She had no doubt he would have done it. And Gabriel would have taken the responsibility, the blame.
He knew what he was doing. How could he not—a soldier, an officer of eight years? And with the magistrate at his elbow, warning him of the consequences. A hanging offense.
At the very least he would have had to flee the country and live as an exile.
And he would have done it, for her, for Callie.
It threatened every carefully built wall she’d maintained around her heart since she’d walked out of that hunting lodge eight years ago.
To be that vulnerable to a man again?
Yes, she was frightened of him. He frightened her to death.
They stopped several nights on the road. The first night Ethan approached Tibby, and asked could he have a word in private with her. She agreed.
“Miss Tibby?” The room wasn’t hot at all, but Ethan was sweating like a pig.
“Yes, Mr. Delaney?”
“I was wondering…”
“Yes?” She tilted her head inquiringly.
Ethan ran a finger around his collar. It was far too tight. He’d spent half an hour arranging his neck cloth just so, and now the damned thing was choking him. He cleared his throat.
“Miss Tibby, as you know, I’m plannin’ to go into business with Mr. Morant. And Mr. Renfrew, of course,” he added as an afterthought. Harry Morant was the driving force in this venture.
“Yes, I know. It sounds a most exciting venture.”
“It is. The trouble is, Miss Tibby, there is…stuff…I need to learn. If I want to be a partner on the same terms as the others, that is. It’s not just a matter of money. Or horse sense. Or work.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.” He wanted to rip his neck cloth off. He took a turn around the room.
“Miss Tibby, I want to hire your services.”
“But Mr. Delaney, I don’t know anything about horses or horse racing. Or business.”
“No, not that.” He pulled out a handkerchief and mopped his brow. “As a partner in the business there are things I need to know, to be able to do to be on the same footing as the people I’ll be dealing with.”
She looked puzzled, then her brow cleared. “Do you mean you want me to teach you how to go on in polite society?”
“No.” He made a dismissive gesture. “I’ve been around enough officers to know how to ape the gentleman if I have to.”
“Mr. Delaney,” she said with brisk reproof. “You have no need to ‘ape the gentleman,’ as you put it. You are more truly a gentleman than many men in society. And believe me, I know.”
“Thank you,” he said after a moment. The unexpected compliment had thrown him—and he was already off balance. He returned to the main point. He was going to get this over with if it killed him. “To tell you the truth, Miss Tibby, I have no desire to be what I am not, but there are things I wish to learn. And I want to hire you to teach me.”
“But, Mr. Delaney, what could I possibly teach you?”
Ethan took a deep breath. “Books,” he croaked. There, it was out.
“Books? What books?”
“Any books. All of ’em.”
“I don’t understand.”
