To her astonishment, he went down on one knee.
“Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
After Mr. Winslow departed, Glory went to her papa’s room. He’d awakened, and Mama was helping him take a sip of water.
“Papa. Mama.” Glory took a breath for courage. “We need to talk.”
Thirty-Nine
Rothwell’s estate was a fortress set atop a grassy knoll in Hamstead Heath. It was surrounded by a towering iron gate and guarded by a battalion of armed men. From the shadows of the surrounding trees, Wei searched for points of entry, chinks in the armor of Rothwell’s lair.
He found none. No way to get in. No weaknesses to exploit.
He’d seen no sign of Rothwell, didn’t even know if the bastard was inside. Wealth shielded Rothwell the same way it had Governor Li. It had taken years of planning and preparation to penetrate Li’s defenses, and Wei’s current challenge was even greater.
For Rothwell was rich as Croesus and the toast of London. He had important men in his pocket. With a wave of his hand, he could have Wei arrested, thrown in gaol…or worse. Who would believe Wei’s version of events that Rothwell had been a villainous opium trader who’d ordered the murder of an innocent family? Who would even care that four Chinese had been slaughtered?
Years ago, Wei had been caught unprepared when his enemy attacked; he wouldn’t make that same mistake. Before coming here, he’d gone to his clinic. Told Yao about the potential attack, instructing his shidai to get the patients and pupils to a safe place and shutter the clinic until further notice.
Surveilling Rothwell’s stronghold now, Wei’s vision blurred with rage—and with sudden grief. It wasn’t over closing the clinic, even though he’d worked hard to build it and regretted leaving those under his care in the lurch. The aching emptiness was because of Glory…because he had destroyed any chance of a future with her.
At long last, he’d found true love. Glory had given her loyalty, her faith, even her sweet body…and he’d repaid her by beating her father. By acting like a goddamned ruffian and showing the world what a failure he was.
It was as if the years of training and hard work had been stripped away. Without the mantle of shifu, who was he? Nothing, that’s what. Nothing but a worthless brute, a selfish scoundrel who’d caused the deaths of his family and taken a lady’s virginity.
Wei’s despair felt suffocating. How can Glory’s family accept me now?
How could she forgive him? He had ruined everything, and he had no idea how to fix things. If things could even be fixed. Even the prospect of destroying Rothwell failed to console him. Failed to bring him any sense of peace.
“When you can relinquish that which drives you, then you will find your way,” his shifu had once told him.
Wei was finally beginning to understand what the other meant.
For so long, he had been obsessed with the idea of avenging his family. But what if killing Rothwell meant giving up Glory? Wei could not expect her to go on the flit with him, spend the rest of her life dodging the authorities because he’d killed a man, no matter how justifiable his reasons. Earlier, it hadn’t been fair of him to ask her to leave her home, the family she loved, in order to prove her loyalty.
With pounding remorse, he recognized that he’d reacted out of fear born of his past. Chun had loved the excitement of bedding a rough-and-ready fellow, but she hadn’t loved him…and he had secretly feared Glory would come to the same conclusion. That he was good for fun and adventure, for carnal pleasure, but he wasn’t good enough for her. Wasn’t fit to be her husband, the father of her children, the man she would give her heart to forever and always.
Yet had Glory ever given him reason to doubt her? She had never deceived him, never let him down. On the contrary, she’d been loyal and true. Hell, if it hadn’t been for her, he would never have picked up the trail that had led him to Rothwell. She had negotiated the trade with Scott and Mrs. Swann. She had listened to him and supported him and given him her love.
The greatest gift he’d ever been given. What he’d been searching for his whole life.
Glory…she’s my true path.
The recognition was simple and stunning, the way the truth often is.
His mind suddenly clear, Wei knew what he had to do. He didn’t know if his plan to win Glory back stood any chance of success, but he would try. And he didn’t care if it took months, a year, forever…because love was worth it.
His little tigress was worth everything.
Wei took a wooded path away from the estate, heading back to the main road. He would have to walk to the village to find a hackney. The lamps of an oncoming carriage appeared, and he quickly took cover behind some trees.
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of his hiding place, and he released a breath when he recognized the occupant looking out the window.
“Thought you could use a ride,” Hadleigh said.
“Good timing.” Wei guessed that his friend must have been by the clinic. “Did Yao send you?”
The door swung open, and Wei saw that Hadleigh wasn’t alone.
