The ache in Archie’s chest kept expanding, like a bruise bleeding beneath his skin. “I didn’t predict this attack. Ialwaysthink of every angle, and I didn’t expect this.”
Jasper spoke like a patient parent, and it only irritated Archie further. “You’ve never tried a divorce case before, let alone oneinvolving a woman you’ve—well.” He cleared his throat. “Regardless, you can be forgiven for missing something.”
“Her children won’t forgive me if she’s locked away for the rest of her life.”
“That won’t happen.”
“It might.” Archie looked down, grabbed a piece of paper—to hell with the bloody blueberry scone case—and started scribbling over the back as he read.Mrs. Weldon sued the doctors…“I need to be ready.”
“You need to rest. And eat. You’re of no use if you make yourself ill.”
“I’m of no use if I lose.”
“You’ve never been like this before.”
“Because nothing,no one,has mattered like this before!”
His words echoed in the still room for several long moments. As though he feared Archie himself may detonate, Jasper settled into the chair across from him in careful increments, then motioned for Archie to do the same.
Jasper stared Archie down, and he felt himself beginning to cower under the glare of a septuagenarian semi-retired secretary. “Every case matters,” Jasper enunciated. “Mrs. Etterlein thought her argument over the turnip field was the most important case in the world. Misters Durbin both believe their grandfather wanted the other to have thatliterallydamned clock, and nothing matters more than keeping it out of their respective houses.“ Jasper drew in a long breath before continuing. “This case will be decided one way orthe other, and life will go on in Britain as though nothing happened, because to them, it hasn’t.”
“Her life might not go on, her children—”
“They will live, as will you, and that snake, Croydon. And you’ll have to move on, take on new clients and cases, because your mother and sisters and I, for that matter, all depend on you doing just that. So tell me, because I think I already know the answer, but I don’t know ifyouknow it—”
He rubbed his temples. “That’s a lot ofknows,Jasper.”
“Why is this case different?”
He threw his arms out wide, knocking a teacup onto the floor with a crash. “Because I love her. I’m utterly in love with a woman I can never, ever have, and it’s driving me mad. There, are you happy? I’m bloody miserable, and no matter what happens with this case, I lose her.”
“Why? Why are you so convinced you couldn’t have her?”
Archie carded his hand through his hair. “She won’t stay in England, and I can’t leave Mum and my sisters behind. They need me here.”
“Then convince her to stay. You’re persuasive.”
Lord, did he resent his assistant’s nonchalant logic in the face of Archie’s turmoil. “Not that persuasive. Not to mention the marquess could turn all of England against me if we were together publicly. He’s just the sort of bastard who would see me ruined for petty revenge.”
Jasper looked irritatingly nonplussed. “So, are you going to quit? Give the case to someone else?”
“God, no.”
Jasper’s chuckle was dark as he stood, brushing off his sleeves. “Then you need to get yourself together, because if you keep spinning in circles and anticipating everything that might go wrong, you’ll lose before you set foot in the courtroom.”
Archie would blame exhaustion for the burning in his eyes, the gentle breaking open of his heart like a soft-boiled egg at the words of advice his father should be around to give him. But Jasper had settled into that role without even wanting it. “God, I hate when you’re right.”
Jasper raised one silver brow. “So, always?”
Despite the turmoil raging between his ears, Archie cracked a smile. “Just about.” He slammed the book shut, crumpled up his notes on the Weldon case, and shoved both aside. “Will you help me with the testimony preparation?”
Jasper grinned. “I’d be delighted. But first, you need to eat a sandwich.”
“Roast chicken?” He was pushing his luck.
Jasper’s grin was evil. “Anchovies on toast.”
Chapter 23
