“If only I had had time to warn you,” Nerina said, “for I knew that this was going to happen.”
“You knew?” Elizabeth asked in astonishment, raising her tear-stained face.
“Yes,” Nerina said miserably, “I was just going to tell you what I had overheard when Bessie came into the room. Elizabeth, you cannot marry him. He is a brute and a beast.”
“I cannot marry anyone but Adrian,” Elizabeth cried, “but oh, what can I do? Papa is set on it and you know what he is.”
Both girls were silent for a moment, knowing full well what Lord Cardon was like when he was determined on something and then, with an effort to control her tears, Elizabeth said,
“But tell me how you know about it.”
Nerina recounted what she had heard in the summerhouse. When she had finished, Elizabeth put her fingers to her
