“Tobias,” she emerged out of the bushes, startling him.
“Heavens — I — what are you doing here?” he inquired.
“It does not matter. Why did you not ask for Emma Spencer’s hand?” Harriet felt like an older sister for the first time in her life, reprimanding a younger sibling.
Tobias opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it back.
“Was I meant to? Just out of the blue like that?”
Harriet felt herself grow disappointed. He had not done as she had expected him to.
Perhaps her plan had not worked so perfectly after all.
CHAPTER 29
The atmosphere in Atherton House was tense. Harriet and Simon were in the drawing room, the quiet after the emotionally charged dinner.
Emma had visited them again. It had been a few days since the dinner.
“I have come here to bid farewell to Catherine,” she said.
The rims of her eyes were red. It was clear that she had been crying all night.
Harriet felt her heart strain at the sight. Her brilliant plan had not worked after all. She had failed in trying to bring Tobias and Emma together.
“We will do whatever we can to ensure that Catherine has a good future in store for her,” Harriet promised the young mother.
The three of them were on their way to nursery, halfway on the staircase when the front doors burst open, and Tobias rushed in, his eyes wide with frantic energy.
He looked disheveled, as though he had rushed over here on foot, or solo on his horse.
“I was told that she was here….”
His gaze swept the room until it landed on Emma.
“Emma!” Tobias called out, his voice hoarse with urgency. The fear and desperation in his tone stopped her in her tracks.
Tobias crossed the room in quick strides, stopping only when he was directly in front of Emma. His breath was uneven, his chest rising and falling as he tried to find the words he had been too afraid to say for so long.
“Emma… I must speak to you now,” Tobias began, his voice shaking.
He had never sounded more terrified before. Harriet looked over to Simon, who passed her a knowing look. Both of them knew better than to interfere.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Emma managed to croak out.
“I’ve been a fool, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I need you to hear me out.”
Emma’s eyes softened, though they were still guarded. She looked towards Harriet, who nodded in encouragement.
Tobias ran a hand through his hair, his fingers trembling.
He glanced over at Simon and Harriet, as if seeking strength from their presence before returning his gaze to Emma.
“I’ve been running my whole life, Emma. Running from responsibility, from commitment, from love. Because I was scared — scared that I would end up like him.”
He didn’t need to say who “him” was, but Simon stiffened up immediately at the mention.
That was when Harriet knew, as well, who he was talking about.
