Nora’s voice shook. “You’re right. Wearedifferent. You accept money to sweep scandals under the carpet. I accepted money to bring them to light. But that gossip already existed. I made certain my sketches weren’t news to anyone.”
“You went out of your way to make peers of the realm look ridiculous to the rest of the population,” he stammered reflexively as his brain scrambled to catch up to his heart. He’d been so angry for so long. But the self-righteous argument no longer made sense given the context she’d just given him. Perhaps it had never made sense.
“Commoners daren’t find humor in their betters, you mean?” Nora’s eyes were glassy, her face pale. “Of course that’s what the high and mighty want. And I know why. Making thetonappear even more perfect than they actually are makes all of us who are nothing feel even more worthless and inconsequential.”
His lungs caught. The naked pain of her words twisted his heart.
All these years, he had thought he was taking the right actions. He still believed helping others was always the right thing. For the first time, he was forced to face the possibility that his selection of who in particular deserved his help had been far from unbiased.
Heath helped thebeau mondebecause he knew them. He was a member of their community. He was surrounded by them every day of his life.
He helped his sister’s charity because it belonged to his sister. He loved her. He’d known her ever since her first breath.
He didn’t consciously believe that individuals outside of his class were unimportant, as his actions had made Nora feel.
It was worse than that. He simply hadn’t thought about those people at all. Theton’soutcry against her irreverent caricatures was because they exposed thebeau monde’s ugly side to those beneath them. How much hubris did that outrage portray?
Worse yet was Heath’s belated realization that his plan to pay any price to unmask the caricaturist afforded him no greater moral high ground than Nora having sketched the drawings in the first place.
He had accepted money from a client whose stated goal had been to humiliate the caricaturist by being the first to spread gossip of his true identity.
It had not seemed hypocritical at the time. But he could not remain willfully blind to the obvious.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your family,” she said again, her voice small and miserable. “I was trying to save mine. I’m sorry I caused you pain.”
He took a deep breath. It was time to speak the truth. “So am I.”
She frowned up at him in confusion.
Heath tried to find words to express the turmoil within.
Nora had followed the wrong path and tried to make it right. She had chosen returning to poverty over continuing lucrative caricatures.Thatwas the true character of the woman he loved.
She was willing to spend the rest of her days slaving on a sheep farm because she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness for those she loved.
Had he not prided himself on doing the same? What was love, if not the ability to understand and empathize with someone else’s perspective?
He stepped forward and took her hands in his.
“We’re both flawed,” he began. Understatement at its finest. “Only by helping each other be better can we hope for a future together.”
Her blue eyes were wide with emotion. “What are you saying?”
What she needed to hear.
The truth.
“I forgive you for choices you made out of financial desperation.” He gripped her hands tighter. “I am still hurt and angry that you trusted me with your body, but not your truth.” He let out a breath. “But you were not wrong about how I would react to the news. I hope you can forgive me for that.”
Her hands trembled in his. “You… forgive me?”
“I love you,” he said simply. “If we can work through this, we can work through anything life can send us. From this moment forward, we are a team.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I love you so much more than words can say. There’s nothing I want more than to face the world and the rest of our lives together.”
“We’ll be unstoppable.” He cupped her damp cheeks with his hands and kissed her until they were both gasping for air.
A sudden frown creased her brow. “What about your clients?”
