The door opened again and Rook careened through. He came to a sharp halt and stared at Ellis lying in the bed. Then his cousin bent at the waist, his breath coming in harsh sobs.
“I thought you would die,” he managed between the broken sounds. “Don’t ever do that to me again, you bastard.”
Ellis felt his own tears stinging and patted the bed bedside him. “I’ll try. Though I have to say, I have no idea how I came to survive this trial. Can you help me with that?”
Rook wiped his eyes and took the place near Ellis that his wife had recently abandoned. He smoothed Ellis’s forehead with as much love as a mother. “Jennings,” he explained.
“I assumed so,” Ellis said, “when Anne told me about an underground doctor. And where am I, exactly?”
“The same house where you were shot. It was too dangerous to move you. Harcourt made arrangements with his late brother’s mistress. We’ve all been encamped here for over a week.”
“And when I’m well enough to move, I assume there will be a cell awaiting me,” he said. “Could you not have convinced Juliana to walk away to avoid seeing that second end for us?”
Rook snorted. “As if Juliana can be convinced of anything. Besides, why would you have a cell waiting?”
“Because the third son of a duke is dead,” Ellis growled. “Don’t be a fool.”
“But you didn’t kill him. His sister did. Harcourt and Coningburgh were locked away together for hours in negotiation. In the end, the duke seems just as happy to be rid of the son who threatened and abused everyone around him. The guard is useless. They only care about prosecuting those like us, not those with a shine to them. And Lydia? Well, she has seen fit to take a long holiday to the colonies where her mother’s aunt apparently lives. I don’t think she’ll ever return.”
“There’s still the matter of the gem,” Ellis said.
Rook cocked his head. “When it was brought up to him, Coningburgh didn’t even know about it. His son had stolen it, Harcourt has been trying to work out from whom. But there won’t be any trouble about that, either. Your life, as much as you tried to throw it away, seems to have been protected. Fixed, in part, by Harcourt.”
Ellis broke his confused stare from his cousin and went back to examining the canopy. “Why would he do that?”
“For Thomasina, I think. For Juliana. Perhaps because he has a grudging respect that you tried to save everyone at the cost of yourself.” Rook shrugged. “He isn’t so bad, you know.”
“Then it’s settled,” Ellis breathed.
“Except for one thing,” his cousin corrected.
“Juliana,” Ellis whispered, her name fearful and wonderful all at once. Because the future was suddenly wide open, and he had no idea what to do with that gift. If he should dare to take it at all.
“Juliana,” Rook repeated. “May I offer you some advice, as a man who faced a rather similar choice not so long ago?” Ellis nodded and his cousin smiled. “If you love her, don’t let her go.”
“Even if it hurts her?” he whispered.
Rook’s smile broadened. “I’ve spent a week and a half standing at your bed beside Miss Juliana Shelley. I watched her fight for your leg and your life. I watched her go to war with her father when he wanted to take her from you and ultimately sever a relationship that she has been tethered to her entire life. I will tell you, she is well capable of making decisions for herself. Trust her to do so.” He moved to the door as he said, “The moment we were told you were awake, Rivers left to fetch your brother. Gabriel had gone home for a change of clothes. He will be gloriously happy to see you alive.”
“Thank you,” Ellis called out.
Rook turned at the door and smiled. “I love you, you great idiot.”
Ellis laughed even though the shaking movement hurt his leg. But the laughter faded as Juliana shoved past Rook and stepped into the room. She stopped at the doorway, entirely oblivious to how Rook shut the door behind her with a smile. She simply stared at Ellis, her green eyes wide.
“Itoldthem I didn’t want to have a bath and change,” she muttered. “Itoldthem I shouldn’t leave your side just in case you woke.”
She crossed the room then and climbed into the bed without preamble. Her arms came around him, gentle so as not to jostle him, and her lips found his as their tears mingled.
He had no idea how long that lasted. He sank into it, glorying in her love for him and his for her. Glorying in the fact that she was safe now. If nothing else, at least he had managed to protect her from the dangerous situation of his own creation.
But at last he knew he had to pull away. This was not resolved, and they had to do that before he knew the next move of his life.
“Juliana,” he began, tracing her jawline with his fingertips. “Angel.”
She shook her head with fierce determination, and her chin lifted away from his touch in an act of pure defiance. “No,” she said sharply.
“No?” he chuckled. “You don’t even know what I was about to say.”
