“I’ll see you two back at the manor,” Edwina said before she kicked her horse into a run.
Miles was about to do the same when Bennett’s voice stopped him. “Edwina is the happiest I have seen her in a long time.”
“Is that so?” Miles asked.
“Yes, and I suspect it has to do with you,” Bennett said with a pointed look. “You two have managed to help each other in ways that no one else could.”
Miles kept his gaze straight ahead as he admitted, “I want to marry her.”
“Do you love her?”
He winced at the question, his heart aching with conflict. “I love Arabella.”
“There is no shame in moving on and opening your heart to another,” Bennett said. “It is what makes us human.”
Miles tightened the reins in his hand, feeling trapped by his own emotions. “I care for Edwina. Is that not enough?”
“No, she deserves more, and so do you,” Bennett replied, his voice firm but understanding.
With a glance at Bennett, Miles said, “Thank you for not telling your father about the compromising position you found Edwina and me in.”
“I didn’t think it was prudent to do so, considering I know you are trying to do the honorable thing,” Bennett responded.
“I am.”
“But, perhaps, doing the honorable thing is letting my cousin go, if you can’t love her,” Bennett remarked.
Miles was taken aback at his friend’s remark. “I thought you would challenge me to a duel if I didn’t marry Edwina.”
Bennett grew quiet for a long moment before responding. “Above all else, I want my cousin to be happy. And if she doesn’t believe that you will bring her happiness, then I shall respect her decision.”
As Miles mulled over Bennett’s words, his friend kicked his horse into a run, leaving him with his conflicted thoughts. He wanted to be the one to make Edwina smile. But he couldn’t give her the one thing that she wanted. He should let her go, but a part of him didn’t want to. He wanted to fight for her. Because maybe, just maybe, he could come to love her.
But a wave of guilt washed over him at that thought. Could he forget Arabella so easily? No. It might be for the best if he let Edwina go so she could find someone who could give her everything she desired and more.
Edwina peeked out of her bedchamber door and down the corridor. She was waiting for Miles to make an appearance so they could walk down to dinner together.
Empty.
Just as it had been the last ten times that shehad checked. She closed the door and rested her back against the wall. Why was she so eager to spend time with Miles? But she already knew that answer. She loved him. He lifted her spirits and made her happy.
She knew that Miles would leave soon and they would both go their own ways. But she didn’t want to waste one moment with him.
A knock came at the door.
Excitement coursed through her at the thought it might be Miles on the other side of the door. Edwina quickly smoothed back her hair and brought a smile to her face, as if it had been there all day.
She opened the door and saw Bennett. Her smile dimmed. “Oh, it is just you,” she muttered.
Bennett grinned. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“No,” she lied.
“You are a terrible liar, Cousin,” Bennett said. “May I come in?”
Edwina took a step back. “Please do,” she encouraged.
Bennett stepped into the bedchamber and closed the door behind him. “I think it is best if this conversation stays between us.”
