She dropped her gaze quickly. “Good day, my lord.”
“Good day, Miss Edgewood.”
She started up the steps, then paused.
“Henry… you did beautifully today.”
Henry gave her a wide smile. “Thank you, Miss Edgewood.”
She entered Rosehaven House. The door clicked shut behind her.
Henry stood quietly beside him.
“Papa,” he said, “why do people look at Miss Edgewood when we walk with her?”
Marcus exhaled slowly. “Because they are curious.”
“About what?”
Marcus rested a hand on his shoulder. “About things that do not concern them.”
Henry considered this, then nodded.
They walked home as the afternoon grew brighter around them.
But something else settled in Marcus. Not brightness exactly, but clarity. He was no longer stepping into this only for protection. Something in him had begun to move again.
It was moving toward Lila Edgewood.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Henry’s knock echoeddown the lane, not timid, not uncertain. Firm. Expectant.
Theseus opened the private door and greeted him with a smile reserved for longtime regulars.
“Good Morning, Master Henry,” he said. “Miss Edgewood is already in the music room.”
Henry darted inside.
Lila looked up from the pianoforte as they entered.
Something in Marcus settled at the sight of her, a quiet sense of rightness he had not invited and could not dismiss.
Her gown was a soft lavender today, her hair pinned neatly with a few curls escaping near her ear. She smoothed the sheet music as Henry approached, but Marcus saw her fingers tremble once before she stilled them.
“Good morning,” she said.
Henry beamed. “Miss Edgewood, I practiced.”
“So I am told,” she answered, a small warmth touching her smile.
Marcus took his seat by the tall window, the chair he had unintentionally claimed as his place.
He watched Lila’s breathing settle. Watched Henry’s shoulders lower as soon as she began to speak. Watched the small transformation that happened every morning in this room.
A child growing braver.
A woman finding steadiness.
