“My name is Arcane,” the man continued. “Keeper of the bracelets.”
Ridge raised his head to stare into the eyes of the man who had persuaded India to stay.
“So she has made her decision,” Arcane said quietly. “I didn’t sway her. I merely gave her the options.”
Ridge stiffened in surprise at being read so easily. “She’s staying,” he said flatly.
“So am I,” Robby spoke up from behind Arcane.
Ridge strode past the old man to stare at Robby. Anger, sadness, the combination swelled in his throat until he feared he would be unable to breathe. “Robby,no, not you too.”
His grandfather wrapped an arm around Robby’s shoulders, lending him support. The earl stood to the side and looked no better than Ridge felt. His father’s eyes were filled with grief, pain, unshed tears.
“I have nothing to return to. I’m not even sure I could make the journey back,” Robby said, his voice cracking in the end.
Nothing to return to. Was everyone so hopelessly fatalistic?
“I will take care of him,” Maximus spoke up. “He will be with family. As it should be. He will not suffer needlessly,” he added quietly.
Tears pricked Ridge’s eyes. So the end was nearing. He had lived with some hope that Robby was wrong, that he could somehow return to England and be cured of his sickness. That he would return home without his brother or India was more than he could process.
He swallowed the grief, thick in his throat, but it bubbled up again until a low sob escaped him. He went blindly to Robby, enfolding his brother in his arms.
Robby hugged him back, the two brothers locked in a desperate embrace. One of farewell. A final farewell.
“I love you, Robby.”
“I know you do, Ridge. You’ve always loved me,” Robby whispered raggedly.
Ridge drew away from Robby, uncaring of the tears wetting his cheeks. He would not pretend he was not utterly devastated by the day’s events. He wasn’t sure hecould.
“You haven’t much time,” Arcane broke in, his voice heavy with regret. “You must go before too much time has passed in the outside world.”
The earl hugged Robby tightly, his face drawn, haggard, gray. “I love you, son. Your mother loves you. We are both so proud of you.”
When they had pulled away, Robby turned sorrowful eyes on Ridge. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out with India. I know you love her.”
“Watch over her for me, will you?” Ridge said, the effort to keep control over the horrific ache in his chest growing more difficult with each passing second.
“Is there nothing you can say to change her mind?” the earl asked.
Ridge looked at him surprise, surprise that he would approve of India being a match for him.
“No. She has made up her mind.”
The statement, the finality of it nearly broke him. He turned away before he gave in to the awful pain crawling over him.
###
Phillip Ashton watched the exchange between the Hadley family at a distance, his brow furrowing in concentration. Maximus’s oldest grandson was in love with his India. Yet, he wasn’t demanding she return to England with him.
And if he knew his daughter, she was very much in love with Ridge as well. Only she was remaining here.
He rubbed his chin, an uneasy feeling in his belly growing until it became an overwhelming sadness.
“Buck up, you old blighter,” he groused. “It’s time you did right by the girl.”
He turned his gaze upward, feeling the breeze on his damp cheeks. He hadn’t cried since India’s mother had died so many years ago. He blinked furiously. It was time for him to stop being so damn selfish and consider his only daughter’s happiness for once.
