“I was so sure he would.” Goldie held Nia tight. “You have me. You’ll always have me. But I’m so sorry, Nia. I’m so very sorry.”
Nia didn’t know how long they stood outside before Goldie squeezed her and stepped away. “Come inside. You’ll want some tea.” They’d both been raised as duke’s daughters after all.
“Yes.” Nia followed her sister upstairs to the chamber reserved for her. It was not the same chamber she’d shared with Jasper, and for that Nia was grateful.
“I’m going to order the tea. And then I’ll sit with you.” Goldie looked nearly as heartbroken as Nia felt. But Nia shook her head, overwhelmed by her own sadness, but also exhausted. She’d barely slept the night before, and now the weight of what had happened threatened to crush her.
“It’s not necessary. I just want to sleep.” It almost hurt to speak out loud. “I’ll be ready to travel in the morning. But for now, I think I need to be alone.”
“Let me help you out of your gown first,” Goldie insisted, which Nia was actually grateful for. She wasn’t sure she’d have managed otherwise. “I’m so sorry, Nia.” Goldie seemed nearly as upset as Nia.
But she could not be.
Nia simply watched while Goldie pulled the curtains closed and finally moved toward the door. “Promise you’ll send for me if you need anything,” her sister reminded her.
“I will. Of course, I will.” And from somewhere deep inside, Nia’s manners rose. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. Coming after me. Coming to save me. Will you thank Lord Standish as well?”
“You never need to thank us. We are family. And Reed is your family as well.” Goldie might be the only family Nia had left, but she was worth a thousand versions of their father.
“I love you,” Nia said, her eyes stinging.
“Try to sleep.”
Nia nodded and managed to keep herself from collapsing until her sister was gone and the door closed and locked behind her. She took just long enough to remove the pin Jasper had given her from her reticule. Two hearts covered with a crown. In the blink of an eye, her dreams had been shattered. She fisted her hands around it until the metal cut into her flesh.
And then, throwing herself onto the bed, she cried herself to sleep.
He Will
Pounding.
And a voice.
“Nia!”
And other voices.
Nia rolled over, her eyes aching from so many tears while the events of the past few days worked their way back into her consciousness.
“Nia!”
She shot off the bed and tried to make out the room. It had still been light when she’d finally fallen into a troubled sleep, but nighttime had fallen, casting the room in nothing but darkness.
“You can’t go in there. It’s the middle of the night.” Was that Lord Standish?
“What’s all the commotion?” Nia followed the sounds of voices and doors opening until she could reach the door. After fumbling with the lock, she opened it to find the only person she cared to see waiting there.
Jasper.
Even in the dim light of a single sconce, Nia could see his eyes burning. She shook her head, not sure that she wasn’t still sleeping.
But he stood just a few feet away, and before anyone could stop him, he pushed his way into her room.
“She’s fine. I just need to talk to her,” Jasper told the earl who stood behind him, half-dressed, along with the others who’d ventured into the corridor to discover what the commotion was about.
Nia met the earl’s stare and nodded. Because Standish was Jasper’s friend, but he was also Goldie’s husband. And Nia realized that, as such, he’d protect Goldie’s sister at all costs. “I’ll be fine,” she reassured him.
After staring at her hard, and then coming to a decision, Lord Standish took a step back.
