“You won’t have a choice,” Winston said with a small smile. “I am a duke, and I will make sure they know it was all my idea and that you did not even touch Lord Tallow.”
“Being there will still be enough to convict me.”
“But for not as long.” Winston ran a hand through his hair. “Although it will stain both our reputations forever.”
“I thought you did not care about your reputation,” Leo said, laughing slightly. “Have you really changed so much since taking a wife?”
“I do not care about my reputation,” Winston replied. “But I do care about Vanessa’s… the Duchess’. She will be ruined by this, too. Ostracized from Society, just as she is starting to learn to be confident among theton.
He was quiet for a moment, thinking, then he looked up at Leo. “We must be done with this,” he said. “You were right. It is time for it to be over, once and for all. It is one thing for me to risk my own life and freedom as the Bow Street Runners close in, but it is quite another thing to risk the Duchess’. I cannot do that in good conscience.”
Leo nodded. “I think that is wise.” He hesitated slightly. “And I think that shows remarkable growth. That you would give up your crusade against these men for someone you care about.”
Winston didn’t respond, but he wished he could have told Leo about the wall of ice around his heart and how, with his wife, he felt it melting. The more he got to know Vanessa, the less cold and angry he became. It wasn’t just to protect her that he felt it might be time to end his crusade; it was also because he did not want his life to be filled with so much hate and violence anymore.
She was showing him another way. A way out of the shadows and into the light.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Is she almost ready yet?” Winston muttered to himself. “We are going to be late!”
If there was one thing Winston hated about Society events, it was being late. Whenever you arrived late, everyone would stare at you, and their whispers would spread back and forth as they gossiped about you. Winston did not like to be gossiped about. Not when he had so many secrets that he was already keeping so close to his chest. He preferred to arrive early, before everyone else, and find somewhere hidden and dark where he could watch the others.
That was how onelearnedSociety’s secrets, instead of having one’s own revealed. That was often how he had seen many gentlemen behaving indecorously toward other ladies.
He knew, however, as he paced back and forth at the bottom of the stairs, that he was being churlish. He wasn’t really mad at his wife for taking so long to get ready. A strange feeling hadbeen bothering him all afternoon, ever since speaking with Leo, and he couldn’t quite identify it. It felt like excitement, but that couldn’t be right.
Could it?
He heard someone giggling, and he looked up to see Phoebe and Lady Selina coming down the stairs toward him.
“Is she almost ready?” he asked, looking pointedly at the grandfather clock on the other side of the hall.
“Patience, Your Grace,” Phoebe said with a cheeky smile. “A lady should never be rushed while getting ready. And believe me, you will be glad of the wait once you see your wife. She looks very beautiful.”
“The Duchess is always beautiful,” Winston pointed out, his eyes narrowing.
“She is particularly stunning tonight,” Lady Selina said with a small, secret smile. “We shall leave you now, Your Grace. We would not want to get in the way when…” She laughed, covering her mouth, and Phoebe tugged her down the rest of the stairs and toward the door.
“Have a wonderful time at the ball, cousin!” Phoebe called back over her shoulder.
Winston watched them go, feeling apprehensive. It felt as if they knew something he did not, and he did not like that feeling.
“Winston?”
A voice came from the top of the stairs, and Winston turned at once and looked up. His jaw dropped.
Vanessa was standing at the top of the stairs, radiant in a gown of the most beautiful blue he had ever seen. The silk cascaded down her body fluidly, and he was shocked by how much it really did remind him of a waterfall. The gown was the most gorgeous he had ever seen, bringing out the stunning blue of her eyes, and as he gazed up at her, he felt as if he was seeing her for the first time.
But no, Vanessa had always been beautiful. It wasn’t that he was seeing her as beautiful for the first time. There was something different about her.
And then he realized what it was: it was her smile. Never before had he seen her smile at him with such genuine radiance. Her whole face was lit up with it, and joy was emanating from her. Even the way she was holding herself was different. Her shoulders were pulled back, her chin was raised, and she looked proud and confident in a way he had never before seen.
It filled his own chest with pride and confidence.
“Vanessa,” he murmured, and before he could stop himself, he began to walk up the stairs, taking them two at a time, as if he could not hold himself back from being by her side.
He stopped in front of her, right on the step below her—although he was still taller than her—and took her hands in his.
