A Wicked Conceit by Anna Huber (best young adult book series txt) 📗

our door. I didn’t recognize the conveyance and was on the brink of retreating to our bedchamber, lest I be forced to receive them, when I caught sight of the occupant emerging. She was a vision of loveliness in a gown of ver de mer sea green in figured gros de Tours, with a standing collar and deep epaulettes, and a magnificent hat adorned with a rich plume of white feathers. My heart leapt in eagerness.

Charlotte, the Dowager Countess of Stratford, soon to be wed to my cousin Rye, was one of my dearest friends. Though we hadn’t started out that way. She had once viewed me with barely concealed contempt, and I had avoided her with chilly dislike. Until I helped to save her from her late husband’s murderous machinations. Since then, we’d both realized we’d misjudged each other and had developed a close friendship, despite the distance that often separated us.

By the time Jeffers opened the drawing room door to introduce her, I was already standing, ready to receive her. He had known not to stand on ceremony where Charlotte and I were concerned, and so she entered behind him. If possible, she looked even more radiant than the last time I’d seen her, which was saying something, as she was one of the most beautiful women in all of Britain.

“Oh, Kiera, my darling,” she exclaimed with a laugh as she hurried forward, her soft gray eyes sparkling. “You look as if you are ready to pop.”

“Like a champagne cork,” I conceded as she touched both sides of my rounded abdomen and then reached up to hug me around the neck. I felt my emotions stir at being embraced so, especially after all of the trials of the past few days, and strove to tamp them down. “Rye must be treating you well. When did you arrive in Edinburgh?”

“Oh, he is a dear.” She pulled back to look at me, her hands still clutching my arms, which she squeezed affectionately. “But you know that.”

I opened my mouth to reply but then had to close it, for my lip began to quiver.

Charlotte’s eyes widened in concern. “Oh, dearest. Whatever is the matter?”

“I . . . I think Gage hates me,” I gasped, dissolving into tears.

Chapter 19

Come now. What’s this nonsense?” Charlotte coaxed gently sometime later after I’d cried myself out leaning against her shoulder on the settee. “Gage doesn’t hate you.”

“I know,” I sniffed, already recognizing how ridiculous that statement had been. A culmination of fear, and stress, and the overwrought emotions I’d experienced at times during my pregnancy. I’d never been the type of woman who cried easily, but I’d been assured that sentimentality was a natural consequence of my expectant state.

“Then what made you think so, even ever so briefly?”

She listened quietly, her pale blond head tilted to the side, as I explained about Lord Henry Kerr being his half brother, and how I’d kept the secret from Gage. Perhaps I shouldn’t have shared that shocking bit of information about Gage and Henry’s relation to each other, but I knew Charlotte could be trusted. She might appear as fragile as a china doll, what with her porcelain skin and pale pink lips, but she was strong and resilient, and fiercely loyal—something that I valued highly.

It was such a relief to have someone to talk to, to have someone to listen, I even shared my hurt and bafflement over my sister’s treatment of me. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being able to confide in Alana until that moment, how difficult it was not to have her advice and support. Now, when I needed it. Simply being able to share the burden eased its weight off my shoulders, allowing me to breathe more easily.

When I’d finished, Charlotte smiled at me sympathetically, clutching my one hand while I used the other to dab the remaining tears from my eyes with my handkerchief. “I’m sorry you’ve been enduring this all alone, and while expecting. But things are not so bleak, Kiera.”

“But I kept a secret from Gage I should never have withheld,” I protested.

“Yes, you did. But for the very best of reasons. And Gage will see that eventually. He’s simply wounded and angry right now. Give him some time to come to terms with what his father has done, with the discovery he has a brother.” She lifted her hand to tuck a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear. “If I know anything about Gage, it is how much he loves you. This won’t make him stop. In fact, it might make him love you more.”

I frowned in puzzlement at this statement, but before I could ask what she meant, she continued speaking.

“As for your sister, I suspect there’s more to her behavior than she’s telling you.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If you can find the reason behind her strong emotions and responses, a reason beyond even the fear she feels for you, I think you will have your answer.”

“You know something.” It was a statement, not a question, for I could see in her eyes that this wasn’t some hypothetical suggestion.

“No. Yes.” She frowned. “Maybe. I will think on it. But in the meantime, the next time she attacks you, see if you can probe deeper into her reaction.”

I nodded, unsure that I would be able to remain emotionless enough to do so. Or whether Alana would remain in the room long enough. She had the infuriating habit of walking away from an argument once she’d believed she’d won rather than waiting to listen to what I had to say in return.

I twisted my hands in my lap, and Charlotte eyed me patiently, recognizing that there was still something troubling me we hadn’t addressed. “But what about the way I flinch from Gage whenever he’s angry? I know he would never hurt me.” I pressed my hands to my