Miles must have read his thoughts, because he chuckled. “No, not that. Alice was married when we met. We tried to ignore what was happening between us, but ultimately we lost the battle. We carried on in secret for over a year before she divorced her husband.”
Henry’s jaw gaped. He was no stranger to a married woman’s bed, but those liaisons were never more than a night of casual intimacy, and the marriage he interrupted was never a happy one. He never had the desire to turn it into something more meaningful, something lasting.
With effort, Henry regained the ability to speak. “Was it difficult?”
“Disastrous,” Miles said with a humorless laugh. “We lost our teaching positions in New York, and her husband, a dean at the university, attempted to ruin my career. And then I had a hell of a time convincing Alice to marry me. She loved me, and I her, but she hated the idea of being trapped in a marriage again.”
“But the trouble was worth it.”
Miles’s eyes glittered. “God, yes. I can’t imagine being with anyone besides her, scandal be damned. I became the luckiest bastard on earth when I convinced her to be my wife.”
An image flashed in Henry’s mind, vivid as a painting. Ellie walking towards him down the aisle of the chapel at Heathercliff, where his own parents had married decades before, her silver eyes dazzling, white flowers in her red curls. It felt so right he instantly craved it, became desperate for the vision to become reality.
“Is Ellie married?” Miles asked.
“She was,” Henry replied, swirling the ice in his glass. “She’s widowed.”
Miles winced. “So young to be widowed.”
Henry nodded. “Far too young.” She had so much life left to live. To travel, to study, to raise children. He wanted to spend every one of those moments with her.
“Are you?”
“No.” Henry dropped his head. He couldn't bring himself to tell Miles about his engagement and destroy whatever faith in him the man still possessed.
“I realize society in Britain is more complicated than in America, but what is holding you back from marrying? Some strange inheritance or family feud? Identical twins or buried treasure?”
“No, nothing like that. If she’d have me, we’d be a great match.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “She won’t have you? Why the hell not?”
“Well, I’d have to ask her first.” It suddenly seemed ridiculously simple. Whyhadn’the just asked her?
I’ll never marry again, you can count on that.
“What’s the problem, then? How long have you been together?”
Henry released a bark of laughter. “Six days?”
Miles stared at him, incredulous. “You must be joking.”
“I’m not. We’ve been friends for years, and I had no intention of being anything more.”
“But you masqueraded as husband and wife.”
“She never could have visited the galleries otherwise.” How had he thought they could get through this trip without something significant changing between them?
Miles blinked, his brows furrowed. “So…areyou lovers?”
Henry shook his head. “No. Yes.” He sighed. “Not anymore.”
The story poured from him, his unrequited feelings, Ellie’s request to learn about lovemaking. Her plans to take a lover and desire to maintain their friendship.
“Hell,” Miles muttered, draining the remnants of his drink. “Have you told her how you feel?”
Henry scoffed. “No, but there’s no need. She’s made it clear she wants to remain friends.”
“Do you really think you can go back to being friends after this?”
