He’d sat by her bedside the entire night.
When Blanche woke, the chair beside her was empty. The fever had broken, and a maid brought in a light breakfast on a tray.
“Mr. Ablett says you needn’t go down to the dining room, the maid said, placing a bottle of medicine on
the nightstand. Seeing Blanche staring absently at the bottle, she added, “The fever’s gone, but he was worried there might be lingering effects, so the doctor prescribed this.”
“Mr. Ablett stayed with you all night,” the maid said with a gentle smile.
All night?
Blanche remembered collapsing into Ablett’s arms before she lost consciousness, her body pressing down on his arm. She must’ve been too heavy for him to move it out from under her.
She had little appetite, managed a few spoonfuls of the broth, and then made her way to the dining room in search of Ablett.
Passing through the small garden, Blanche caught sight of Leda.
Leda had finally gotten her wish: to see Ablett. She’d carried a torch for him for years, always hoping to explain herself. But even after their engagement was broken off, she never got another chance to see him–until now.
“Ablett, I swear I had no idea someone had spiked your drink that night,” Leda pleaded. “I never meant for you to miss that important assignment.”
“We were so close back then. Your uncle and aunt were already planning our engagement with my brother. I had absolutely no reason to hurt you. I wouldn’t have done it–and I couldn’t have.”
Leda was on the verge of tears, clutching at Ablett’s sleeve. “You’ve got it all wrong. Ablett. Please, you have to believe me. Don’t marry her, please?”
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“She’s just a secretary. No family to speak of, and I heard her mother passed away. She’s not right for you, and she can’t help you.” Leda couldn’t fathom–let accept–how she could lose to someone like Blanche.
“There’s too great a gap between you. What could you possibly have in common? She can’t compare to what I feel for you.”
From the moment she was born, she’d been promised to him. Growing up, she was
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told she’d be his bride. For twenty years, her heart had been tied to his. Her one wish in life was to build a home and a family with him.
If he didn’t want her, what was left?
Blanche couldn’t quite catch what they were saying, but sensed it wasn’t the right time to interrupt. She lingered quietly nearby, hoping to speak with Ablett once they finished.
Suddenly, though, Leda’s tone became desperate. There was a struggle–Blanche glanced over, concerned.
Ablett’s gaze slid over Leda’s hands. She could feel the distance in him, the chill that made her heart ache with humiliation.
Once, she would have let go, showing her usual grace. But now, she couldn’t–she wouldn’t.
Ablett’s voice was cool. “Even before that incident, I’d already asked your brother to break off the engagement.”
“What are you talking about?” Leda’s voice rose in panic as she looked into his impassive, unwavering eyes. Suddenly, understanding struck.
So it hadn’t been the scandal–the spiked drink and missed assignment–that led the McCarthy family to abandon the childhood engagement. It was Ablett himself who had asked Carney to call it off, and Carney had retaliated.
Tears welled in Leda’s eyes. “Why did you end it? Wasn’t I good enough?”
In his mind, Ablett saw a memory from thirteen years before–the first time he met
Blanche.
He’d been touring Ivycrest University, scouting for talent, when he happened upon a girl stretched out beneath a locust tree, reading. White petals drifted down, a few coming to rest in her hair, but she didn’t notice. Her eyes never strayed from her book–an advanced algorithms text, the kind that was tough even for most computer science majors.
She read with a focused calm.
“I don’t love you.”
With that, Ablett turned and walked away, the fabric of his shirt slipping from Leda’s trembling fingers.
But Leda couldn’t accept it. She rushed forward and hugged him from behind, sobbing. “You aren’t the same with me as you are with others. You’re cold to
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everyone else, but you’re at least a little gentle with me.”
“All those years–spending time together, growing close, even in the days before the engagement was called off–you never once opposed what our families arranged. You were going to marry me!”
She knew he didn’t love her, maybe didn’t even like her. But he was different with
her–wasn’t he?
Ablett’s gaze fixed on a spot just past Leda–meeting Blanche’s eyes where she stood at the edge of the garden, her brows knit in anger.
With a scowl, Blanche strode up to them, her eyes going straight to Leda’s arms wrapped around Ablett. She didn’t hesitate.
“Miss Harvey, would you mind telling me exactly what you’re doing with my fiancé?”
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