Elias’s shoulders sagged in relief. He reached into his coat, pulled out a card, and offered it. “This is where I’m staying. Just a small inn in the village. I won’t linger. I just wanted you to know I’m here and that I have no ill will toward you.”
Henry took the card but didn’t look at it before he slipped it into his coat pocket.
“Thank you for hearing me out,” Elias said. “And congratulations. She is a very pretty girl.” He nodded at Charlotte, who gave him a flattered smile.
With that, Elias March let himself out. The door clicked shut behind him.
Henry stood still for a long moment, staring at the place where the man had been.
“Well,” he said quietly. “That was something.”
Charlotte came to his side and slipped her hand into his. “Are you all right, my love?”
“I don’t know.” He was rather stunned by the events of the day.
“Do you want him in your life?”
“I don’t know that either,” Henry said honestly. “It’s strange. I thought if I ever came face to face with him, I’d be angry. Feel betrayed. But mostly I’m just... tired. And a little sad.”
Charlotte squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to decide anything right away.”
He turned toward her, his face softening. “No. But thank you for being here.”
“Always.” She slipped her arm through his as they left the study to return to the ballroom.
Henry’s thoughts buzzed with everything still unresolved, but the relief he felt was real. Tangible. A weight lifted off his chest that had settled there when he was barely old enough to understand it.
Charlotte leaned closer as they walked. “We’re safe,” she whispered. “He said he’ll deny everything. No one will hear the truth from him. We don’t have to worry anymore. Without his evidence, it’s nothing but a salacious rumor cooked up by Sir Roger. This means we’re free to be together without fear of scandal.”
Henry stopped in his tracks as her words hit him. A flicker of lamplight danced across her cheek as she turned to face him. For the first time in days, maybe weeks, he felt something other than dread. Something warmer, brighter, more alive.
He dipped his head and kissed her.
Not cautiously this time. Not with any restraint. He kissed her like a man who had thought he would lose everything, only to find it again in the shape of the woman before him. Her arms slipped around his neck, and he held her close, anchoring himself to her. Tasting her, burying his face in her hair.
When they pulled apart, she was breathless, smiling softly.
“Come,” he said, threading his fingers through hers. “Let’s go finish this.”
The room where Sir Roger was being held was small and sparsely furnished, more of a storage room than a cell. Two Arundel footmen stood guard at the door, arms folded and expressions grim. Henry gave them a nod, and they stepped aside to let him and Charlotte pass.
Sir Roger sat in a chair in the center of the room, his legs sprawled out and his arms crossed defiantly, but the way he chewed on his lower lip gave away his nerves. He looked like a man who had been caught but wasn’t sure yet what crime he’d been charged with.
Henry shut the door behind them. “Sir Roger,” he said coolly. “I think you know why we’re here.”
“I have my suspicions,” Leonard drawled. “Though I must say, you’ve gone to an awful lot of trouble. A bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
Charlotte stiffened beside Henry, but he kept his tone even. “You spoke to Elias March. He told you something he shouldn’t have.”
Leonard shrugged, one side of his mouth hitching up slyly. “Men say foolish things when they’ve had too much brandy and not enough sense.”
“And then you used that information,” Henry said, “to orchestrate a campaign of blackmail. To keep me from marrying the woman I love.”
Leonard smirked. “Blackmail? Oh, come now. I never sent a single note. Never lifted a pen. I told someone, that’s all. What they did with the information wasn’t my business.”
“So you know about the notes. Strange, if you had nothing to do with it. Who did you tell?”
Leonard flushed guiltily, knowing he had been caught out. “The Fairchilds. You remember Miss Harriet Fairchild, I assume? Pretty girl. You were alone with her in the garden not long ago.”
