“Defending your dream and your right to have it. To reach for it. Even if you fall, I think it’s better to have reached. Not that I think you’ll fail. Truly, Finn, the ladies will enjoy having their own establishment where they can be a bit naughty.”
He leaned nearer. “What’s your dream?”
To be free of the guilt, to be at peace, to know—
She glanced up with a start at the arrival of both Gillie and Thornley. The duke set a snifter in front of her, and a tumbler of what appeared to be whisky beside her, while the duchess set a similar glass at the empty chair beside her brother and a tankard in front of him. Thornley pulled out a chair for his wife, who, upon further and closer inspection, Lavinia thought might already be carrying his heir.
After taking a seat, Thornley raised his glass. “To the success of your enterprise.”
Everyone else lifted their glasses and sipped, although she couldn’t miss that Gillie hardly dampened her lips with her drink. Apparently, she’d brought the glass over simply to blend in, to make them feel comfortable.
“Does Collinsworth know about this venture of yours?” Thornley asked.
She shook her head. “No, and I’d rather you not tell him.”
“He’s worried, you know.”
“It’s more family pride than love, I suspect. He shouldn’t be worried. I write him weekly to let him know how well I’m faring.”
“I have to admit to being curious about how all this came to pass, you two teaming up for a venture.”
“It’s a rather long and frightfully boring story,” she admitted.
“While you tell him about it, I need to have a private word with my brother,” Gillie said. “Finn?”
He released a long, drawn-out sigh. “Whatever you have to say, Gillie, you can say here.”
“No, this really is very personal. Step outside with me for a moment. Please.”
She could see his hesitation as he looked at her, thought worry for her was his reason for denying his sister. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
Shoving back his chair, he stood and pointed a finger at Thornley. “Don’t upset her.”
She couldn’t imagine the duke had ever been ordered about by anyone. It seemed, however, that the Trewloves didn’t give much credence to rank. She watched as Finn followed his sister out into the night, trying not to remember another time when she’d watched him leave and he’d failed to return.
Thornley’s hand covering hers catapulted her back to the present. “I want to let your brother know that I’ve seen you and you are well.”
“Just don’t tell him where to find me. I’m not yet ready to face him or my mother. There’s a good deal about our family that you don’t know. Be glad things turned out as they did. You seem happy, much happier than you’d have been with me.”
“I wish you would tell me everything,” he said.
But to do that would destroy her.
“What are you thinking, Finn?”
Gillie’s question came as soon as they turned into the alleyway between the brick building that housed her tavern and one that housed an apothecary. Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned against the wall, grateful she hadn’t begun her inquisition on the street. “I need information she possesses.”
“Then pay her for it. Don’t make her a partner.”
“Too late.”
She shook her head forcefully and began pacing. “I shouldn’t have told you she was here.”
“She’s changed, Gillie. She’s different. She’s not the girl I once loved.”
She brought her pacing to an abrupt halt. “So you feel nothing for her?”
“I didn’t say that.” Lowering his gaze, he scuffed his boot against the ground, then lifted his head so he could meet her eyes. “She didn’t betray me, Gillie. And while I realize there is a great deal of pain in our past, I’m not willing to give her up without at least exploring the possibility of a future with her.” He produced a self-mocking smile. “She’s not as receptive to the notion, but I think I can win her over.”
