning, they meant nothing to me.” He set down his glass, rose, and stuffed his hands in his pockets, where he balled them into fists. “Why do you keep harping on this?”

She smiled disarmingly. “Oh, all women like to know about the other women in a man’s past.”

“Do I want to know about the men in yours?”

“There were none.”

Many a time he had seen her take this tack in a mock trial, her manner guileless, making casual comments that lulled a witness into a false sense of security. He knew full well that she was leading up to something. But what? And why?

He looked at her. “I’m told a gentleman never discusses his…amours with a lady.”

Honor set down her sherry, rose, and walked over to the desk as if deliberately seeking to create a gulf between them. She toyed with her locket and asked conversationally, “Who was Priscilla Shanks?”

The way she said that name sounded like the jaws of a trap snapping shut. The blood drained from his face, and a thin film of sweat rose on his skin. He tried to speak, but the words caught in his dry throat.

Honor’s eyes never left his face. “Would you care to tell me about her?” she asked gently.

He cleared his throat to give himself time to collect his stunned and scattered wits. “How’d you hear about her?”

Honor picked up some papers lying on the desk and held them out. “It’s all in here. Aunt Theo hired a detective to investigate you.”

Why, that scheming, two-faced old bitch… White-hot rage seared away his initial shock. He stepped forward and snatched the papers out of Honor’s hands. When he finished scanning the damning sheets, he crushed them in his fist. “What’s there to say? You’ve already tried and convicted me.”

She shook her head. “I believe a man is innocent until proven guilty. I’m giving you a chance to defend yourself.”

“What a sneaky, dirty, low-down trick!” His voice rang with contempt. “I thought you trusted me. And you have me investigated like a common criminal.” He strode over to the desk. “What’s the matter, Honor? Is your aunt afraid I’ll run off with her precious money?”

All concern vanished from her face. “You’re a fine one to talk about trust. You assured me that the women in your life meant nothing to you.” Her voice hardened. “If what these papers claim is true, I hardly think getting a sixteen-year-old girl with child is nothing!” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “And for her to drown herself because you spurned her? How can you stand there and not accept some responsibility?”

He smacked the crumpled papers against his open palm. “You know what hurts the most? You’re so quick to believe some damned detective over me.”

His accusation took her aback. “That’s not true. I believe cold, hard evidence, and these facts are easily verifiable. I want to believe you, Robert, so why don’t you convince me?”

He bowed his head in defeat. There was too much at stake to lie. He sighed in surrender. “Everything these papers say is true. I was the father of her child.”

He looked up to find that Honor had let down her guard and was regarding him with a disappointment more painful than disgust. “I liked Priscilla, but not enough to marry her. I was the mill’s head man. I lived in a fine house and had a bright future.”

Honor smiled wryly. “She didn’t conceive a child alone.”

He spread his hands in a gesture of hopelessness. “We got carried away one night. But it was only one night, I swear. When she told me she was with child, I offered to do right and support her and the baby, but she wanted marriage, so she could live like a lady.”

“Why didn’t you marry her?”

“I know it sounds cold, but I didn’t love her. And I was planning to quit the mill and go to school. I didn’t want to be saddled with a wife and child. Can you blame me?”

“No, I know how ambitious you are. But to abandon them…”

“I offered to pay.” As if that excused him. “She never told anyone she would kill herself if I didn’t marry her. If I had known she was going to do that, I would’ve married her and made the best of it. But it’s too late now, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Honor said sadly, “for several reasons.”

A cold foreboding seeped into his bones. “What do you mean?”

She gripped the edges of the desk for support. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you understand? You were dishonest with me. By not coming forward and telling me about the girl yourself, you lied by omission. Did you think such an incident would mean nothing to me? Did you intend to tell me about her after we were married?”

She was slipping through his fingers. His temper flared. “If you don’t want to marry me, just say so. Don’t use this as an excuse to turn me down.”

Her cheeks turned pink, but she stood her ground. “It’s not an excuse. It’s a matter of trust.”

“Trust?” he barked. “What about you trusting me?” When she made no comment, he added, “Finally at a loss of words?”

“Yes, because there’s nothing left to say. You’ve hurt me deeply.” She glanced at the door. “I think you had better leave.”

He made one last attempt. “All right. I made a mistake. I should have told you about Priscilla. I’m sorry.”

Her lower lip trembled. “So am I.”

He took a step forward. “I promise I’ll never keep anything from you again.” He waited for her to waver and crumble, to throw herself into his arms and beg his forgiveness. When she didn’t, he swallowed his pride and said, “If you want me to crawl on my belly, I will. Won’t you forgive me so we can move on?”

“I can’t. I feel betrayed.”

“I thought our love could overcome anything.”

“A marriage takes more than love to be strong and solid. It needs to be built on a foundation of mutual trust and honesty.”

Desperate, he held out a supplicating hand. “Honor, don’t hold this one little mistake against me. We’re good for each other. You know we are.”

“Were,” she said.

“Please. You’ve got to forgive me.”

Her pitiless lawyer’s face remained in place. “I’m sorry it has to end this way. Good-bye, Robert.”

He started forward, fully intending to sweep her into his arms and kiss and caress the resistance right out of her, but she brought him up short with a curt, “Leave!”

He stopped in his tracks, then stormed out of the study without a backward glance, slamming the door behind him.

Honor stood behind the desk and winced as the door’s loud slam reverberated through the study. Finally, she closed her eyes, grateful for silence after the angry clash of voices. She needed to be alone. She needed to forget him.