Owen looked intently into my eyes, a spark of danger behind them. “Is your aunt forcing you to marry the vicar?”
I exhaled shakily. I had been so determined to hide it from him, to not burden him with something so irreversible, but it was too late for keeping secrets. I nodded again. “She discovered that he proposed to me before I left for Kellaway Manor. I hadn’t yet given him my answer, but she accepted on my behalf and wrote a letter demanding that I return to Silton.” I sniffed, my voice quaking. “If I do not come quietly and marry him, she promised to keep my brothers apart from me by any means necessary. Her guardianship gives her the power to do so. I cannot stop her.”
Owen’s jaw tightened, but the hardness of his gaze softened when he looked at me. “You should have told me sooner. I meant my promise to protect you and your brothers from her.”
“But how?”
Owen’s hands slid down my arms, taking my hands firmly in his. “The four of us could run away.”
I shook my head fast. “Don’t say that. You cannot leave Willowbourne and your family.”
“I would do it for you.”
I saw in his eyes a flash of determination—a desire to fight for me. My head was light and dizzy. My heart skittered as the past few minutes caught up to me. Owen loved me. Owen had kissed me. He wantedme. My world had spun in circles during our kiss, and I was still unsteady. I had never been a romantic, but he would surely make one of me.
I scoured my heart for one shred of logic, and I held onto it with both hands. Owen did not know what he was saying. He couldn’t possibly mean it, and I would never ask so much of him.
“You are not thinking clearly.” I tried to tug my hands away, but he held them tight.
“Annette—stop. Please promise me you won’t leave tomorrow.” The firelight caught his features. “We will find a wayto stop her. You have my word. I would never risk the safety of your brothers if I wasn’t fully confident. Please trust me.”
I held his gaze for a long moment. He did not know Ruth Filbee as I did.
I heard the doorknob rattle behind us. I jumped away from Owen.
“Annette?” Mrs. Kellaway’s muffled voice came from outside the door. “Are you in there?”
I held my breath.
She released a sigh, and I heard her footsteps move away from the door.
I caught Owen’s gaze, panic rising in my stomach. “How can I return to the ballroom like this?” I whispered. I touched one side of my hair, feeling the bump Owen’s fingers had created.
A faint smile tugged on his lips, and I was reminded that I had just kissed them again. Was it really true? It all felt like part of my wild, nonsensical, glittering dream. “I think you look beautiful,” he said.
“That is not the point.” My face burned.
Owen smiled, but I cast him a scolding look.
He addressed the bump in my hair, smoothing it back and stealing a pin from the arrangement to hold it in place. I was reminded of the day I had toppled over in the bushes and he had untangled my hair from the branches. I never would have known that my time with him would eventually lead us to this moment.
Mrs. Kellaway was still roaming the vestibule searching for me. I didn’t have much time. Nervousness spun through me, more dizzying than a pirouette as I stared up at Owen’s concentrated expression.
The moment Owen finished with my hair, I turned to hurry toward the door. He caught me by the wrist, tugging me back to him. His lips found mine in the dark. He had only a few seconds to kiss me, but he made them count. I wavered on my feet whenhe pulled away. It was far too brief, but if it were much longer, we might have never left that blue sitting room. “We will speak again tomorrow,” he whispered. “Promise you won’t leave.”
I nodded, my head light.
He remained behind as I unlatched the door and slipped into the corridor.
CHAPTER 33
When Mrs. Kellaway found me in the vestibule, she knew something was amiss. I had forgotten how my face turned a splotchy red when I had been crying.
When I asked to return to Kellaway Manor early, she didn’t object.
I rode in one of the carriages with the Everards, keeping silent as I stared out the window. My mind was numb, but my heart most certainly was not. I relived Owen’s words, his kiss, and his promises to me over and over. I remembered the glint of determination I had seen in his eyes—the assurance that he would fight for me.
I felt my own determination burning inside my chest, a fire that was uncontrollable. Aunt Ruth might end up victorious, but I would not surrender without a fight. I no longer regretted that Lizzie had sent my bold letter to her. I was glad.
