The Unexpected Duchess (Playful Brides #1)(76)

Lucy bit her lip. What a complicated question.

“Did you do anything? Say anything? To make him think you didn’t want to see him again,” Cass prodded.

Lucy nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid I did. But none of that matters. Tell me, why? Why did you break things off with Derek if Julian still plans to marry Penelope?”

Cass patted Lucy’s hand. “Oh, Lucy, everyone deserves to find love the way I love Julian. And just because I can’t have him, doesn’t mean the duke doesn’t deserve to find love with someone of his choosing. Derek doesn’t love me and I don’t love him. We both know that. He deserves to find someone with whom he can truly be happy.”

Lucy’s heart nearly beat out of her chest. “But what about you?”

Cass smoothed her hands over her skirts, but the hint of a smile still played around her lips. “I expect it will take a bit for me to become accustomed to Pen and Julian’s marriage. But eventually, I may find someone who loves me, who cannot live without me. Either that or I’ll run off to the convent.” She giggled. “I just need a bit of time.”

Cass nodded resolutely but Lucy didn’t believe it. This time she patted her friend’s hand. “You’re brave. Brave to make the decision and brave to face Penelope and Julian’s wedding. But I still think that we can—”

“No,” Cass said in the firmest voice Lucy had ever heard from her. “No more of your mischiefs. I refuse to attempt to break up my cousin’s engagement. I’m just happy Julian is recovering and that I shall see him again. Nothing else matters.” Tears shone in her blue eyes again.

Lucy blew out a deep breath. “Very well. I’ll let it be. For now.” She didn’t wait for Cass to protest that last bit. “It’s wonderful that Julian is coming home, but what about the letter you wrote to him? Did he mention it? Do you think that will make a difference in his feelings?”

Cass took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. “I never sent that letter.”

Lucy felt as if she were eight years old and had just fallen out of the apple tree. The breath had been completely knocked from her body. She’d been momentarily paralyzed. “You didn’t?”

“No. I didn’t.”

Lucy shook her head. “I don’t understand. I saw you write it. Watched you sand it. Waited while you heated the wax to seal it.”

“I know. I did all of that. But I never posted it, Lucy. I just”—Cass glanced down at her hands—“couldn’t. And now I realize it was the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do,” Lucy echoed.

“Yes. Haven’t you been the one encouraging me to stand up for myself, not do everything I’m told? I’m relieved that I didn’t send that letter.”

Lucy grabbed her friend’s hand again and rested her forehead against it. “I’m sorry I tried to convince you to. I thought it was the right thing, at the time. Can you forgive me for that, too?”

Cass squeezed Lucy’s fingers. “Of course you thought it was the right thing. And I love you for it, Lucy, truly I do. There’s nothing to forgive.”

Pulling her hand from Lucy’s grasp, Cass clapped. “Now. Enough moping about things we cannot change. Let’s discuss something infinitely more delightful.”

Lucy stared at her with wide eyes. “Better than Julian coming home?”

“Well, perhaps not for me,” Cass replied with a small smile.

“What then?”

“When the duke accompanied Mama and me to the theater last night, all he could talk about was you.”

Lucy counted five. It was finally time to set things right with her friend. “There’s something I must tell you, Cass.”

She smiled at Lucy. “That you’re madly in love with the duke?”

Lucy looked twice. Cass’s face was perfectly serene. “How did you know?”

“Oh, Luce, it’s been obvious for ages.”

Lucy pressed her fingertips to her lips. “Ages? It has?”

“Yes. Janie and I have been waiting for you to finally admit it.”

Lucy slapped her hand to her forehead. “You have?”

“Absolutely. It’s been clear since we went to Bath that you and Derek were ever so much more suited to each other than he and I. In fact, I’d been pretending to be far more helpless than I really felt in an effort to allow you two to spend more time in each other’s company since the Chamberses’ ball.”

“The Chamberses’ ball!” Lucy’s mouth was a wide O. “But what about Lady Hoppington’s Venetian breakfast? You told Derek he could court you.”

Cass shook her head. “It wasn’t quite straightforward of me, I know, but I thought it was a way to keep you and Derek in proximity of each other. If I told him to leave, I think he would have then. And the two of you might never have seen each other again.”

Lucy covered her friend’s hand with her own and squeezed. “You did that for me?”

“I’d do anything for you, Lucy.” She went on, “I admit when I got the letter from Julian, it confused and upset me. I had no idea Julian felt so strongly about me marrying Derek.”

“It’s understandable, Cass.”

Cass nodded. “But if Julian were here, and he could see the two of you, he’d know it was for the best. He’d want his friend to be happy. As I do you.”