Too Good to Be True by Kate William

Author:Kate William [William, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2002-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

***

The man who opened the door in response to Elizabeth's knock was a pale shadow of the Roger

Collins she knew. A stubble of beard darkened his jaw. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

Elizabeth felt a sharp stab of sympathy, held in check by the memory of Suzanne's tearstained

face.

"Uh--is it OK if we come in?" she asked hesitantly. "I really need to talk to you."

"Of course you can come in, Liz ... Todd." At least he sounded like the same old Mr. Collins.

Elizabeth sat down stiffly on the edge of a chair. Todd and Mr. Collins remained standing. They were both waiting for her to say something, but she felt as if a chunk of concrete were blocking her throat.

"H-how are you?" she finally stammered. The answer to that question was obvious, but she couldn't quite get herself to say anything else.

Mr. Collins shrugged noncommitally. "I've had better days."

"You're not sick, are you?" Elizabeth asked. "You don't look very good."

"I'm sick about what happened, if that's what you mean," he said wearily.

Was he admitting that he was guilty? she wondered. Then she remembered the necklace.

If Suzanne had lied about that, she could lie about anything. Elizabeth felt hopelessly confused.

She looked at Mr. Collins's blue eyes, and he met her gaze. She read sadness in his expression, and fatigue and hurt. "Mr. Collins," she, finally blurted out, "is what Suzy said you did true?"

Her face was flaming with embarrassment. If a trapdoor had appeared magically at her feet at

that moment, she would gladly have dropped through it.

"What do you think?" Mr. Collins asked quietly, his eyes still steady as they held hers.

Suddenly Elizabeth knew what the truth was. She knew in her heart that Mr. Collins hadn't tried to seduce Suzanne. How could she ever have thought so in the first place? Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she shook her head in answer to her own question.

"I guess I never really believed it. Not deep down. I just couldn't see why Suzanne would lie about a thing like that. I thought she was my friend. I should have known better."

"Suzanne is a very mixed-up young lady," Mr. Collins said. "I think maybe in her own twisted way she did want to be your friend."

Elizabeth shook her head in denial. "No friend of mine would have lied to me the way she did.

And stolen from me. Not to mention what she's

been doing to you! And to think I was actually sympathetic toward her! Oh, Mr. Collins, I'm so

sorry about everything. Can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Liz. I'm not angry with you. If you want to know the truth, I'm not even angry with Suzanne anymore. Oh, I was plenty mad at first. But now I mostly feel sorry for her. She must have wanted attention very badly to do what she did."

Elizabeth rose abruptly. "Well, I don't feel one bit sorry for her! I feel like I've been stabbed in the back. How could I have been so blind?"

She could see it all so clearly now.

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