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I had never fathomed the depths of anguish that I could plunge into so profoundly…

I can never be certain of your sincerity. I shall forever doubt whether you carry the fruit of our love…

I find no other solution but to sever our ties—

Emily closed her eyes, taking in loud gasps of air. Hot flashes ran through her body, causing her palms and other random patches of her body to perspire.

This must be a nightmare. She swallowed, before rereading the letter from start to finish, calmer now, not missing a single word. Then she read it again. And again. Until every word was engraved in her mind.

No matter how many times she reread it, the message it carried was the same.

Bernard had heard about the rumors and was breaking off their betrothal.

Not only did the coward do it via the letter, but he had the gall to make himself a victim!

How could he have so little trust in her?

How could he have broken off the betrothal without seeing her, speaking to her, and hearing her side of the story?

Her fingers curled and crushed the letter in her fist, but it might as well have been her heart.

Bernard was not the man she thought he was.

But he was still the man who could save her.

Chapter Three

Emily got up early in the morning. Earlier than usual. She wasn’t able to fall asleep anyway. What was the point of lying in bed?

She tossed and turned, her mind racing, coming up with ways to save her reputation. Only one conclusion came to mind. She needed to see Bernard, talk to him, and convince him to marry her still.

She was still angry at him; that hadn’t changed. But the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that the letter was not Bernard’s idea.

His parents had never been fond of Emily. This was the main reason why Bernard hadn’t proposed earlier. And now, with the scandal looming over Emily’s head, they, no doubt, had taken the opportunity to poison Bernard’s mind.

It wasn’t lost on Emily that he still had given up on her so easily. That he’d written those hurtful words without giving a chance for Emily to explain.

She had loved him since she was fifteen years old. She would never have broken off any association with him just because of a little scandal. Her emotions oscillated between betrayal, frustration, anger, and despair. But she couldn’t concentrate on that now. She couldn’t let her emotions cloud her judgment.

Yes, he was a coward.

But he was the coward who could still save her and her family.

She would cry and wail, and kick Bernard in the shins, but after the wedding. Right now, she needed to see him. See him and beg him to take her back.

And she needed to do it by herself. She couldn’t let her mother be humiliated by the unfair treatment at the O’Malley house. Because as much as she believed in the goodness deep inside Bernard, she couldn’t say the same about his parents.

Emily donned her most beautiful gown, her white silk slippers, and a blue Spencer jacket that she only wore on special occasions. She stared at her paint-ruined clothing for a long moment before rummaging through the pockets and collecting the card with the Earl of Sutton’s name and address on it.

He’d said if there were any repercussions from the incident to come calling. She doubted he would be able to help her, but she pocketed the card all the same.

She hoped the journey to the O’Malleys’ house would give her time to school her features, cool her anger, and temper her frustrations as well as give her the opportunity to come up with something better to say than “You owe me a minute of your time, you rotten scoundrel, as you promised to marry me since the day of my fifteenth birthday!”

But she underestimated her anger. When she stepped onto the O’Malleys’ doorstep, she was still seething.

She was not able to let out her frustrations on anyone, however, because the butler insisted that no one was home, although Emily saw someone peeking out of the windows a few times.

Cowards. All of them.