The thought humbled him. Jarred him, too.
One day soon, he would need Tilly’s forgiveness, and on a far greater matter than traversing a mud puddle. He only prayed she would be understanding then. They pedaled on in companionable silence, a rainbow peeking over the roof of Coddington Hall in the distance.
There it was again.
The sign.
A promise.
* * *
“What shall I ask for?Another month? Another two months?” Tilly asked Robin as she sat at a writing desk in the library, pen in hand. “He will grow suspicious if I request forever.”
An ache formed in her chest at the words. She had meant them to be teasing and light, to break open the heaviness of the moment, but it also served as a potent reminder that they had much to lose. That if Longleigh denied them an extension of their idyll, they would need to form a different plan.
And at present, she did not know what a different plan could be. Their situation had seemed hopeless enough before Robin’s sudden inspiration on their ride home earlier. She had been so excited about his idea and so intent upon its quick execution—she would need to send a telegram to London with enough time to spare—that they had left the cycle in the stables and raced to the library together, not bothering to change from their sodden, muddied clothing.
“More suspicious than the butler, do you suppose?” Robin quipped.
Campbell had given them a censorious stare upon their return.
Tilly had ignored him, taking Robin’s hand in hers and leading him to the library without a care. Let the servants say and think what they would. She had spent the last few years living a careful life governed by her husband’s whims.
Longleigh resented her, and he made an effort of controlling and belittling her as often as possible. When he had proven unable to bed her—for which he had blamed her—he had coldly told her to seek a relationship beyond their marriage. Yet, when she had done so, he had called her a whore. Still, she had been circumspect in her every action, keeping their reputations in mind.
And when it had suited him, he’d had no qualms about renting her out like a broodmare to his own flesh and blood. Thank heavens the man he had selected had been Robin. If it had been any other—she shuddered, unable to finish the miserable thought.
“Have I caused you upset?” Robin’s hand was on her chin, gently tipping her face toward his.
She blinked. “Of course not. Why do you ask?”
“You were trembling just now. Are you afraid to ask Longleigh for more time? If so, you need not send word to him. We will seize upon another means. Surely this is not the only option for us. It is merely the first one I have stumbled upon. And hell, look at me. I’m covered in mud, soaked to the bone. My ideas may not be the best, given my condition.”
“No.” His concern for her warmed her heart. “It is merely that I was thinking for a moment of what might have happened if he had chosen someone else. If another man had—”
“Do not think it.” His handsome countenance had grown tense, his jaw hard. “I refuse to think of another man in my place. I am here now, and I am yours and you are mine. This is what was meant to happen, you and I. We have found ourselves in a uniquely strange situation, but through it, we have found each other.”
He was right, of course, as he so often was. Robin had a way of making everything in life seem so simple, so easy. But mayhap that was what love did.
“I am so thankful we have.” She blinked against the pressure of tears rising in her eyes.
No. She would not weep. The last month she’d shared with Robin had been the best of her life. She did not dare to hope for more. But she was greedy, and she wanted it. Wanted another month, and then the month after that, and so on. How long could they prolong this purgatory? she wondered.
She would not trouble herself with those answers now. What she needed most was the message she would send to Longleigh to keep him at bay.
“An additional month,” she decided, “at least to begin. It will give us time to decide what we shall do, and it will not be so great a change of plans he will deny the request outright, nor become suspicious.” Something occurred to her then, and she frowned. “However, it is possible that he has asked the servants to report back to him.”
Robin was grim. “That would explain the butler.”
“We shall take greater care,” she decided, “before the servants. If Longleigh suspects we are happy, that we have fallen in love, he will be furious.”
“You will not bear his wrath alone,” he told her. “I will bear it for you. Together, we will extricate you from this terrible marriage.”
She fervently hoped they could.
“The law is not in my favor.” She set aside her pen and rose from her chair, feeling restless. “Longleigh may sue me for divorce claiming adultery, but I do not think it likely. He does not part with anything that belongs to him with ease.”
Robin’s arms went around her waist, pulling her close to him. “You do not belong to him, Tilly.”
