“You didn’t have to, Cassandra. I knew.”
“Then you knewwrong.”
He went very still. “I don’t know if I believe what I’m hearing,” he said. “Tell me again.”
“If you don’t know how deeply I care for you by the way I hold you in my arms, well, words won’t convince you.”
“I adore being in your arms but I have this wife who assures me words are important. Say them, Cassandra. I pray you return my affections.”
He loved her.
He’d spoken the words.
She held up the fist she’d kept hidden in her skirts to reveal the heavy gold jewelry. The bloodred stones caught the light. “I’ve kept these from you.”
“What are they?”
“These are my mother’s garnets. I’ve had them hidden from you.”
“Why? Did you think I would demand them?”
“Perhaps. Yes. I...” She paused. How to express her fear? “I wanted protection in case I might need money someday.”
“To leave me?”
The direction of his thoughts shocked her, and yet, was that not what she’d been hedging against? Too late, she remembered that Mary had left him. Cassandra had been so selfish and caught up in her own worries, she’d not even thought of how he might consider her motives.
She now sought to reassure him. “I’ve lost so much, Soren. Everything in my life was unraveling, but these gave me some reassurance.” She’d also checked their hiding space every chance she safely could, she realized. “But I’m not afraid any longer.”
“Youneverhad anything to fear.”
“I knew that, but my life had been turned upside down. And then you gave me a book.”
“It was not such a big thing.”
“To me it was. It meant you accepted me. You understood.”
“Cass, you’ve had many books before. Especially from your father.”
“Hardly. Before we went to London, and I learned I could borrow from a lending library or visit a bookseller, the only books I read were the ones I borrowed from the Vicar Morwath. He’d let me read whatever his children were reading, and then later, when I surpassed them, he shared from his personal library.”
She pressed the necklace and bracelet toward him. “I want you to have these. Use them for Pentreath...” Her voice trailed off. The burn of tears stung her eyes. She blinked them back and forced herself to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I was confused. I—”
His arms came around her, shutting off anything else she would have said. She snuffled her face in his jacket and he gathered her close. “Cass, Cass, Cass.”
Yes,hisCass.
“The necklace is yours from your mother. Pass it on to our children or use it to do whatever you wish. Buy books if you want. We will be fine. You have already given enough.”
“You aren’t angry that I kept them from you? That I didn’t trust you?”
Her tilted her chin to look at him. “Have I acted angry?”
She shook her head.
“That is because I have received the best part of the bargain, Cassandra. You. I love you.”
“And I love you, Soren. Very much.”
