Gemma’s Reviews > A Counterfeit Betrothal/The Notorious Rake > Status Update

She had been afraid to forgive, afraid that their relationship would have changed. She had been too young and inexperienced to know that relationships are always changing, that they must change in order to grow and survive.

He could never again be her Marc as she had known him. And she was afraid to even to try to get to know a new Marc. Perhaps she could not love the new Marc. The thought of not loving him had filled her with panic. Better never to see him again. Better to live alone as if he were dead.

He could never again be her Marc as she had known him. And she was afraid to even to try to get to know a new Marc. Perhaps she could not love the new Marc. The thought of not loving him had filled her with panic. Better never to see him again. Better to live alone as if he were dead.

Perhaps they had loved too dearly. Had he loved her less, perhaps he could’ve kept quiet about his infidelity and punished only himself with it. Had she loved him less, perhaps she could eventually have forgiven him. Had he loved her less, perhaps he would’ve forced her to take him back and they might eventually worked out some sort of peace. Has she loved him less…

😭

For how could she see him again and not love him? How could she see him again and keep dormant within herself the knowledge that she had always loved him, had continued to love him even when she had hated him the most?

“How delightful it is to see them together again, is it not?”

“I never could quite understand what the problem was,” Lord Wheatley said. “I was always under the impression that it was a love match.”

“That is precisely what the problem was,” His Grace said.