“No, you do not,” St. Alban returned.
“But I do. In fact, I recently discussed this matter with Eugenia.”
“She mentioned the discussion to me.”
Cassian blew out a sigh. “You will never know how grateful and appreciative I am that you took me in, gave me a home and saw that I received the education worthy of a lord’s son.”
“You are a lord’s son. In fact, you are a lord.”
“Without an estate or wealth. An empty title that means nothing in England.”
“Aristocracy is valuable and means something no matter where you came from.”
“Perhaps,” Cassian sighed. “I still have nothing.”
“You have a family,” St. Alban said quietly. “Even though there is no blood relationship, I have always thought of you as my son.”
“And you are the parents I needed. But your true sons have their path. I need my own.”
“Yours could be the same. Many witches need a husband who they do not have to keep their magic a secret from.”
He chuckled because if things were different, Cassian knew which witch he would be more than happy to marry. “I always thought my path and destiny was where my sister lived. As we assumed that she’d be tied to that piece of land for the rest of her life, I expected that I would be as well. I could not have foreseen that she would have risked her very life to be free of the prison I put her in.”
“You were a child,” St. Alban reminded him. “A child who could not stand the idea of losing his sister after he had lost both father and mother.”
“Then, when Nina was free and became betrothed to Orion, I realized that I could decide a different future for myself.”
“We will continue to support you, just as we do our sons.”
“I need to provide for myself,” Cassian insisted.
“How is it that you went to work for Lynwood?”
“It was a chance conversation with him one evening and we struck a bargain, and I have been in his employ ever since.”
“Doing what?” Richard asked with suspicion.
“I see to the retrieval of goods, disbursement of such, collection and compensation for all involved. It is very lucrative.”
St. Alban nodded and the corner of his mouth twitched, which indicated that the man who had raised him was aware of the smuggling.
“Given Lynwood’s sister is married and now lives at Nightshade Manor, he is well aware of the peculiarities of this estate, which was why I asked Cordelia to inform him of why I could not attend to my duties at this time.”
“I understand your need to be independent,” St. Alban said. “But does that mean you intend to move away from Nightshade Manor?”
“I hope to remain in the cottage for so long as you will allow as it provides me the opportunity to save funds for the future.”
“For marriage,” St. Alban assumed.
“It is a possibility, I suppose, but not until I have something to offer other than myself.”
“Such as what?” St. Alban asked.
“As soon as it is financially possible, I will return to France.”
“I understand your need to reclaim what was taken from your father…your family, but if you spend so much time looking beyond, you may miss what is meant for you here.”
St. Alban’s words caused him to pause.
