EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND NINE THE LIES. TWO OF THEM.

EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND NINE

THE LIES. TWO OF THEM.

D aisy was caught between embarrassment and desire. She had been certain that Miles would be happy to learn that she was chaste, but her mother s prophecies were making her nervous.

She sat upright as his palms curled around her knees, nudging them gently apart.

Yes?

I m a virgin.

Miles s eyes had been fixed on her thighs-or perhaps between her thighs-but now he looked up, brows drawing together. What did you say?

Belle isn t mine. I m a virgin, she repeated.

His hands fell away, and he stepped back, his face snapping into rigidity. Belle is not your child ?

Her breath caught as she nodded. I hope you re pleased.

Silence. Then:

You hope I m pleased that I married my wife under false pretenses? It wasn t precisely a bellow, but close.

That s not exactly-

That is exactly how it is, Miles said harshly. Why in the hell did you bring the child to my house? His eyes narrowed. Your half-sister, presumably?

I didn t think, Daisy said, a familiar wash of embarrassment sending a red flush up her breasts. She glanced down and snatched the sides of the towel, covering up her body. My mother planned to send Belle to an orphanage.

His frown deepened. You must be joking.

Belle was not the first child delivered to our doorstep, Daisy said, humiliation making her bones feel heavy as stone. My father has no interest in their care, so my mother dispatches his children to an orphanage.

Marvelous, Miles said, clearly in a profound rage. What an ethical, caring family I ve married into.

Daisy let that go. He had the right.

I had no idea that my half-siblings existed until I discovered Belle on our doorstep. Our butler was coming to take her away, so I ran out of the house and brought her to you.

After a grim silence, he said, To call a stone a stone, since you had an infatuation with me, I was the lucky man graced with you and the baby, whom you then used to force me to marry you by pretending that you had been seduced.

Daisy began trembling from another blast of shame. His eyes felt as if they seared through her, looking at her very soul and finding it wanting. No! she cried. That wasn t it at all! Our marriage only happened because Regina entered the room.

But inside she quailed. Hadn t she in fact chosen to go to Miles over Frederick precisely because she was in love with him?

Obviously he saw guilt in her face. His lip curled as he turned away.

You are so good at solving problems, Daisy whispered, looking down at her fingers twisting together. I panicked. Regret felt like a mantle of black soot closing around her.

This reminds me of when you smuggled a file into the Tower of London. If you had given any thought to your actions, you would have guessed that your uncle would be severely punished if found in possession of such an implement. But no, you rashly went ahead because you had a stupid idea and didn t think it through!

Miles wasn t wrong. She d thought a file was a funny gift for a prisoner, never for a moment believing that her pompous uncle would wiggle through a narrow window-or that he might be punished for its possession. Luckily Miles confiscated it before it reached her uncle s hands.

I knew nothing of prisons. I just thought it might raise his spirits. Her voice cracked. I don t think it s fair to compare my uncle s possible fate-had you not confiscated the file-to you marrying me.

A life sentence in both cases, Miles said, with crushing effect. He spun about and bent to snatch up his breeches.

Daisy stared at his muscled arse. She was such a fool. Even now, when he was livid at her, desire sizzled in her core. I didn t mean to imprison you in a marital tower, if that s what you re implying.

Really? There s no escaping marriage, Miles growled. We have to live with the outcome of your impulsive decision, so do your motivations matter? You said, The baby is mine! Why didn t you simply tell the truth? It would have been easy enough to admit that Belle is your father s bastard offspring. Frankly, it wouldn t been shocked me, given his reputation. Lady Regina may have been stunned initially, but surprised? Unlikely.

I was trying to protect you by saying the baby was mine, since Regina was assuming that Belle was yours, and it all went wrong. She let out a sobbing breath. Please believe me, Miles.

How could she have fallen in love with a man who could look at her so coldly that it made her stomach clench? Her mind spun between a shameful conviction that she deserved his condemnation to a rebellious feeling that events beyond their control had swept both of them off their feet.

I did not arrive at your house with a Machiavellian plan spurred by my my short-lived infatuation, she added, registering that her skin had gone from heated to clammy and cold.

He yanked his shirt over his head. Short-lived, eh? Another impulsive decision that you ve rethought, Daisy?

You said this morning that you didn t despise me. She forced the words from her throat.

Miles didn t even look at her. To clarify: I despise your behavior.

Perhaps she should slide off the bed and face him, as if they were gladiators in a Roman amphitheater. But she was so much shorter than he was.

You could-you might think of my visit as a compliment, she said, summoning up a defense. I turned to you when I faced a crisis. Your parents left care of your sisters to you, though you were still a boy, knowing that you would be an excellent brother and stand-in parent.

Why didn t you turn to the obvious person, your father? Miles demanded. If you were afraid to do so, you could have relegated that unpleasant duty to me. If you d told me the truth, I would have found the worthless philistine and made him take charge of his responsibilities for once in his life-just as I m about to do.

Daisy opened her mouth, and he snapped, Be quiet. Don t make things worse. Think before you say anything!

Belle would have been taken away from me, she whispered.

A groundswell of anger began to bubble inside her. She watched silently as he wrenched on the rest of his clothing, stamping into his boots. He was an ass. She had claimed Belle was hers partly in an effort to protect him, which backfired. Did that make her stupid?

Are you truly going to see my father?

Yes, he snarled. Wharton is going to stand up and be counted. I inherited my little sisters when I was fourteen , and I managed. So can he.

You re you re giving Belle to him?

Hell, yes. That wretched blackguard is going to care for his latest bastard. What s more, he can support every child of his dropped at an orphanage. I am revolted by his monstrous, lackadaisical attitude toward his responsibilities.

I understand your point of view, Daisy said, looking at Miles through new eyes. How could he be quick to ship Belle off to her indolent father after soothing her all night long? Was he really so bloodless and uncaring? But she is my child, she said doggedly, holding onto that thought.

The hell she is! She isn t a child of your body. She s a prostitute s get, and your father s, if she s anyone s. She is not yours . Miles tied his cravat with abrupt, furious turns, not even looking in a glass.

I didn t think you had such brutality in you, she said. I thought you had come to care for Belle.

The words fell into the space between them and stayed there, hanging in the air.

I live up to my obligations, Miles said with chilling emphasis. I spend my days investigating men- gentlemen -who use their birth and their position to avoid adhering to the most basic rules of civilization, one of which is that a man must care for his children.

His voice echoed in Daisy s head like cannon fire in a ravine. He wasn t wrong. Her father should retrieve and support the children relegated to orphanages.

But Lord Wharton couldn t have Belle.

Miles turned to the mirror above the fireplace, his elegant coat belling out behind him as he pulled down his cuffs.

Daisy watched mutely. She had said what needed to be said. He could storm off and deal with her father-while she and Belle would leave.

She needed rusks, nappies, and money-a great deal of money. Luckily, over the years she rarely used her allowance, instead tucking hundreds of pounds in the bottom of her jewelry box. It should be enough to take her to Brussels, where Livie and her husband were living.

You are dangerously silent, Miles commented, a sardonic edge to his voice. No further justification?

He was an arse . The worst man of her acquaintance.

You re the only man I ve heard of who would be unhappy to discover that his bride is an innocent. Not that she intended to be his wife for long.

You don t understand. You re a liar , Daisy. You lie easily to get your way. You lie about the most important things-about Belle s parentage. Who wants that in a wife?

Daisy flinched. I couldn t tell you who her father was because you threatened to kill the man. He s my father as well.

He s scum, Miles said contemptuously.

Lord Wharton might be scum, but he was her scum. Besides, it didn t matter. Her husband thought she was scum as well, so why bother defending her actions? All the same, she couldn t stop herself from trying to explain again.

When Regina entered and saw you with the baby, I wasn t manipulating the situation, as you seem to think. I just I just spoke from the heart. Belle is my baby.

You spoke impulsively? What a surprise. He narrowed his eyes.

I think you ve made your point as regards my lack of forethought, Daisy said, her jaw set. She wasn t infatuated anymore; in fact, she hated him.

How angry are you?

Very, she stated.

He sighed.

Oh, did you want me to lie to you? she asked sweetly. I m sorry, I m clean out of falsehoods at the moment.

We can talk tonight, Miles repeated. He was at the door, but turned and walked back. After we consummate our marriage.

Daisy looked at him in disbelief.

He shocked her by pulling her into an urgent, hungry kiss. Despite herself, Daisy opened her mouth, loving the taste and the smell of him.

It was probably their last kiss, so she tried to memorize every sensation: the slight prickle of his beard under her fingers, the hungry heat of his mouth, the way his big hands cupped the back of her head.

He smelled like safety and home.

Yet it would break her heart and her spirit to stay in a broken marriage, one in which the husband felt like a prisoner, trapped by his wife s falsehoods. In which he looked at her with such scorn and distaste.

The mortifying truth was that she deserved his distaste. She had lied. Her mother had been right. Her virginity wasn t enough to make up for what she did to Miles, and now his rage would be between them forever, especially after his interest in bedding her waned. She could already feel him fighting the desire that flared between them.

She pulled back, looking at his broad jaw, the blade of his nose, his distrustful eyes. Her heart felt as if a skewer had gone through it.

This is exactly what I asked you not to do, she whispered.

Kiss you? More the opposite, as I recall, he drawled. He straightened, pulling his hands through his hair.

I asked you not to make me feel despised and unlovable.

Surely you didn t think that I would happily accept the news that you had lied to me?

She was such a fool.

He agreed with her assessment: she saw it in his eyes. She could not stay here, loving a man who despised her

Perhaps especially because he had every right to.