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Now it was Reina’s turn to be shocked. Not because it was the first time such a comment had been made to her—she’d already experienced a lifetime’s worth. But this was the first time William had ever insulted her. It hurt. Badly. However, it also covered her emotions in a heavy layer of ice, mercifully allowing her brain to take full charge.

“One of the many things you don’t understand,” William was saying, “is that a responsible banker has to find ways to bridge over a bad few years until it all turns around. Any losses are temporary. All we need is enough time for market conditions to change, and investments to grow. In the meantime, new branches will be opening. The cash flow will right itself.”

Reina couldn’t believe how reasonable he sounded while saying something entirely irrational.

He wasn’t building a bridge. He was digging a hole.

“It’s gone too far for that,” she said gently. “I know how you wish it were otherwise, but you’re nearly out of cash. Now you need to consider what’s best for your depositors.”

“You’re actually lecturing me about my customers?” William asked, turning scarlet. “I’m what’s best for them! I alone can steer this bank back into profitability. If you interfere with my business, if you damage my reputation, everything will be lost and you’ll be the one responsible for what harm may come to them.”

“It’s not up to me,” she said. “It’s out of my hands. I’m here because I didn’t want you to go to the bank without advance warning.”

“Advance warning of what?”

“Investigators will arrive at the Lombard Street office this morning with a warrant to seize the bank records, as well as an injunction to suspend operations.”

“Bloody hell!” William stared at Reina in horror. “After everything I’ve done for you? I’ll sue you for libel—I’ll have you arrested for illegal access to private property.” He drew closer, almost shouting in her face as he continued. “You’ll be dragged through the mud, Reina. No one in business will want anything to do with you after they see what you’ve done, you ungrateful bitch—”

“Back off,” John said in quiet menace, stepping between them.

William scarcely seemed to have heard him, his gaze fixed on Reina. “I already have a plan in place to secure government backing with Bank of England guarantees. I’m going to win, and I’ll bloody bury you. I was your only chance at making a women’s bank happen. You can forget all about that now.”

John turned to face Reina, blocking William from her sight. “We’re leaving,” he told her curtly. “Have you said everything you wanted to say?”

Feeling dazed but in control, Reina looked up into his steady dark eyes. Here was a man, she thought, who would never want her to be less than herself.

“Yes.”

“Get out of my house!” William shouted.

Reina might have glanced at him one more time, out of worry and sorrow, but John deliberately kept himself between them. She flinched as the air was broken by the sounds of shattering porcelain in the breakfast room.

When she and John emerged from the house into the bracing cold of a spring morning, she realized she was walking into a new part of her life. It seemed impossible that it wouldn’t include William. She knew already there were times ahead when she would instinctively want to share something with him, or ask his opinion, before she would remember that door had been closed forever.

Perhaps she would never fully understand what had driven William to betray his own principles. But she would try to keep the good memories of him. She would be grateful for the time they’d spent together, and all the ways he’d changed her for the better.

“Sometimes people will leave,” she said as they went out to the carriage. “Even the ones who are supposed to stay. I’ll have to accept that.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” John told her.

Even drained as she was, that drew a smile from her. “That’s nice to hear, since Benjamin and I have plans for you.”

The thought of Benjamin made her impatient to return home to him. Whenever she held the baby, the world seemed a little more innocent. A little more promising.

“What did you make of the government deal Farlow mentioned?” John asked, after he’d settled inside the carriage and closed the door.

Reina shook her head wearily. “It’s a fantasy. Farlow’s isn’t Baring Brothers, or a cornerstone of the British economy. It’s only a private bank that’s never been under government regulation. The Bank of England would only intervene if Farlow’s failure put the entire financial system at risk. No matter how powerful William’s connections are, no one will spend a penny of state money to save him.”

John nodded and pulled her into the crook of his shoulder as the carriage turned into the street. After pressing a kiss to her forehead, he said, “The other thing he said, about the women’s bank . . .”

“Don’t worry about that,” Reina said. “He was far from my only chance at starting a women’s bank. I’ll find a way to do it without him.”

“I know you will, cariad.” He held her close. “God help anyone foolish enough to try and stop you.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

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