He blinked and gave her a lazy smile. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Ellie clenched her fists. Even now, after all they had been through, he still wasn’t being honest with her. Withhimself.
“Eleanor?” Ellie spun as the door to the room creaked open and her mother’s pale face peeked around the corner. “I heard shouting.”
Elle rushed to her side and took her hands, her fine bones so delicate beneath her thin skin. “It’s fine, Mama, I’m well.”
Her watery eyes looked towards Henry. “Is he here to marry you, dear? I hoped he would.”
“Lady Warwick.” Henry stepped forward and bowed over her trembling hand. “How lovely to see you.”
Ellie’s stomach lurched as she pushed Henry’s hand away. “Mama, Lord Morley is just leaving.”
“I am here to marry her, my lady,” Henry said, ignoring Ellie completely and casting her mother his biggest smile.
“He’s not. Mama, this is a misunderstanding—”
“I love her, my lady.” Henry held her mother’s gaze, and the old woman looked at him like Henry was the sun itself.
“Henry, stop!” Ellie’s voice echoed in the room, startling all three of them. “Mama, please, I need to speak to Lord Morley in private.”
“About the wedding?” Years melted off her mother’s face, and Ellie could once again recognize the woman she knew before her mind left her, when Ellie had only herself to worry about.
In that moment, Ellie hated Henry for what he forced her to do. “There will be no wedding, Mama. It’s all a mistake.”
Her mother’s expression crumbled, a fat tear rolling down the weathered lines of her face. “No wedding? Oh, darling—”
“Mrs. Roberts!” The housekeeper must have been hovering nearby because she burst into the room with wide eyes darting between her crying mother and Henry’s disheveled form. “Please take Mama up to her room and prepare some tea.” Ellie wondered how her voice sounded so calm, so poised when her entire being trembled, her heart threatening to burst from her chest and tear itself to pieces.
With a nod, Mrs. Roberts led her mother from the room, and Ellie whirled on Henry, who stared at her with furrowed brows.
“You should go, Henry. I need to take care of her.”
He looked to the door, where her mother’s sobs echoed. “Your mother, what—”
“She’s not well,” Ellie said, hating this moment with every ounce of her being. “She hasn’t been for some time. Her mind is gone.”
He blinked and dropped his chin. “You never told me.”
I wanted to, but you never told me your secrets. You still haven’t. “There was no need.” She swallowed hard and crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to go.”
“I can’t go yet,” he said, his voice rasping. “I’m a wreck worrying about you.”
“It looks like I should be more worried about you.”
A blush crept up his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck with a shaky hand, not quite meeting her eyes. “However I came to be here, I’m setting right what I failed to do years ago.” He stepped forward and took her hand, and for a moment she felt whole again, like all the dust and debris of her life had settled, exposing a clear sky.
“I asked Victor for your hand, Ellie. We can marry.”
An icy fist wrapped around her heart and squeezed. “No, no! Are you out of your mind?” The words tore from her chest, scratching her throat as they left her body with enough force to make Henry step back.
“I’ve never been more sane. I would do anything to marry you.”
“Including deciding for me?” She advanced on him, a long-simmering anger turning into a full boil. “I have had every significant choice in my life taken away from me, by my father, by Ashby, and now by Victor and you. If you love me like you claim, you would never force me into something I didn’t want.”
His mouth worked for a moment as though he was testing out words and finding them all lacking. “But I want you. I love you,” he finally managed.
Ellie exhaled, her shoulders drooping. “I would give anything to go back and tell you how I felt, before I married Ashby, before you became engaged. But I lacked bravery and, frankly, so did you. Loving me shouldn’t require bravery, but perhaps giving me up will.”
