Her words pinched, his face tight with the effort of not showing how much it pained him. Of course, he understood what they were, he always had, but after the fall… foolishly, perhaps, he had thought that things were changing.
Are you saying you wish she had not regained her memories? Do not be ridiculous,he scolded himself.
“What you have just told me is more helpful than you know. I have had acquaintances searching for potential culprits and information since I found you at the bottom of the North Tower stairs, but this may be exactly what is needed to figure out who they are,” he said, his voice dark with that motivating anger.
Thalia’s eyes widened, her body turning slightly toward him. “You truly believe the two accidents are connected?”
“I do.”
“And… you have truly been searching for answers?”
He nodded. “I have, Thalia. Whoever did this to youwillbe punished.”
A small, surprising smile graced her lips. “What, will you dunk them in the lake for being wicked?”
Her joke took him aback for a moment, her humor jarring with the seriousness of the situation. But those green eyes of hers seemed so anxious, so hopeful for a lightened mood, that he felt compelled to offer a smile in return.
“That punishment is reserved only for slight misbehavior,” he replied, his tone hardening as he added, “But no one, and I mean no one, harms my wife,threatensmy wife’s life, and gets to walk free from justice served.”
Her legs unfolded from beneath her skirts, and she pulled herself toward the edge of the armchair, her expression warmer than before. “Why would someone do this? If it is the same debt collectors, why now?”
“That is what I mean to figure out,” he told her, taking her hands in his. “Perhaps, it was a fulfillment of that old threat to hurt you, to get your father to comply. Perhaps, your father has named me as a guarantor for his debts and they harmed you to warn me; I do not know.”
She frowned at that. “Did you receive any warnings? Letters?”
“No, but it would not be unlikely that your father has not passed on such warnings, if he has named me guarantor without my knowledge,” Henry explained, for he could not rid himself of the feeling that Gibbs Carter was somehow to blame for this, insome way. “But I shall contend with this. You need do nothing more, now that your story is told.”
Her hands gently squeezed his. “So, you will go to speak with my father?”
“Undoubtedly.”
Thalia paused. “Then, do not tell him that my memories have been restored. I… think it would be wise if we do not tell anyone, until you can be sure, one way or another, if my fall was an accident. If these two thingsareindeed, connected.”
“I could not agree more,” he replied, holding her earnest gaze, curious to discover that there seemed to be… trust in the depths of her beautiful eyes.
Even if he was merely seeing what he wanted to see, he could not deny the trust in her hands as they held tightly to his. As if he were the only thing keeping her safe.
“And you will stay here?” she asked softly, moving slightly closer. “Until we find out what happened, will you stay?”
“Yes,” he replied, as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, her bare skin so warm and smooth against his mouth. “Until the culprits are caught, I will not leave you again.”
Thalia’s throat bobbed. “What about afterward?” She looked away, toward the golden sheen of her embossed diary. “Considering our deal, I mean.”
It was a stark reminder that this woman before him was not the one who pressed herself deeper into his embrace at the lake shore. This was a woman who had all of her memories, and a diary filled with her opinions of him. Several diaries, perhaps. A woman who remembered that she had asked for solitude, to never have to share a home or bedchamber with him, to be as separate as two married people could be.
“As I did when we got married, Thalia,” he replied, his heart sinking, “I will give you whatever you want.”
Her face pinkened in the golden light streaming in through the window. “But you have limits.”
“Pardon?”
“To whatever I want; there are limits,” she replied thickly. “I remember the letter I sent to you, as I remember the letter you sent back. Indeed, it is tucked in the back of that very diary.”
All of a sudden, his body went rigid, the beat of his heart quickening, not with ardor for his wife, but with panic. He, too, remembered the letter he had sent back to her, after she had asked him to make her a mother. A letter written with the apprehension of a man who knew he could not agree to such a thing without falling in love with his beautiful wife and knew too that his extraordinary wife had no desire to love him in return.
A cold response that chilled him, now that he recalled the words.
“I will remain for as long as I am needed,” he said, as he got to his feet. “If you will excuse me, I have much to do if we are to find these beasts.”
