Trevor could not let Louisa stay in this godforsaken place overnight. There had to be some way to get her released.
As he passed the rooms lining tightly along the way, he noticed the damp walls and floors. Mice scampered across the floor as if they owned the building. Bile rose to Trevor’s throat. These conditions were not tolerable. He must get Louisa out—even if he had to sneak her out.
The jailer stopped at a door and withdrew a set of brass keys, Trevor peered into the small window. Sitting on a cot facing the wall with her black cloak wrapped around her was the woman he loved completely. Her hair flowed long over her shoulders and back and much too tangled for his liking. Her appearance almost reminded him of when he had brought her home, theonly difference being her clothes were not tattered. His heart wrenched with sorrow.
As the jailer unlocked the door, Louisa turned her head toward the opening with widened eyes. The man took one step inside. “You have a visitor.” Then he backed out and motioned for Trevor to enter. Taking a deep breath, Trevor walked in.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Louisa blinked, notonce but several times to clear her vision. The man she never thought she’d see again stood just inside her prison; a room so small it barely had space for a cot—if that was what this thing she sat upon was called. She’d had a better bed while working for Macgregor.
Seeing Trevor standing there made her heart leap, but she didn’t dare get too anxious and hope Trevor was here to save her. Then again, his expression wasn’t one of anger. Instead, sadness and regret laced his eyes and his frown.
“T—Tre… Your Grace?” There was a catch in her voice, and she wished it hadn’t sounded so helpless.
“Louisa,” he said taking a step closer. “This is wrong. So wrong.”
All right, so maybe he wasn’t here to save her. “Indeed, it is.”
His gaze jumped around the room, not resting on anything for a few awkward moments until it reached her eyes then stopped.
“Oh, Louisa. This is my fault. All of it.” He rushed to her, knelt on one knee, and grasped her cold hands.
Still not believing any of this was happening, Louisa blinked again, but this time it was to stop her tears from building. Her efforts were wasted when liquid streamed down her face. She shook her head. “You shouldn’t kneel on the floor. God onlyknows what vermin has been on this ground.” She pulled his hands to help him up, but he was unmovable.
“My dearest, Louisa, I know you didn’t kill Macgregor, although I would not have blamed you if you had. There were several times I wanted to relieve your suffering by ending that man’s life.” Trevor rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles.
“I—I—” Her voice choked and she swallowed hard to help move the lump of emotion stuck in her throat. “I didn’t kill him.”
“I know, my dear, which is why I’m here. I want to help you any way I can.”
“You cannot.” She shook her head. “My childhood friend, Miss Eliza Watson, has created a lie that only festers and grows larger. I have no way to cease her stories, and I cannot prove my innocence.” She sniffed. “I am destined for the gallows, I fear.”
“No! I forbid it.” Trevor’s voice rose. “There must be a way out of this nightmare. I cannot let this happen to you. My life has changed so drastically since you entered, and I cannot imagine my future without you in it.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
A soapy, yet woodsy scent enveloped her and she wanted to close her eyes and pretend she was back in his home living out her dream. But his clean smell reminded her where she’d been for the past few days as reality shook her to her senses.
“No.” She pushed him away. “I have been sleeping in a stable, wrapped in a horse blanket. Your Grace, you should not be so personal with me holding me so close, and you should definitelynotbe here.”
He withdrew, his eyes narrowed and lips turned downward as he stared into her eyes. “Don’t you want me here, Louisa?”
Her heart lurched again. “That’s not what I said.”
“I know it is not, but I still expect you to answer my question from your heart.”
Dropping her attention to his cravat, her bottom lip trembled. She fought the turbulent emotions spinning through her, especially when all she wanted to do was cry like a baby. “Your Grace, as much as I want my fairytale dream to come true, I know it is impossible. I have lived as a vagabond—a criminal—for six years. Your children deserve so much better than a woman who used to steal just so she could eat a decent meal. You deserve better than a woman who has lived on the streets wearing tattered clothes and who rarely bathed.”
He lifted her chin with his fingers until she met his warm, blue gaze. “My children deserve someone who shows them love and who will take the time to play with them and teach them. They deserve someone who loves them unconditionally. I deserve a woman who makes me laugh and whom I want to be with every moment of the day. I deserve a woman who makes me happy, and makes me feel loved more than I have ever felt before.” With both hands, he cupped her face. “We don’t care that you were a vagabond and picked pockets because we know why you did it. Your experience has made you the strong woman you are today. We don’t want anyone else. The children deserveyou.And I want no other woman than the one I’m looking at now. You are the one for me, Louisa. You are the woman I love… the woman Iwantto love and make happy for the rest of our lives.”
She couldn’t hold back any longer. Closing her eyes, she buried her face in his neck and cried. Happiness burst inside her, yet at the same time, agony gripped her chest, making it hard to breathe. How could they ever become happy when she would be dragged to the gallows for murdering Macgregor any day now?
“Oh, Trevor.” She sniffed. “I dare not dream of a life with you and the twins. It’s impossible. Especially now.”
He kissed the side of her head. “It’s not impossible. My brothers and Lord Hawthorne are helping me. One way or another we will force Miss Watson to confess.”
Louisa lifted her head to look at him. Smiling, he wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Trevor, do you honestly believe she is going to confess after all these many years? She has worked hard to get where she is, and she isn’t going to let anything stop her from becoming a nobleman’s wife. She’s lied to so many people, especially my parents, and even if they knew I was alive, I fear they would not condone the kind of life I’ve led. They would not understand—or forgive—all the despicable things I have done.”
“But I have.” He kissed her lips briefly. “Do you not think your parents are as understanding as I? Believe me when I tell you, they will be. More so, in fact. I was the one who doubted you when I witnessed you taking my mother’s jewels. If I had been more understanding—and forgiving—I would have allowed you to explain instead of sending you out on the street.” His smile disappeared as sadness dulled his eyes. “If I had been more understanding, you would not be sitting here right now. Can you ever forgive me?”
