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“HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING to be pouting about that incident?” Darla asked about a week after the ball.
London life wasn’t the way Rory remembered it when she returned. She had gone out a few times, but mostly she preferred to stay home. Even her appetite had changed, and she no longer sought out sweets constantly. If Henry had noticed a difference in her behavior, he chose not to mention it, but Darla did.
“Incident? I didn’t trip over my skirt. I was deceived by the man I loved.”
“Yes, but that ended when you left Summerhill. You can’t continue to drag those feelings around with you.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
That startled Darla, who almost spilled her tea in her lap. “Once, a very long time ago. It wasn’t pleasant.”
That was something Rory didn’t know, and although she desperately wanted to ask more about it, the sadness on Darla’s face told her not to.
“I’m going out there tomorrow to sign the papers for the sale. I hope that I can leave my feelings there like an old rug in the corner. Perhaps the new buyer won’t notice.”
“Who is the buyer?”
Rory shook her head, looking down at the tiny diary she held in her hand. She had now read it over in full and was picking her favorite parts to read again.
“I didn’t ask. Henry assures me it is going to a young couple who are recently married. He didn’t give me more details than that.”
“You’re not curious?”
“Not really.”
In truth, it mattered very little who would be living in the house now. Two different women had loved and been heartbroken in that house. Perhaps the new owners would have better luck.
“Perhaps we should take a trip,” Darla suggested. “A change of scenery might do you some good.”
“Where would we go? You have never left England.”
“I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. The world has become a very large place, and we have no reason not to see more of it.”
“The continent might be nice. France or Spain.”
“Just not Africa.”
Rory smiled. “I doubt we would run into them on such a large continent.”
Darla took her friend’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I just hate to see you so sad all the time.”
Rory knew that. She wished she had the answer for fixing that, but she didn’t. The only thing she could do was hope that time would slowly erase the memory of Clayton and take the feelings along with it.
The next day, she rode with her brother out to Summerhill Manor. The ride was quiet at first. Rory was enjoying the silence as she watched the scenery passing by, then she heard the sound of her brother rustling around for something. He produced a tin of cookies from one of her favorite shops and offered it to her. She shook her head, not having much hunger these days.
“You don’t have to sell the house if you don’t want to,” Henry said, putting the tin beside him on the seat. “If it is too upsetting, you can hold onto it. Perhaps even spend your winters out there.”
“I don’t want the house.”
It held too many memories for her to live there now. She wouldn’t be alone there. Those bittersweet moments she had shared with Clayton would be around every corner.
Henry cleared his throat nervously. “I know it’s not my place to comment on your love life, and I don’t know exactly what happened between you and Lord Clayton, but I’m getting worried about you.” Her brother’s hazel eyes were focused on her face beneath drawn eyebrows. “I know that there was a misunderstanding, but you seem to be more deeply hurt than I expected.”
“It was more than that.”
“Did you fall in love with him?”
Rory straightened in her seat. “That would have been ridiculous, considering I thought he was a contractor.”
“The heart doesn’t care about station, not as much as our minds do.” Henry moved closer and took both of her hands in his own. It was something he hadn’t done in a long time, and she found the comfort was beginning to push her emotions closer to the edge.
“Is that why you refuse to give him a chance to explain? Because you are embarrassed you fell in love with someone you thought you shouldn’t?” Henry asked, speaking softly and with such tenderness.
“I was going to run away with him,” Rory blurted out. “I was going to give up everything for him, and the whole time it was a lie.”
“Which part makes you angry—that he lied or that you believed the lie so much?”
Rory shook her head, feeling the tears start to tingle in her eyes. “The man I fell in love with doesn’t exist.”
“I think you will find that he is the same man no matter what name he gives you, only give him the chance to prove it to you.”
She wiped the water from her cheeks. “If his lies had been the truth, would you have given me your blessing still?”
“You mean would I be happy that my sister was marrying a contractor?” Henry smiled. “If he’s strong enough to handle you, then he has my respect. I would give any man my blessing if he could make you happy.”
“Like you are?”
Henry couldn’t hide the broad grin that put on his face. “I told you when I married Kitty that the heart is a strange thing. It finds you what you need regardless of your thoughts on the matter.”
Rory pulled her hands back from him and wiped them on her skirt. She was gaining control of her emotions again and swallowing her tears.
“I doubt that man is what I need, but even if he was, it is too late.” Rory turned to look out the window again. “He was eager to return to Africa once his business here was done, and once I sign the papers, that will be the case. I imagine he already has his passage booked on the next ship.”
While Henry went inside the main house to meet the buyers, she snuck around to the back and found the little cottage. She had brought the diary with her, intent on leaving it where she believed it belonged.
“Do you think they were happy here?”
The sound of Clayton’s voice gave her goosebumps. She refused to turn around because she couldn’t bear to look at him. She closed her eyes and took an unsteady breath. “Yes. I know they were.”
“How do you know?”
“She wrote in that diary until her final days. She talked about how the villagers got sick and they chose to go help them. They worked side by side, tending to them.”
“Not very romantic.”
“Depends on your idea of romance.”
“What happened to them?”
“She caught the fever, and he had to tend to her bedside. He was there every moment until she passed away.”
“So that story is a tragedy, just like ours.”
“Not the way she tells it.” Rory could hear him moving behind her, closing the gap between them.
“I guess the difference between a tragedy and a love story is in the person telling it.”
She caught the scent of him again, and it brought tears to her eyes. That freshness mixed with an earthy element defined him perfectly.
“What kind of story do you tell about us?” His voice was just over her shoulder.
“You lied to me.” She hated the cracks in her voice that gave away how close she was to crying.
“Only about the things that didn’t matter. I didn’t lie to you about who I really was.”
“Who is that?”
“A man who is completely in love with you.”
Rory couldn’t resist any longer. She turned to face him. He was only a few inches away, and he looked exactly as she remembered. His shirt was clean but made out of the same rough fabric as his others. He wore a jacket but left it unbuttoned so his suspenders showed, and there was nothing tied around his neck. His blond hair and beard were both trimmed and glinted in the sunlight. Those dark blue eyes stared at her without flinching.
“Is this the lord talking or the contractor?”
“They are the same. I don’t know how to be the gentleman I was before, but I can try if that is what you want.”
“You are far too rough around the edges for most of the London ballrooms.”
“I can smooth those out with a little help.”
Reaching up, Rory stroked her palm across his chin. “I like the roughness.”
His eyes lit up, and a smile spread across those sensual lips. “We could live here and be happy, just like your aunt was.”
“It’s too late for that.”
The happiness dimmed from him for a moment.
“I just sold the house. We would have to find somewhere else to be happy together.”
The brightness came back, and he laughed. “I’m the one buying the house.”
Rory felt her mouth fall open. “What? Why?”
“This was where I found you. If I couldn’t be with you, I could at least be with my memories of you.”
She shook her head. “I already signed the papers. Henry said they were for a newly married couple.”
“I might have told one more lie.” Clayton wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. “If you agree to marry me, it will be the truth.”
“What about Africa? You wanted to return there.”
“I wanted to escape my past, but now that my future is here, that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Rory knew what it meant that he was willing to do this for her, and suddenly she knew which man she fell in love with.
“We could always split our time between the two.” Now she was grinning just as much as he was.
“You would go that far from home? Away from your brother?”
“He can manage without me,” said Rory. “Better than I think you can.”
“I can’t breathe without you.” Clayton got serious. “I’m sorry for lying to you, but I was still lying to myself. I promise I will never do that again.”
“I believe you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Perhaps I should start my own diary.”
“To record our adventures?”
“To record our love story.”
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The End
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Curious about Henry and Kitty? Check out their Story in
Betting it All on the Earl
Out now.
Also, Check out the next in the Sinners Club Series
The Beastly Duke
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