He wiped her cheeks with a bandaged thumb, the tears soaking into the fabric. “You’re allowing him to stand on his own two feet. That isn’t abandoning him. It’s helping him to grow into the man he needs to be. You can’t coddle him forever.”
“I don’t know how to deny him.” How could she possibly keep from saying yes? She’d declined to chair three different committees in the past week, much to the surprise of those who asked, but there was a difference between carving out some space in the day for herself and allowing her brother to suffer when she could step in.
“You say no. And then you bite your tongue before you can say yes. And then you walk away before you can change your mind.” John made it sound so easy. He was so used to having thick barriers up that he couldn’t understand what it meant to have boundaries so blurred and porous.
“We cannot simply walk away. Brunel will not disappear just because Will has moved back home. Ned still doesn’t know about the threat. I fear I must tell him but that it will sever what fragile bond remains between Will and me.”
Because William’s returning had solved very little. True, he would get better care now than he had been getting, but his debt remained and John’s predicament hadn’t altered at all. The greatest challenges they had faced were still there—a wild and dangerous squall about to break.
John’s fingers tightened on her arm. “You don’t need to worry about that now. Not Will’s debt. Not mine. It is all resolved.” His words came out half-strangled, raising the hairs on Charlotte’s arms.
She pulled away, shifting so that she could face him. “What do you mean, it’s all resolved? In a day when we’ve been trying for a fortnight?”
John shuffled farther up so he could look at her directly. Pain flashed across his face as he did. He took her hands in his. “I’ve sold my shares in the firm. Fiona agreed to it this afternoon. They’ll be distributed amongst her, Asterly, and Amelia. The money from the sale can settle your brother’s debts and mine with no more gambling.”
She pulled her hands from his, recoiling from the news the way she would from a hot stove. “No, you cannot do that. The firm is your life.”
He reached out and caught her fingers. “You are my life. You and the family we’ll create. But in order to see that life come to pass, I must pay off my debts and set the estates to rights.”
That explained Fiona’s foul look this afternoon and why she’d hidden in her laboratory rather than joining the family for dinner. Fi understood as well as Charlotte what John was sacrificing.
She shook her head. “This isn’t right. You cannot give up your life’s work. We will find another way to come up with the money.”
John shifted and winced. “What way, Charlotte? An heiress’s dowry? I will not marry another, and we’ve exhausted all other options.”
He was right, of course. If there had been another way, they would have found it. They would have taken it rather than risking all in a gaming hell.
“We can adapt. We can beg Ned to give us my dowry no matter how hard he opposes the match. I can sell what I own to settle the rest.” She didn’t need dozens of ball gowns or jewelry that was only worn at state functions.
John sighed. “I’m not selling my shares only for us, love. I’m doing it for all the people who rely on the estates. It’s for all the small business owners who are struggling to keep their heads above water because of the debt I owe them.”
“The debt Walter owes them,” she muttered.
“The debt I now owe them. I inherited the title; I inherited the duty.”
He’d clearly made his mind up. He was correct; selling his company would enable them to start their life together free of encumbrances. Edward would be far more willing to approve of the match knowing that she’d have a home that was fully staffed. “You won’t come to regret it? You won’t come to regret me if you make this sacrifice?”
He leaned forward, grunting quietly, and gave her a quick kiss. “No, love. I’d make it a dozen times over if it meant having you as my wife.”
“Dratted Walter. It’s a good thing he’s dead or he would experience just how much you don’t want to wrong a Wildeforde.”
His mouth quirked a little. “Lucky for him, he is dead. But this is the right move. It’s the only way forward for us. Solicitors are arriving in the morning to draw up contracts. The sale should be final and all debts satisfied by the end of the week.”
As much as she hated this course of action, she could not help feeling relieved. She wanted this entire mess done with. She wanted the banns read, the wedding over, and for her and John to start their life together.
But first they had to tell Ned.
“When do you think we should announce it?” she asked.
“When the debts are settled. When your brother can see for himself that I can give you a life that makes you happy.”
Chapter 25
Aweek later as they pulled up in front of The Lucky Honeypot, Charlotte wasn’t wearing a mask—it was best Brunel remember exactly who he was dealing with: Viscount Harrow and Lady Charlotte Stirling, beloved sister of the Duke of Wildeforde and favorite cousin to the king himself.
“I wish you hadn’t come,” John said again, taking Charlotte’s hand as she alighted from the carriage.
They’d had this argument over and over. John obviously hadn’t realized a Wildeforde never conceded a battle if they didn’t have to. “I wishyouhadn’t come. You’re clearly in more danger than I am. You’ve barely healed since our last encounter with them.”
