She sighed. “I didn’t tell you right away because it didn’t seem to make any sense to do so. I was so sure we’d part ways just as soon as we left the Cavenders. But then you grew ill, and I had to care for you, and you didn’t recognize me, and . . .”
He lifted a finger to her lips. “It doesn’t matter.”
Her brows rose. “It seemed to matter a great deal the other night.”
He didn’t know why, but he just didn’t want to get into a serious discussion at that moment. “A lot has changed since then.”
“Don’t you want to know why I didn’t tell you who I was?”
He touched her cheeks. “I know who you are.”
She chewed on her lip.
“And do you want to hear the funniest part?” he continued. “Do you know one of the reasons I was so hesitant to give my heart completely to you? I’d been saving a piece of it for the lady from the masquerade, always hoping that one day I’d find her.”
“Oh, Benedict,” she sighed, thrilled by his words, and at the same time miserable that she had hurt him so.
“Deciding to marry you meant I had to abandon my dream of marrying her,” he said quietly. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry I hurt you by not revealing my identity,” she said, not quite looking at his face, “but I’m not sure that I’m sorry I did it. Does that make any sense?”
He didn’t say anything.
“I think I would do the same thing again.”
He still didn’t say anything. Sophie started to feel very uneasy inside.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” she persisted. “Telling you that I’d been at the masquerade would have served no purpose.”
“I would have known the truth,” he said softly.
“Yes, and what would you have done with that truth?” She sat up, pulling the covers until they were tucked under her arms. “You would have wanted your mystery woman to be your mistress, just as you wanted the housemaid to be your mistress.”
He said nothing, just stared at her face.
“I guess what I’m saying,” Sophie said quickly, “is that if I’d known at the beginning what I know now, I would have said something. But I didn’t know, and I thought I’d just be positioning myself for heartbreak, and—” She choked on her final words, frantically searching his face for some kind of clue to his feelings. “Please say something.”
“I love you,” he said.
It was all she needed.