If this were a game, his father had successfully outmaneuvered him. There were no other cards for us to pull, no tricks we could use to wriggle out of this mess. Thomas would marry Miss Whitehall, or everyone he loved—aside from me—would be ruined. I was only ruined in a different way. It was an impossible position. If he picked me, he was damning his sister and her beloved and losing both of his ancestral homes. He’d also lose his title. And he’d lose his future. If he did as his father commanded, he’d break my heart and his own. There were no winners in this game. Except his father and Miss
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