Her heart thundered in her throat. She wanted to probe but she couldn’t quite the words out. Thankfully, it seemed Joseph wasn’t quite finished talking.
“I have been living my life in such fear, keeping everyone at arm’s length, not allowing myself to truly care for someone else. I didn’t want to lose anyone else, and I thought keeping love out of it might protect everyone involved. I was a fool.”
“You’ll hear no arguments from me,” she murmured, hoping to make him smile again.
He did, but it was fleeting. “I had intended to go to Heaton Manor to ask you to come back, but I could have lost you tonight. I would not have gotten the chance to tell you all the things I wanted to say.”
“Before you do, Joseph, there is something I want to say?—”
“No please, allow me. I hate myself for not realizing it sooner, and I would hate myself more if I wasted another second of time we could be spending together.” He kissed the back of her hand. “I love you, Catriona.”
She stilled. She'd intended to tell him that she was sorry for breaking the one rule they’d agreed on, for letting her heart win. She was willing to pretend so long as she got a bit of time and space to get over her feelings.
But he… loved her?
“I’ve loved you for some time now,” he went on. “But I was a fool and a coward. I was afraid of how much it would hurt to lose someone I love, when it had been unbearable losing someone I didn’t. I ran from it because of it. And I chased you away. It is my biggest regret.”
“Joseph…”
He kissed the back of her hand over and over again as if he was finally letting loose the urges that had been building up in him. “I love you, Catriona. I love you today, I’ll love you tomorrow and for every day to come.”
“Joseph, I…” Tears pricked her eyes again. “I love you too. I’ll love you with all my heart and all my soul for every day to come.”
He launched himself at her, capturing her lips with a desperation that she felt deep within her bones. Catriona kissed him back with as much urgency, as if it would be enough to make up for lost time. But they had a lifetime together now. A lifetime of happiness.
They were interrupted, however, by a tentative knock on the door. Catriona pulled away first, albeit reluctantly.
“That’s probably Dorothea,” she whispered.
Joseph nodded. When he returned to his seat, his eyes shone with the love he had declared, warming her. “Come in,” he called.
Dorothea entered with her head bowed and her hands clasped behind her, Nina on her heels. She barely peeked up at Catriona before she lowered her eyes to the floor again. “I’m sorry,” she murmured in a meek voice.
“I’m just happy you’re safe and all right,” Catriona assured her. “But what possessed you to do such an unsafe thing?”
“I was coming to get you. I wanted to you to come back home. I didn’t think Daddy was going to do it.”
Catriona looked at Joseph just in time to see alarm cross his face. “I promised you that I would bring her back, didn’t I?”
“I know…” Dorothea rubbed her toe into the floor. “But I wasn’t sure.”
Joseph threw his hands up in defeat. “She has no faith in me.”
Catriona laughed then gestured to Dorothea. “Come here, love.”
Dorothea, with her head still bowed, climbed onto the bed and into Catriona’s waiting arms. She gathered Dorothea close to her. “What you did was incredibly reckless and unsafe. You should never leave your bedchamber so late at night, nor should you be by the river unsupervised.”
“I know,” Dorothea murmured contritely. “I didn’t mean to fall in! I was just… walking along the side of it, and my foot slipped.”
“Now you know better,” Catriona said firmly. “But you don’t need to worry. You’re safe. I’m safe. And neither of us are any worse for wear, right?”
“That’s right.” Dorothea slowly lifted her head to look up at Catriona. “Will you go back to Heaton Manor tomorrow?”
Catriona put her hand against her cheek. “Why would I do that? This is my home, isn’t it?”
“But Daddy said?—”
“Daddy was a fool,” Joseph chimed in. “But he has since learned the error of his ways.”
