Ben was preparing to visit the docks when a soft knock sounded at his study door. He closed the logbook he’d just finished reviewing and placed it on a small stack of ships’ logs he had already audited. His man of business would see them returned to the proper captains.
“Enter,” he called as he stood to don his jacket.
His butler walked into the study bearing a small dish with a calling card.
Ben held up his hand to halt his progress. “I haven’t time for callers. The Sidony docked this morning, and I am leaving to meet with her captain.”
Dobbins didn’t allow Ben’s protest to alter his course. He came to stand at the edge of Ben’s desk and held out the dish anyway. “Sir Jonathan Hackberry claims it is a matter of dire importance, sir.”
Ben’s heart lodged in his throat as possible calamities involving Eve raced through his mind. He rounded his desk and stalked for the door.
“Sir?” Dobbins’s bemused voice barely penetrated his awareness.
He jerked open the door. Hackberry stood in the foyer. The man’s mouth was set in a straight line and his knuckles were white where he clutched his hat to his chest.
“Is Eve all right?” Ben was already moving toward the door.
“She will be fine.”
That wasn’t the reassurance Ben needed. He stormed past Hackberry on his way to the front door. “Where is she?”
“At Thorne Place where I left her. Probably telling her brother what a loathsome cur I am.”
Ben skidded to a stop. His relief was so sudden, his body didn’t know what to do with the adrenaline coursing through him, so fear transformed to anger. He turned on Hackberry, jabbing a finger in his direction. “In my study. Now.”
Hackberry sighed as Ben crossed the foyer again. Dobbins met him at the threshold of his study and scurried out of the way.
Ben was rarely in a temper, but when his anger made an appearance, it often left his servants hopping to please him. “Thank you, Dobbins. That will be all.” He attempted to soften his tone to let his servant know he had done nothing wrong, although the words came out clipped.
Hackberry followed Ben into the study and closed the door with a firm click. “You will probably want to bloody my nose after I tell you what happened.” He nonchalantly plopped into the chair in front of Ben’s desk.
Ben crossed his arms. “Maybe I should plant a facer now and be done with it. Should save us both time.”
“But I may be unable to speak intelligibly afterward, and you did ask me to tell you what happened.”
He made a valid argument for patience. “Go on.”
Hackberry’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “If you would cease yapping—”
“If you would quit stalling, I wouldn’t be tempted—”
“Miss Thorne and I are no longer betrothed.” Hackberry spoke over him, drowning out the last of his sentence.
Ben sputtered to a stop; his jaw hung slack.
Hackberry’s smile lacked humor. “You heard me correctly. You may court the lady at your leisure.”
Out of all the possible scenarios racing through Ben’s mind, Eve calling off the wedding so soon hadn’t been one of them. Hackberry had claimed he was making little progress toward that end. Ben laughed, his mood suddenly buoyant. “This calls for a drink.”
Hackberry’s grimace was understandable. Even though he had agreed to step aside, a man had his pride and being jilted was surely a blow to one’s confidence. Ben would pour his friend three fingers to help ease his pain. Ben, however, was ecstatic and moved to the sideboard with a swagger to his step.
He returned with a single glass for Hackberry and lowered to the seat next to his. “Was it something you did last night at dinner? Did she cry off immediately, or did she deliver the news this morning?”
Hackberry’s frown deepened. “Yes, well… I am afraid there was a change in plans. We agreed to tell everyone Miss Thorne chose to cry off, but in reality, I—”
“You broke your betrothal?” Ben was going to punch him after all. He lunged from his seat, but Hackberry was quicker.
Springing to his feet, Hackberry dodged under Ben’s arm and slammed his walking stick against the backs of Ben’s knees. Ben’s legs buckled and he landed on the carpet with a thunderous thud.
Where the hell had Hackberry learned to move like that?
“My apologies, Hillary. It was an unfair blow, but I don’t wish to fight you.” Hackberry extended his hand. Ben eyed the man warily, calculating the odds of jerking him off balance to gain an advantage. “I need you to listen carefully, Ben. I haven’t much time. We both want the same thing for Miss Thorne. She will be happy with you, and you can protect her.”
“Protect her from what?” Against his better judgment, he accepted Hackberry’s offer for a hand up.
“It isn’t a what. It is a who. All I am at liberty to say is she is in danger as long as I remain in England. I need a ship tonight, the one you promised, and I need you to watch over Miss Thorne. Keep her safe.”
Ben shook his head. Hackberry truly was a crackpot. “Who would want to hurt Eve, and why? She hasn’t an enemy in the world.”
“No one wants to hurt her, but there are men who will do it all the same. This is about controlling me, and Eve is only a pawn.”
“A pawn?” Ben’s heart skipped. Eve claimed someone had followed them to the museum. And then there was the incident between Hackberry and the soldiers. She’d witnessed another side to Hackberry, the one that had just thwarted Ben’s attack with ease. Hackberry wasn’t a clumsy, socially awkward anthropologist. He was a master of disguise. Perhaps an enemy to the Crown.
Ben’s muscles tensed, and he eased closer to his desk. “You are not what you seem.” He kept a firearm in the top drawer, but he would have to dive across the surface if there was any hope of reaching it.
Hackberry clamped a hand on Ben’s shoulder, interrupting his plan. He leaned toward Ben, meeting his gaze. “I am your friend, and I care for Miss Thorne. That is the only truth that matters, the only real thing about me. Please, believe me.”
Ben held Hackberry’s gaze for several moments. The man’s eyes were bloody earnest for a fraud and a liar.
Hackberry’s eyebrows lifted in question as he awaited Ben’s judgment.
“Bugger!” Ben might be a fool, but he believed him. Still, he couldn’t lower his guard until he knew where Hackberry’s loyalties lay. “Are you friend or foe to the Crown?”
A small twitch of Hackberry’s mouth showed his amusement. “I couldn’t very well keep Miss Thorne safe if I were set on destroying our motherland, now could I?”
“No, I suppose you couldn’t.” Ben pulled free from Hackberry’s grasp. His mind was already preoccupied with where he could take Eve to ensure her safety. “I need to know who wishes her harm.”
“It is best for you to remain in the dark. Miss Thorne will be in no danger once I leave England.”
That wasn’t good enough. He advanced on Hackberry until they were toe to toe. Now that he knew what the other man was capable of, he wouldn’t catch Ben off guard. “I am not willing to gamble with her life.”
“I know these men.” Hackberry’s eyes hardened. “They will lose interest in Miss Thorne once I am back in line, which I intend to be very quickly. I also have the promise of a trustworthy colleague that he will watch over you both until any danger has passed. If you can assist me, I will leave tonight. My belongings are packed, and I could have them delivered to the docks within the hour.”
Ben nodded sharply. He wasn’t inclined to leave Eve’s safety in the hands of an unknown entity whether Hackberry trusted the man or not, but he agreed with putting distance between Eve and her former betrothed. “I have three ships ready to sail. Once the crew has delivered the cargo, the captain and ship will be at your disposal.”
“Thank you.” Hackberry clasped Ben’s hand and pumped it twice. “I promise, once I am gone, you and Miss Thorne need not worry about anything. Just forget we had this conversation. Forget that I even exist, and everything will be all right.”
Ben had his doubts that everything would be all right. Even if the threat to Eve went away, they would still have to deal with the fallout from Hackberry calling off the wedding. If no one else learned the truth about who cried off, Eve still knew, and Ben couldn’t stomach the thought of her shedding another tear over him or Hackberry. Men were bastards.
* * *
In an attempt to pretend nothing out of the ordinary had occurred that day, Eve retreated to the gardens with a book. Her brother and sister-in-law had taken the news of her broken betrothal better than she had anticipated. Of course, they believed the story she and Jonathan had agreed to give everyone. Sebastian and Helena thought the decision had been hers.
And it had been. Jonathan simply stole the moment from her. She gripped the spine of the book as heat washed over her. Being indignant didn’t change anything, but she couldn’t help revisiting those moments in the drawing room and feeling the rush of anger all over again.
At least there would be no legal consequences for the dissolution of their contract, but if anyone learned the truth, she would be ruined. Her reputation would suffer enough because she had cried off—or would have if she had been allowed to broach the subject first—but everything would be a thousand times worse if anyone found out Jonathan had tossed her aside. She prayed he would keep his word and tell no one.
A nagging sense that she was being watched made her glance up at the house. Sebastian was at his bedchamber window, but he moved away when she met his gaze. Her brother was worried, even though he’d tried to hide it earlier. A heaviness weighed on her chest. Opening her family up to gossip and speculation again could have unpleasant consequences for them all. Sebastian and Helena had taken great pains to protect Helena’s secret past, and any attention on the Thornes would naturally make Sebastian apprehensive.
Milo appeared at the French doors that opened onto the gardens. The butler maintained his stiff posture as he walked the pebbled path toward her, and not for the first time, she wondered if the servant ever took a moment to relax.
“Miss, you have a caller,” he said when he reached her. He held out the small dish and calling card, but she didn’t take the card. The identity of her caller was irrelevant.
“Could you please tell whomever that I am not receiving?”
“Might I beg you to reconsider?” a voice carried on the air.
Milo’s face screwed up before he recovered his composure and turned toward the intruder, allowing her a clear view of the footpath. Ben was strolling toward them holding a white box tied with silver ribbon. Her pulse sputtered at the sight of him.
Milo drew himself up to his full height. “Mr. Hillary, I asked you to wait—”
“It is all right, Milo. Thank you, you may go.” She rose to greet Ben, hugging her book against her chest like a shield. What was he doing here? Surely, word hadn’t begun to travel social circles already.
“Shall I send a footman to stand attendance, miss?”
Eve opened her mouth to accept, but Ben answered for her. “That will not be necessary. I would like a moment to speak alone with the lady. It is a private matter.”
He flashed a smile at the butler and received a sour frown in return. Milo looked to Eve for direction.
She would have to trust Ben in this instance. If he didn’t think they needed an audience for what he had come to say, she was certain she didn’t want anyone overhearing them. “There is no need to trouble a footman. Mr. Hillary won’t be staying long.”
Milo’s forehead creased with doubt, but he left them alone in the garden.
Ben took her by the elbow, guided her back to the wooden bench, and then sat beside her. With a too cheerful smile, he offered her the white box on his palms as if serving her a tray. “I brought you lemon drops. Are they still your favorite?”
She placed her folded hands on the book in her lap as her stomach churned with uncertainty. It was improper for him to come bearing gifts to another man’s betrothed, which likely meant he knew she had been jilted again. “W-What are you doing here?”
His smile fell and he lowered the box to the bench beside him with a pitying shake of his head. “Sir Jonathan came to see me. How are you, Evie?”
“Dear God. He told you what really happened.” Her shoulders slumped from the weight of his revelation. “He promised to keep it a secret.”
“He will not tell anyone else, and I will not tell a soul. You have no reason to be embarrassed or worried.” Ben slid his arm around her shoulders, and she stiffened. She didn’t want his sympathy or to pretend they shared the same intimacy they’d had before.
Hot tears of mortification built at the back of her throat, and she eased from his embrace. “Perhaps I did not want you to know.” Old hurts rose to the surface, as raw as the day Ben left her. “I suppose you are pleased to have your opinion supported.”
“What opinion?” He drew back with a puzzled frown. “I don’t take your meaning.”
She swallowed hard to keep her tears at bay. She refused to cry in front of him. Steeling herself, she boldly met his gaze. “You found something lacking in me two years ago, and now Sir Jonathan has as well. Congratulations. You have been vindicated.”
“Balderdash!” His vehement denial made her flinch. “My leaving was a result of my own failings. Not yours. And you are not to blame for what Hackberry has done.” He took her book, tossed it on the bench, then captured her hand before she could scoot away. “Do you truly think I came to gloat? I lost the best part of my life when I lost you. Not a day has passed that I haven’t regretted my actions.”
She rolled her eyes. For two years, he had never even written. She was no fool. His life had gone on as right as rain without her.
“It is true.” He gently clasped her chin to make her look at him. His intense blue eyes held her entranced and caused a quiver deep in her belly. “I’ve been miserable without you, Evie. I would do anything to have you back again. I want what we had.”
Her resolve to harden her heart toward him wavered. She wet her lips, distrustful of the small flicker of hope trying to ignite inside her. She would have to be mad to place her faith in him again.
“If what we had was so special, why did you leave the church?”
* * *
Eve’s voice was deadly calm and sent a frisson of panic to Ben’s heart. He dropped his hand to his side.
“I—my nerves got the best of me,” he said. This was the closest he could come to the truth without humiliating himself, but he regretted his answer at once. The stricken look in her eyes ripped him apart.
“You doubted us? I always believed when one met his match, he knew it was right. I never once doubted you had been meant for me.”
“I didn’t doubt you, Evie. Or us.”
“You did. You just admitted as much.”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and hugged tightly. Her gaze fixed on something across the garden. She wouldn’t even look at him.
Damnation! Ben bent forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and cradling his head in his hands. He had known getting rid of Hackberry wouldn’t win him a place in Eve’s heart, but what if she never let him in again? The emptiness inside him grew more vast and bleak as silence stretched between them. His chest ached. He should probably go, but he didn’t know how to say good-bye.
Eventually, he sat up, defeated. “I’m sorry, Evie. I never meant to hurt you.”
She reached for his hand, cradling it between her palms. Her deep brown eyes shimmered in the afternoon sunlight. “Tell me what it was like. I want to understand. You can be honest with me. Please.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Experience told him she was sincere. She would listen without judgment, but he didn’t know how to put what had happened on their wedding day into words.
He’d been unprepared for the onslaught of fear that hit him. It had started with a small confession to his brother as they stood in the church vestibule, waiting for Eve’s arrival. I never thought I would be this happy again.
The admission had unlocked his memories of Charlotte—memories of the day she died that he never allowed himself to remember. Suddenly, he’d become terrified of losing everything again. He feared his happiness would be snatched from him. If not now—or the next day or week or month—then someday Eve would die too. Or he would go first. The thought of their separation had made his heart squeeze painfully over and over until he couldn’t breathe properly.
His pulse sped even now, and a tremor raced through him.
“Ben?” Eve pressed his hand between hers, her touch becoming an anchor to keep him from drifting too far into the past. “Tell me what happened on our wedding day.”
He opened his eyes and exhaled. “I barely understand it myself. My chest felt like it was being crushed, and I couldn’t catch my breath.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? We could have summoned the doctor.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t think properly. All I could think about was escaping.”
She gasped softly.
“Not from you,” he rushed to explain, “but from the horrible sense that I was dying. I’d finally found happiness and I was not going to be allowed to keep it.”
“Ben.” Tears filled her eyes and she brought his hand to her lips. The warmth of her kiss seeped through his glove. “You could have told me. All this time…”
They had lost precious time because of him.
Eve reached out to caress his cheek, her fingers trailing along his jawline. “All this time I knew something had gone wrong. I believed you were coming back for so long. I regret giving up too soon. I’m so sorry.”
She needn’t say more. It was too late, just as he’d feared. Still, he couldn’t leave without taking a chance and telling her what was in his heart. “I love you, Eve. I desire you for my wife. I long for a family with you, a home. I want to keep you safe and happy until we are gray and our backs are bent from old age. I want my last breath to be a promise to love you for all eternity, because I will. I will love you forever.”
She covered her heart with both hands as tears fell on her cheeks. “I want a life with you too. That is all I have ever wanted.”
Ben brushed his thumb over her cheek to wipe away her tears. “Still?”
She nodded, the tears coming more quickly.
His throat grew thick with emotion. He slid from the bench to kneel at her feet and held both of her hands. She smiled encouragingly. “Miss Thorne, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She pulled free of his hold to capture his face between her palms and leaned down so they were eye to eye. “Yes,” she whispered.
Cupping her nape, he drew her toward him for a kiss. Warm, moist lips met his, and her breath hitched. Ben slid onto the bench beside her, his arms circling her waist. She melted against him as he gently explored her mouth with his tongue. When she sighed and opened for him, he groaned and dragged her closer.
A small thud brought them back to the garden. Their lips broke apart, but Ben didn’t release her, and she didn’t release him either.
He grinned. “I think we knocked over your box of sweets. You did not answer earlier. Do you still like lemon drops?”
“I rarely come to dislike something I’ve learned to love.”
“Lucky for me.”
Her smile lit him from within. “Lucky for me too.”
He placed a featherlight kiss on her lips before retrieving the box from the grass.
As she accepted his gift, her gaze flicked toward the town house and a small line appeared between her brows.
“What is it?” Ben looked up to discover Sebastian Thorne at an upper window, glowering at them. Ben suppressed a sigh.
Eve’s brother would not make things easy for him when they negotiated the marriage contract this time. He would want to ensure Ben received his lumps for breaking the first one, but Ben would endure as many awkward encounters as were required of him. As long as he had Eve by his side in the end, it was worth it.
“I believe your brother is requesting an audience. Shall we?” Standing, he offered his arm to lead her inside.