“I think it is time for Her Grace to take her leave,” Atkins said. “She’s clearly overwrought.”
“And understandably so,” Henry clipped. “Tremaine has treated her abominably.”
“That is a matter of opinion,” Hayes said. “Furthermore, it is the word of a woman accused of manipulating an aging peer into marriage and stealing his fortune, against that of a duke. There’s no doubt in my mind about who will win.”
“We shall see about that,” Viola told him even as her confidence buckled under his.
“Indeed we shall,” Hayes agreed.
When he said nothing further, Viola walked out of the room without saying another word. Her hands were shaking when she stepped down onto the pavement, her bones chilled with wary apprehension. “I hate those men,” she told Henry when he arrived at her side. “How can someone be so awful?”
Instead of responding, he offered her his arm and guided her toward the carriage, where he handed her up. When he climbed in after her and lowered himself to sit on the bench beside her, she took his hand and simply held it.
“Do you have any idea what information Hayes might have uncovered?” Henry quietly asked.
Viola swallowed and tried to stay calm. “I haven’t a clue.”
“There’s no chance of him knowing you’re not Marsh’s daughter or that your mother was a courtesan?”
Shuddering, she shook her head. “No. I was born in France and my father did everything he could to protect me—to hide the truth of my birth. There are no records.”
Henry was silent for a moment and then he drew a deep breath. “Good.” He glanced out the window briefly before returning his attention to her. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together.”
As much as Viola appreciated him saying so and in spite of the fact that she knew he was helping because she mattered to him, she didn’t feel right about all the trouble she’d caused him. “I’m sorry I got you involved in all of this.”
“Don’t be,” he told her sincerely. “If it hadn’t been for this case and your need for a good barrister, I might never have found an excuse to get to know you better. And that would have been a tragic shame.”
“But my life is a mess, Henry. It is not exactly the sort of thing to tempt a man into forming a permanent attachment, and even if it were, you need a respectable wife by your side, not someone who’s likely to cause a potential scandal.”
His eyes searched her face in desperation. “Is that what you want, Viola?” he asked, focusing on the first part of what she’d just said. “A more permanent attachment?”
She turned more fully toward him and set her palm against his cheek. The carriage rocked side to side as it turned a corner. Looking back at the man who had come to mean so incredibly much to her lately, Viola searched her heart for the right thing to say. She wanted him desperately, but at the same time she needed to save him from the shame she might yet cause him if word got out about who she was.
“I don’t know,” she finally said, for she knew that if she said yes there would be no going back. He’d marry her in a heartbeat, trapping himself with a woman whose name was seconds away from being dragged through the mud. Again.
His eyes held hers for a long, difficult moment and then he kissed her, long and hard and without apology. “I meant what I said at Hastings,” he told her when he drew back. Tipping her chin up with his fingers, he held her so he could stare down into her eyes, to the very depth of her soul. A smile tugged at his lips and she imagined he saw the truth that was written upon her heart. “I’m never letting you go, no matter how patient I must be or how long I have to wait for you to be ready.”
Saying nothing, Viola tamped down the flare of excitement she felt in response to those words. Because she was more than ready. She just didn’t want him to make a mistake that might end up destroying his life.
Chapter 23
When Viola arrived at Henry’s house the next day, she was shown into the parlor, where a tea tray waited. Viola glanced around, appreciating the simple yet costly furnished space. No knickknacks cluttered the fireplace mantel or other available surfaces, but the sofas were clad in exquisite silk damask and the tables appeared to have been carved from rich mahogany.
“Good morning, Viola,” Henry said as he entered the room. Dressed in a burgundy jacket and a pair of beige trousers, he was just as impeccably dressed as any duke might have been. But what flipped her stomach right onto its side was the fire in his eyes as he stepped toward her and reached for her hand. He raised it to his lips, his gaze fixed on hers as he brushed a kiss across her knuckles. And then, as if recognizing the sizzling effect he was having on her, the edge of his mouth hitched with mischief.
Viola just stood there, breathless and utterly incapable of movement. She swallowed, because heaven help her, she was having thoughts... thoughts that would only ever be realized if she agreed to be his wife. The temptation was great and he knew it, damn him. She could see in the glint of his eyes that he was being deliberately seductive and that it was working.
“Was the air very fresh on your way over?” he asked. His gaze lingered on her face and his hand continued holding hers for longer than what was deemed proper. When she failed to respond, he quietly murmured, “Because you look rather flushed. Delightfully so, I might add.”
“It was, um... yes.” The man had apparently made her stupid.
He leaned in closer, glanced hastily at the wide open door and then pulled her roughly into his arms, stealing her gasp of surprise with a bone-jarring kiss that weakened her knees and robbed her of all remaining thought.
When he set her aside moments later her head felt slightly unstable. Raising the tips of her fingers to her lips, she blinked as she looked up at Henry.
He grinned, the rascal. “Steadford confirmed that he will be joining us here, so he, Robert and Hayes are expected to arrive in roughly ten minutes. I could show you the automaton while we wait.”
“Oh yes,” Viola said. She’d been curious about the machine ever since Henry first mentioned owning it and followed him eagerly into his library. When they entered the room, a large ball of fur leapt onto the floor right in front of her feet, causing her to take a step back. “Oh!” She stared at the creature with wide-eyed dismay.
