Page 25 of The Lady Loves A Scandal

“You could not have known…”

“Do you want to know why they didn’t take me, as well?” Rage seethed with each word. When Sybil could only nod, he continued, “My dress was that of nobility, while Charles wore the simple garb of a commoner. I was spared because of my father’s wealth, while Charles was imprisoned on ship after ship, forced to sleep in the elements, eat stale, moldy food, and contend with cruel abuse because his trousers were not snug enough to give the impression of station.”

“But he has been rescued,” she ventured. “He is home…and free.”

“That is the thing, he is not free.” Gideon glanced at her hands, still holding the scotch he’d given her. “He is still in danger, as am I for forcibly removing him from a Navy vessel in Dover. We are hunted men, and if we are found before the Admiralty Courts have had time to decide on the matter, he will be returned to the ship, and I could be punished.”

Sybil indignation flared. “But I would not allow that to happen. My brother would champion your cause. We would fight until you both were freed.”

Gideon snorted. “Lord Lichfield will not so much as entertain an audience with me. What leads you to believe he would put his own reputation on the line to save me?”

“Because he is a good man, an honorable one, a lord who prides himself on his loyalty.”

“He owes me no loyalty, Sybil,” Gideon sighed. “I made a promise to you, and to your family, and I abandoned that promise.”

“With good reason,” she retorted.

“But Silas doesn’t know that.”

“For the sole reason that you haven’t explained it to him.” Sybil took a small sip from the tumbler clutched between her bone-white knuckles, thankful for the burning respite as it made its way down her throat to her stomach. “And, he may owe you no amount of loyalty; however, as I said, Silas is an honorable and good man, and he has been known to dote on his sister. If I asked it of him, he would go to the ends of the Earth to see me happy, especially if it meant saving the man I love.”

His inquisitive gaze captured hers across the space that separated them.

Her words shocked her as much as they did Gideon.

Embarrassment flamed, and her face heated. “It was not my intent to speak out of turn, Gideon. I know now is not the time, but—“

“I love you, too, Sybil,” he said, his stare never wavering. “That is the one thing that has never changed, even with all the secrets I had to keep from you, and the time away with no explanation. I hoped every day you’d forgive me…and love me still.”

“While losing you hurt me, it did not stop my heart from longing for you.”

“As I have pined for you.” Gideon stood, pacing before the hearth. “I dreamt of you every night, Sybil. I told myself that if you ever forgave me, I would never cause you another day of grief. Yet, here we are.”

He said everything Sybil had longed to hear him say: that he’d missed her, he’d thought of her, and he loved her.

A heavy, persistent knock thundered through the townhouse, so close, Sybil thought it was someone at the study door. The thump rattled the windowpanes at the same time the tall clock began to chime the top of the hour. Her hand shook where it clutched her tumbler, sending the liquid over the rim and onto her gloved hand, marring the delicate satin.

“Bloody damnation!” Gideon hissed. “This night has had no end of visitors. Not that I was unhappy to see you, Sybil.”

“I did not take offense.” Sybil cleared her throat and set the glass aside before standing. “I suppose it is time I return home before it is noticed that I am gone.”

Gideon pinched the bridge of his nose as the hammering on the door continued. “I will have my carriage readied. If you’ll wait here, I will take care of it and see why no one has answered the damned door.”

As he left the room, a dark cloud descended around him, and tension tightened his shoulders, evident even through his evening jacket. A large part of her wanted to follow him, to ease whatever caused him worry; however, he’d bid her to remain, and for once, she was resigned to listen.

Was it that she didn’t want to leave? They’d only just begun discussing the many things that had kept them apart, caused them both immeasurable pain, and found common ground—the one thing that kept them together.

Love.

Gideon left the study door wide open after departing, his footsteps muffled by the incessant knocking at the front door as it drifted and echoed into the room Sybil waited in. Who could it be at this time of night?

Finally, the butler must have opened the door because the knocking suddenly stopped and the halls of Gideon’s townhouse returned to their quiet ways.

“Where in the hell is my sister, you chutless, fobbin codpiece?” Silas’s enraged voice boomed through the house, causing tendrils of dread to course down her back.

Her body shook with fright. Never in all her years had she witnessed Silas in such an angry state. She’d gone against her brother’s precise wishes by going to Gideon when he’d forbidden it.

“Let us step outside and speak like gentlemen,” Gideon retorted in a much calmer tone; however, she knew Gideon’s patience would only last so long, especially if her brother continued on with his name-calling. “I am certain we can rectify whatever slight you think I’ve committed.”