“M-my lord! We didn’t expect… shall I fetch…”
“Just see to Apollo,” Tobias interrupted, dismounting with movements that felt leaden. “Rub him down properly. He’s had a rough go of it.”
The boy bobbed an acknowledgement, already reaching for the reins. Tobias turned towards the house, every step requiring conscious effort. Water dripped from his coat in steady streams. His boots squelched obscenely loud in the relative quiet of the stable yard.
He should go to his chambers. Ring for his valet, change into dry clothing, perhaps pour himself a brandy and pretend this day had never happened.
Instead, his feet carried him through a side entrance, tracking water across polished floors. The house lay quiet around him---servants abed, candles guttered, only a few lamps left burning in corridors for late arrivals.
Late, mad arrivals who couldn’t stop themselves from walking towards the one place they should avoid.
The library door stood ajar, firelight spilling into the hallway.
Tobias stopped. Every rational thought screamed at him to turn back. To retreat to safety before he did something catastrophically stupid.
But then he saw her.
Amelia sat curled in the wingback chair nearest the fire, a book abandoned in her lap. She wore only her nightdress and wrapper, her golden-brown hair loose about her shoulders in a way that made his throat close. Firelight painted her in shadesof copper and gold. She was achingly beautiful, and utterly forbidden.
She hadn’t noticed him yet, too absorbed in whatever thoughts kept her from sleep. Her expression held a sadness that lanced through him. Had he put that there? With his talk of suitors and respectable matches?
He should leave. Should…
“You’re drenched.”
Her voice startled him from his spiral. She’d looked up, those clear blue eyes finding him in the doorway with unerring accuracy.
“I... yes.” Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant response. He stood frozen, one hand still gripping the doorframe, water dripping onto the Turkish carpet with soft, damning sounds. “I didn’t expect to find anyone awake.”
A lie. He’d hoped, with desperate futility, that she might be here. That some part of him had known where to find her even as his rational mind insisted he stay away.
“You’ll catch your death if you stand there,” she said softly.
The words should have been dismissal. Should have sent him running for dry clothes and distance. Instead, they sounded like an invitation.
He stepped across the threshold before thought could intervene. The door clicked shut behind him with a finality that echoed in the quiet room.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, the truth escaping despite his better judgment. “I have… a lot on my mind.”
Thunder rolled overhead, rattling the windows. The fire hissed as rain found its way down the chimney. Amelia’s gaze tracked his progress across the room. She was silent for a while, her eyes following his movements.
“Ah,” she murmured at last, setting down her book with deliberate care. “Wedding plans for me, perhaps?”
She tried with futility to keep her voice light, but he could hear the bitterness in it. She was hurt, and it was his fault. He stopped several paces distant, water pooling beneath his boots, acutely conscious of how thoroughly he’d compromised every rule of propriety by entering this room.
Alone. Past midnight.
Edward would have been appalled.
“That’s unfair,” he said, though the protest emerged weaker than intended.
“What’s unfair,” she replied, rising with fluid grace that made firelight dance across her wrapper, “is that you speak of dutywhilst looking at me as if you’ve forgotten what the word means.”
He flinched. The observation cut too close, too accurate. How long had she noticed? How many times had he betrayed himself with careless glances, with the way his entire body oriented towards her presence, with his transparent jealousy of every gentleman who dared show interest?
Rain lashed the windows with renewed fury. The storm seemed to be pressing against the glass, demanding entry---or perhaps demanding he acknowledge the matching tempest inside his chest.
“You promised to help me find a husband, Tobias.” Her voice remained soft, but steel threaded through the words now. She took a step towards him, then another, her bare feet silent against the carpet. “And yet, you become rather sullen whenever one seems to be interested in me. What is the reason? What is it that you want?
