Chapter Twenty-Three

“Lily, he’s here.”

At Adam’s booming voice, Lily pulled the handkerchief from between her legs. It came away clean, for the dozenth time today. This month, she had bled a few spots and that was it.

“Lily?”

She stuffed away the handkerchief and raised her voice. “I’ll be right out.” She straightened her dress quickly, shoving all thoughts from her mind but what she must do. Adam had convinced her to give the prototype one last chance. If she could not forge it this time, they would admit defeat and seek another avenue. As Adam had put it: There is always another way.

But therein lay the danger. Without a convincing forgery to confuse the unwary eye, their chances of being caught increased exponentially. Lily had poured her heart into the latest creation, taking all of Reid’s criticisms into account. If he didn’t like this one…

Taking a steadying breath, Lily exited into the workroom, where a series of several armbands waited. Despite Reid’s distaste for them, she had kept the last two prototypes for comparison. The metal had been melted and reshaped too many times to use them again, though she had pried out the gems. If not for the holes where the gems had been, the pieces were exquisite enough to sell in her shop.

If, of course, she hadn’t been concerned with her enterprise being exposed. Despite the craftsmanship, made with Adam’s assistance, these armbands were worthless to her.

Her heart thumped wildly as she strode abreast of him. Without a word, he slipped his hand into hers, threading their fingers together, and squeezed her. “This is your best yet, I’m certain of it.”

“If only Reid agrees with you.”

Even if he admitted to Lily’s talent in sculpting the armband, she still had to swap it with the original. By her calculations, the next dinner party ought to be next week. The imminent moment made her stomach clench with dread. Queasy, she laid a hand over it.

Thus far, she hadn’t crossed the line into thievery. Lying, certainly. Forgery, yes. But she hadn’t used either of those things for personal gain. If Reid approved of this final creation, she would have to cross that line.

And she would. Despite the tension threatening to make her cast up her accounts, she had made her decision. She would do this for Mama, for Sophie—even for Willa, though she had made her distaste for the activity clear.

Had Lily walked too far down this path to know when she had lost her integrity? She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

The door rattled with Reid’s knock. Adam dropped her hand and gave her a long, searching look. Because of the animosity between him and Reid, they had decided it was better he waited in the other room. Lily nodded to him, trying to contain her disappointment as he left.

She opened the door.

Reid was no friend to her, but still, as he stepped inside, rain soaking through the shoulders of his cloak and darkening the top of his hat, emotion welled in her throat. She could never trust this man like she once had. Her one consolation was that when he had tried to interfere with her life the first time, she had put her foot down.

That decision might have spiraled to this heartbreaking chasm between them, but it had also given her Adam.

As he entered the back room, Reid scanned the interior. When he didn’t find Adam in sight, he stamped his wet boots on the floor and shut the door. He gave her a thin smile. “A deuced miserable day out there. I trust you have something worthy of my time today?”

Lily hated this jaded man with his sharp-as-obsidian tongue.

“This way. I think… I hope you will find this one more to your liking. If you don’t, I may have to admit defeat.”

He caught her by the arm, his grip firm as he barred her from fetching the latest forgery. When she twisted to look at him, his expression was lethal.

“Failure is not an option. Not unless—”

When she tugged on her arm, he released it. She drew herself up, even though she couldn’t hope to match his height. “I know. But we may have to try another means if this does not work.”

From the brooding set of his mouth, he didn’t like that option in the least.

She bit her tongue hard, hoping to quell the tremble in her hands as she fetched the armband from a square case she had collected for it. As she lifted the lid, showing the item nestled in a bed of velvet beneath, she held it toward him.

He lifted his head, searching the room. “Do you have any more lights?”

She hated to light candles when tallow lamps or rushlights would do, but today she swallowed the expense. The sooner he inspected her efforts, the sooner he would leave. She thrust the case onto a shelf and said, “One moment.”

When she slipped into the storeroom to fetch a candle, Adam separated from the corner. He caught her by the arm, his touch far gentler than Reid’s. Gingerly, he ran his fingers over her flesh where Reid had manhandled her. Tears stung her eyes. She tried to swallow them, but the cherishing way he touched her made her chest ache.

“Did he hurt you?” Adam spoke in the barest whisper.

His warm touch seeped into her body, a balm to her wounded pride. She felt herself swaying toward him before she hardened herself. She couldn’t fall apart, couldn’t lean on Adam. Soon, he would no longer be in her life.

She could rely on no one but herself.

“I am unharmed. I need a candle.”

He fetched one for her as she found the tinderbox. She lit it and carried it out into the main workroom, where she set it on the workbench next to where Reid bent over the box.

“Thank you.” For a moment, he looked unguarded. Fascinated and enthused, the same man who had dreamed of traveling to Egypt to unearth his own antiquities. He scooted closer on the stool, using the light of the candle to examine the artifact she had made.

Lily held her breath, bracing herself for the flaws he would undoubtedly find. She wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t have anything but his drawing of the object to use as a basis for the replica. By the time her lungs ached from lack of breath, he pronounced, “There are flaws.”

She gritted her teeth.

He looked up, his expression impassive as he gently laid the armband on the workbench next to the candle. “But I believe only an expert eye under good lighting would be able to see them. Eventually, Lord Granby will give it that thorough inspection, but perhaps not at first.”

She released her pent-up breath in a whoosh, frowning as she met his gaze. “Then you’re saying this one is…”

He nodded curtly. “Acceptable.”

Her knees went weak with relief. At long last, she had done it. Giddy with the weight of the artifact removed from her shoulders, she nearly laughed.

Until he unfolded from the stool, surrounding her, his expression forbidding. “I trust you are able to move to the next step?”

She stumbled over her tongue. “I… Yes… Of course. But I’m not certain…”

He cocked one eyebrow, never once removing his gaze from her. “Move quickly. I’ve waited too long as it is.”

At his cutting tone, her lower lip wobbled. She swallowed hard. She wasn’t usually this emotional at a reprimand. “I’ll arrange to receive another invitation. I can’t control when Lord Granby has his next dinner party.”

“But you can control whether or not you are invited.”

She swallowed hard, thick phlegm caught in her throat. “Yes.” To an extent.

He turned on his heel, barely sparing her another thought. “Then see to it. Let me know the moment you receive the invitation.”

The moment the door shut behind him with a note of finality, Adam reentered the room. He laid his hands gently on her shoulders. She quivered beneath his touch.

“You did it. As I knew you would.”

Lily pressed her lips together and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. After a moment, she whispered, “It isn’t over yet.”

…

When Lily returned to the townhouse the next evening, she looked worn. Haunted, defeated. Adam’s chest clenched at the sight of her. He sat up in bed, setting aside the book he had been reading while awaiting her return.

“That took longer than I expected.”

She nodded. “Miss Granby was out. I elected to wait until she returned, then returned the book. She seemed…weary.”

“So do you.”

She heaved a sigh as she pulled at the placket front of her dress, making the bodice gape and leaving enough room to push it from her hips. As she stepped out, pulling it from the floor and tossing it over a chair in the corner, she confessed, “I think the day is wearing on me, that’s all. I’ve never been so tired.”

Adam opened his arms, beckoning her to him. She stripped off her stockings and climbed into bed with her chemise still on. As she fitted herself against his side, he tucked his arm around her, holding her close. For a long time, she said nothing, burying her head in his shoulder and breathing deeply.

“Did you secure an invitation?”

She nodded, turning her face up to his. “The next dinner party is in ten days. We will receive our invitation within the week. I don’t want to think on it now.”

Her eyes glimmered with emotion. No doubt his did, as well. Within the week, they would have the date of their imminent parting. He didn’t want to leave, but he’d found no way to prevent it thus far. And Lily…

Did she want him to stay? It shredded his soul to think that he would abandon her again. This had never been his intention upon coming to London. He had come to make amends, to repay her for the hurt he’d caused. And now he seemed in danger of cutting even deeper.

But when she kissed him, he was helpless to deny her. He never wanted to be parted from her.

Leave London with me. The words lingered on the tip of his tongue, chased away by hers as she warmed to his touch. What if he asked and she refused? She was only like this, so pliant and vulnerable, while they were in bed. What if she decided she didn’t need him?

He applied himself to the task of showing her how integral he was to her pleasure. Or rather, how integral they were to each other.

Much later, after she was trembling with subsiding ripples of satisfaction, her naked body pressed to his, he gave voice to the words he didn’t want to consider.

“This must be the last night.”

She said nothing, but moisture leaked from her eyes and onto his bare skin.

“You say that every night.”

So he did. He had been so desperate not to fall in love with her again, afraid of hurting her again. Now, he feared he was cutting himself even deeper. The last time they’d parted, he’d had a purpose. He’d needed a plan, a way to repay her. This time, he would have no such solace.

He would have nothing but loss and these memories.

“This time, I mean it. It will be better for us both.”

She said nothing. Perhaps she didn’t hear the lie.