“If your cousin was gone, would you be safe?” Finn asked softly.
She nodded. “The next in line is an even more distant relation. He’s never been anything but decent. He’s rather a bore, actually. I doubt he’d hurt a fly.”
Finn smiled. “I’ll buy him a drink. I think he might become my best friend.”
“Ouch,” Sebastian muttered with a teasing wink that Finn rolled his eyes at.
“I think you should take Sebastian up on his offer,” Finn said, leaning closer to her. “But you’re the one who must decide.”
“If Francis is dancing around your doorstep, there’s no choice but to take care of this,” Esme said. She looked at Sebastian. “Please do reach out to the duke. And if Willowby needs to discuss details with me I’ll…I’ll do it.” Her cheeks flamed at the idea of her personal heartbreaks on display for even more prying eyes.
But to save Finn, she would do it.
“I’ll reach out tonight,” Sebastian said. “Willowby and his duchess, Diana, are attending the wedding gathering here tomorrow. I’m sure he’d be happy to discuss it further then and get more details.”
“Oh, yes,” Marianne said. “We could all meet with them privately at some point during the party.”
Esme frowned. “At your wedding gathering? That is too much to ask, I don’t want to ruin anything!”
“You wouldn’t,” Sebastian said and then he smiled as he settled a hand on Marianne’s. “Youcouldn’t.”
She ignored him. “I-I shouldn’t allow this, to drag even more people into my problems.” Her feelings began to overwhelm her, guilt and hurt and anxiety. In a moment she wouldn’t be able to control them, so she pushed back from the table. “I’m sorry. Clearly I’m overwrought. I should leave you to your family. I shouldn’t have intruded here at all.”
The rest were starting to rise, but she fled the room before anyone could tell her to stop. Before they could offer more of themselves in sacrifice for her: a woman who didn’t belong in their lives, who could only cause trouble for them in the long run.
And she hated herself for it.
Finn watched Esme dart from the room with helplessness washing over him. He returned to his seat with a thud and covered his eyes with one hand. Her fears, her beliefs about what her future could and couldn’t hold…they were so powerful.
“This is what you meant earlier,” Sebastian said softly.
Finn let out his breath slowly. “Yes. She’s had to run, had to fight, for so long. She can’t believe there could still be a place for her in my world.”
Marianne looked off in the direction Esme had departed. “I cannot imagine what she endured, without protection from the very person who should have been thinking of her welfare. I was and am very lucky to have you, Finn.”
He smiled at her and took her hand. “Do you like her?”
“Oh, yes. I do. I always liked her from afar, but up close she is wonderful. There is a steel that goes through her, a strength I very much envy.”
“You have a great deal of your own strength,” Sebastian said as he put an arm around her.
She smiled up at him, adoration easy in her eyes. Finn wished it could be so for him, that he and Esme could somehow overcome the obstacles that separated them as Sebastian and Marianne had.
Theirs were far more complicated, though.
“Be patient,” Marianne said. “As you said, she’s had to run for a long time, never trusting anyone, perhaps even herself. It’s her habit. But she wouldn’t be here, she wouldn’t have trusted you and the people you surround yourself with, if she didn’t have some desire to stay. Give her every reason to do so and I pray she’ll come around. That she’ll see she has a future.”
“You are very wise,” Finn said, and smiled.
“I know we intended to stay beyond supper and enjoy ourselves,” she said with another glance at Sebastian. “But I think it would be best for us to go. It will allow you to check on her without the pressure of guests awaiting your return.”
“And I can write my letter to Willowby as soon as we get home,” Sebastian said.
Finn arched a brow. “We? Are you implying that you and my sister will be spending the night together, before your wedding tomorrow?”
“Oh, stop,” Marianne said with a laugh that warmed Finn’s world. “You two are ridiculous.”
They all rose and Finn led them to the foyer where the carriage was called for. As they waited, he smiled at the pair. “Love looks good on you both and I’m truly joyful for you, despite all the rest of this trouble. Tomorrow will be the happiest of days.”
