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" H e knows I didn't do it." Victoria paced, spitting her words as if they were little explosions in her mouth. "He knows I had nothing to do with the late duke's death, and he said that to me anyway!"

She'd hoped that her anger might abate overnight, but it hadn't.

If anything, she had awoken angrier than ever, ready to face James down and let him know exactly what she thought of the way he had spoken to her last night.

But she had recognized that such a confrontation wouldn't serve her well, so she'd decided to leave the house before things could go in that direction instead.

She had come to Cressida, as she always did when things overwhelmed her, and she was sure she would pay a price for having come here without asking James' permission when she went back home.

But really, enough was enough. He might be able to tell her not to associate with his brother—though she still found that ridiculous—but he certainly couldn't tell her not to associate with her own sister. He had no right.

"It's very arrogant of him," Cressida soothed. "But sit down, Victoria. Drink some tea. You'll feel better once you do."

Victoria shook her head. "I don't want to drink tea.:

"You need to relax. You're much too upset over this. It's not the first objectionable thing the duke has said to you, is it?

"He's said nothing but objectionable things from the day we met!"

"Well, I know that isn't true," Cressida said mildly. "You've just told me that he let you know he understood you were innocent of the crime of murdering your late husband. There's nothing to object to in that, surely?"

"I wouldn't have thought so, but now I wish he had never said it to me!" Victoria told her sister fervently.

"Why on Earth would you wish such a thing as that? Surely you don't want him to think you're guilty? Victoria, for heaven's sake, sit down. You're going to make me dizzy with all that pacing."

Victoria sighed and fell into a chair. "No," she said.

"I don't want him to think I'm guilty. I don't want him to think anything at all.

I want him to keep his opinions to himself.

They aren't doing me any good. What benefit is there to me in someone knowing I'm innocent if it isn't going to change the way he acts toward me? "

"Tell me again what he said."

"I told you already," Victoria sighed. "He said he didn't want me to spend time with his brother because he was worried about his brother's safety.

And he definitely insinuated that his worry was due to the fact that I might be a violent criminal.

He knows I'm not. He's been abundantly clear about that.

So the only reason he could have had for saying such a thing would have been a desire to upset me. "

"In which case, I don't think you ought to give him what he wants," Cressida told her. "Don't let him see that he's upset you, or he'll know that he has the right approach if he wants to do it again."

"You're right, of course. That's why I came over here first thing this morning," Victoria told her sister. "I didn't trust myself to conceal the way I was feeling if I had to be around him."

"I do think you probably made the right decision on that front," Cressida agreed. "It's very clear that you're distressed—he wouldn't have been able to avoid noticing it even if he'd wanted to. Say what you'd like about the duke, but he doesn't appear to be a stupid man."

"No," Victoria agreed with a sigh. "For all his flaws, I can't say that's one of them.

He's quite intelligent, little though I like to admit it.

My life would be easier if I could just think of him as a fool, but I can't. I know exactly how clever he is, and that makes it all the more maddening when he does something like this! "

"I can only imagine," Cressida said sympathetically. "The good news is that if you marry, you'll be away from him, and you'll never have to worry about this again." She bit her lip. "Have you thought any further about the possibility of marriage? Does it appeal to you any more than it once did?"

"I thought about it last night," Victoria confessed. "After James and I had our argument, I went up to my room and pondered what it would be like to get out of the house and away from his temper."

"And?"

"It appealed to me at first," Victoria admitted. "I've never believed that marriage would be for me, but for the first time, I began to see the potential benefits. At the very least, leaving the house would be good."

"There you are," Cressida agreed, beaming at her. "I knew that, given time, you would come to realize the benefits of marriage and of moving on with your life. I'm sorry the duke has been so unpleasant, but if he's made you see?—"

"Hold on," Victoria interjected. "That was what I was thinking last night. But I woke up feeling rather differently about it all."

"What do you mean?"

"I only mean that…well, it doesn't seem right to me that I should allow myself to make decisions about what's right for my life based on comments James makes to me," Victoria said.

"How can I let myself be chased out of my home by that man?

It would be giving him exactly what he wants, wouldn't it?

Letting him see that all he ever had to do was say one rude thing to me and I would give in.

I can't make it that easy for him. I owe myself better than that, don't I? "

Cressida sighed. "You are enduringly stubborn," she told her sister. "I just hope you realize that."

"I'm not trying to be. I just don't want to marry for the sole reason of James saying something unkind to me. Even you have to admit, Cressida—that's a terrible reason to get married."

"But the marriage itself would bring you peace. Joy. Freedom," Cressida pressed. "Don't you want those things? You must know that I want them for you."

"Of course I know." Victoria smiled fondly at her sister.

"I know you've only ever sought my happiness.

It's the reason you chose to marry Matthew in my stead—although, of course, that worked out perfectly for the two of you, and I'm very glad of it.

But I've never had any cause to doubt that you wanted what was best for me, Cressida, and I don't doubt it now.

It's just that I don't believe we see eye to eye on what is best for me. "

"You just said yourself that you wanted to get out of that house."

"I thought I wanted that last night. Thinking about it today, I can admit that I'm not longer so sure."

Cressida frowned. "What aren't you saying?"

Victoria was confused. "I don't know what you mean," she said. "I've told you the whole story."

"No, I don't mean I think you're leaving part of the story out," Cressida said. "But I think there's some detail you're omitting. Something about your thoughts…or perhaps about your feelings."

"I promise, I've told you everything that's relevant."

"You don't want to leave the duke," Cressida said. "You enjoy living with him, don't you?"

Victoria felt heat come into her cheeks. "Why would I enjoy that? He's awful."

"It's all right," Cressida told her. "I'm your sister. You can tell me the truth. You like being around him. You must admit, he's the only thing you seem to talk about lately. You've noticed that, haven't you?"

"If I talk about him frequently, it's because he's the most significant thing in my life at the moment!

" Victoria sputtered. "He came back to town and set in motion a plan to make me move out of my home!

He wants to arrange a marriage for me that I've expressed no interest whatsoever in!

How could I spare any attention for anything else?

Of course he occupies the forefront of my mind!

I can't believe you would suggest that that means I like being around him. I can't stand the man!"

"That's not true," Cressida told her gently. "I know you very well, Victoria. I know how you react when you're passionate about something." She leaned forward and took Victoria's hands carefully in her own.

Victoria's heart pounded. She felt anxious and upset, but she forced herself not to pull away from her sister.

"This is how you were with Jonathan," Cressida said. "Before you knew what kind of man he was. When you thought you were in love."

Victoria went rigid.

"I'm sorry," Cressida said. "I know we don't speak about him. I know you don't like to hear his name. I don't like it either. And I don't mean to suggest that the duke is anything like that man, because I don't believe he is, even at his worst."

Victoria nodded. As angry as she sometimes got with James, she could agree that that was true. His flaws paled in comparison to those of Jonathan.

"The reason I'm bringing this up is that I never thought I would see you in this state again after what happened all those years ago," Cressida said. "I know you decided to give up on the idea of love. But I think, in spite of everything, it might have found you again."

"No it hasn't," Victoria whispered. "No."

She couldn't face the idea that that was true.

It couldn't be true. Whatever was going on with her head and her heart—no, it couldn't possibly be love .

Perhaps she had developed a certain fondness for James, for the time they spent together and the lively conversations they shared. But that wasn't love.

Her sister was interpreting things incorrectly.

She wasn't used to Victoria feeling very strongly about any gentleman, and that was understandable.

Victoria had hardly thought about men at all since her husband's death.

If James hadn't come into town when he had, she probably never would have thought about men again.

But he was here now, and she was thinking about him.

Was there a chance that Cressida was right ?

She took a deep breath and picked up her cup of tea, trying not to pay any attention to the fact that her hand was shaking as she did so.

She didn't want Cressida to see how bothered she was by the turn this conversation had taken.

She wasn't used to trying to conceal things from her sister, and it didn't feel good to do it now, but she knew that it was thinly chance she had of convincing Cressida to abandon this idea that she was in love with James.

She needed Cressida to let go of that thought.

She didn't want to have to go on defending herself against it—she wasn't sure she could.

"I think I became comfortable with him, that's all," she said, impressed as she spoke at how steady her voice had become. "I think I allowed myself to get used to the fact that I'm sharing my home with someone else. That's what you're seeing. Not passion. Just comfort."

Cressida frowned doubtfully. "I'm not so sure," she said.

"But…well, if you say that's what it is, I have no choice but to believe you, Victoria.

I just hope you know that you can tell me anything.

No matter what you might be thinking or feeling, you can always talk to me.

You can always come to me. And no matter how surprising and unpredictable it might seem… I will always be here for you."