Seductive Lies (Secret Lives Series) by Colleen Connally

deadly silence ensued. Harriet couldn’t take her eyes off Carlisle. She shook her head, refusing to believe the words. She pressed the handkerchief against her eyes to contain her tears.
    “I asked for the ring because I thought it best if the request came from me. Lord Daneford is determined to have the ring back. He seems bent on thrusting you out of his life. He wants no connection to you. The truth hurts, but it is what you need to hear.”
    Harriet looked away. She didn’t care about Lord Daneford’s desire to take her ring. She cried, “No…no…it is not true. Arthur isn’t…can’t be…”
    “Perhaps it would be best if you went away for a time. The invitation to my uncle’s still stands.”
    Harriet ignored him. The last thing she wanted was to be consoled by the Carlisle family, but she did need to leave. She had to leave. She stared down at the ring in her hand. She would never give it up. She squeezed it tight ly. It was her one connection to Arthur.
    Carlisle reached over and grasped her hand. The moment he touched it , the room around her changed. She no longer sat in Beebe Manor’s drawing room nor was she sitting.
    Harriet stood in front of a full -length mirror with her hand on her growing stomach, but it was not her in the reflection. It was a woman she had never seen before, a most beautiful woman. Dressed in a white nightgown, she had classic cheekbones with a flawless complexion. Her long golden hair fell down well below her waist.
    The woman had been crying. Her redden ed swollen eyes betrayed her tears. She wiped back tears straying down her face. Immediately, Harriet caught sight of the ring on the woman’s hand…the ring.
    In her next breath, a man’s reflection appeared in the mirror. Meriwether Carlisle!
    “It is how it has to be, my love.” He walked up behind the lady and wrapped his arm around her.
    “You promised we would marry.” The woman’s voice shook with emotion. “What am I to do?”
    “I will care for you and the baby. You know I would never desert you,” he bent down and whispered in her ear. “I love you, Georgiana .”
    “Mother?” It was Georgiana. The woman was her mother. Forgetting all precautions, Harriet reached out and cried, “Mother! Don’t leave me!”
    Immediately, her head spun. Her eyes blurred. She fell upon the floor. Carlisle stood above her, looking confused. It was the last she remembered before relinquishing consciousness into darkness.
    * * * *
    The wheels of the carriage rolled to a stop. It had been a long journey, but Harriet had arrived at Marsaport. The small fishing village lay at the furthest point of Cornwall, a remote part of England…far away from London, Exeter, Beebe Manor, and any remembrance of Arthur.
    There would be no balls, no Season, no wedding. She had left everything behind. All her dreams of a future had faded away into nothingness.
    She had said good-bye to everyone : Clarissa, Bessie…her grandmother. Sadness inundated her at the farewell. An ominous feeling overwhelmed her that she may never see her grandmother again. Harriet had cut a fresh vase of roses for her grandmother. She pinched one off and pressed it into her grandmother’s hands. Her grandmother, in turn, pressed her cameo into Harriet’s.
    Harriet should have returned it. Her grandmother didn’t know what she was doing and may well look for it the moment after Harriet left. But in truth Harriet needed the cameo. She needed the connection to one whom she loved so well. She pinned it to her gown as a reminder.
    Waiting for the door to open, Harriet unconsciously wrung her hands together. Even through her gloves, she felt the loss of her ring. It was gone…taken while she lay unconscious.
    Devastated at the loss of her ring…of Arthur, Harriet took to her bed and had not risen for three days. She didn’t eat. She didn’t sleep, for every time she closed her eyes, she would see Arthur. His sea blue eyes haunted her. All she seemed to do was cry.