Reluctantly, she followed.
He said nothing as he led her through the basement corridors and out into the garden. The afternoon sun warmed her cheeks but did little to ease the tension.
“Are you leaving me at the gate?” It wasn’t the main gate. They were heading in a different direction, along a narrow path and past a walled garden.
“Few people surprise me, Miss Harland.” He kept his gaze fixed on a point ahead. “Fewer leave a lasting impression. Fewer still stir a flicker of admiration.”
“You didn’t expect me to come here.”
His mouth curled, almost into a smile. “No.”
Was that it? No?
NotHow remarkable you are, Miss Harland?
NotI’ve never known a woman with as much gall as you?
“You left me with little option, sir.”
“I made a mistake,” he said.
“Oh.” And yet she was not sorry he had stormed into her life, a tempest bent on ruin. “I suppose I should commend your honesty. You forced me to confront the problem.”
“I assumed Charlotte would take you in.”
“Then you’re less astute than I thought. Charlotte fought her way through the prejudice and lies. That’s what gave her the strength to prevail.”
Lady Soanes had made it perfectly clear: rewards were earned in battle, through hardship, through pain. What she hadn’t mentioned was how terrifying it felt to be set adrift.
“I’m happy to work for my keep. You must take account of your actions, sir. I’m not saying you weren’t right to seek vengeance, though I doubt your mother would have approved.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath, but his mask remained firmly in place. “Says the woman who tripped just so she could kiss me. It’s a damned good job I turned the situation to my advantage.”
How was it that one brief kiss had caused such mental torment? It had been a means to an end. In that, they were alike. And yet, for some baffling reason, it felt like the only honest moment of her life.
“I was desperate.”
He cast her a sidelong glance. “As was I.”
“But you’re not responsible for me, is that it?”
“You could have said no.”
“No?”
“You could have looked horrified. Slapped my face in indignation. You could have clutched your aunt’s arm and hidden behind her silk skirts. But the truth of it is—you needed me as much as I needed you.”
The fact that he wasn’t wrong needled.
Yet their lives were worlds apart.
Never more so than in this moment.
He stopped outside the rickety gate of a cottage. The garden was overgrown, but the structure itself stood firm beneath its sagging thatch. From his coat pocket, he withdrew an iron key, took her hand, and placed it in her palm.
“The key to your new home, Miss Harland. You may do as you see fit with the grounds and the decor. Though I should warn you, it’s been empty for years.”
Daphne glanced at the key, then at him.
