He pivoted. “Name it.”
“Treat your wife better,” she said after a painstaking breath. “At least one lady shan’t walk away with heartbreak.”
Her simple, calm words had the effect of ramming a stake through his heart. That right there reminded him of why he had avoided commitment all these years.
And now I have put Cecilia in the crosshairs.
He left the room, feeling as if he were trudging underneath the deepest water, with how heavy the weight on his shoulders felt. He returned to the grand salon to find Cecilia nursing a glass of champagne, standing alone from the rest of the crowd.
At first, she looked fine, but as he came closer, he saw how tight her jaw was clenched and how blistering her gaze was. If weaponized, it would have carved a hole through the glass. He knew why—the gazes flickering over her and the not-so-subtle whispers behind champagne flutes and fans.
By morning, all of Town will be abuzz with the news of how I ran after another woman while leaving my wife to wear the shame of my past indiscretions. Another thing I am responsible for.
“I assume she was displeased knowing you are married?” Cecilia asked.
“I don’t thinkdispleaseddoes justice to her temperament,” he said tiredly. “Let’s just say I have made more of a muddle of things than I had ever thought would happen. I wish I could undo my careless words which made the poor woman hang her hat on me for years. It is something I will never forgive myself for.”
She faced him fully and rested a hand on his arm. “Let’s leave. I don’t think staying here will help.”
“I’m sorry,” Cassian managed, his eyes flickering over the people behind them. “I never expected this.”
“Idid,” she replied calmly. “And frankly, at this point, I’m impervious to scandal. It will blow down eventually.”
They headed out of the house and to the line of carriages waiting down the freshly-paved driveway. When they arrived at theirs, she settled across from him and retrieved a book from her satchel, granting him the silence to wrestle with his past. How had everything gone so wrong from those few days trapped in the outbuilding when he was a child?
Something broke in me.
His eyes dropped on the book on her lap, and his lips flickered at the sight of the book’s title.Cecilia.
She deserves so much better than what I can give her.
“What’s that look for?” Cecilia asked, even while turning a page.
“Just that you must have read that book a thousand times,” he mumbled.
“Actually, only fifty-four times,” she answered matter-of-factly. “There are so many other books out there.”
Snorting, he cocked an elbow on the windowsill and popped his chin on it.You are a strange one, sweetheart.
CHAPTER 29
Seated on the steps of one of the many porches of Fitzroy Manor, Cassian gently shifted when Cecilia came to sit beside him. The evening air hung golden and still, as if the world itself had paused for the moment.
“To think, by this time tomorrow, you will be halfway across the channel.”
“Yes,” he murmured as he gazed into the sunset that painted the sky in shades of amber and rose.
She tucked herself sweetly against his side, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Is this something youwantto do, or is it something youmustdo?”
“Must,” he replied softly. “I have a wanderlust that doesn’t feel it can ever be satiated.”
Cecilia leaned a little closer and asked, “Do you have a plan on where you are going to go, or are you simply going to wander?”
He breathed in the familiar, freshly scented grass. Just the same as all those many years ago. “Hm. I have a few places that I must see, but beyond that, I will be drifting,” he replied.
A swift breeze lifted her hair, and he spotted the soft tilt of her coral lips. “The temples of Greece, the ruins of Rome, sailing down the Tiber, the castles and cathedrals of Spain, taking the trails through the forests of Monaco…”
He tilted his head to the sky, “Cecilia, tomorrow is the last day for you to sign your ticket to freedom. Can you promise me you will do so?”
