‘But he’s heading this way.’
And she was still angry at him. All her life she’d done nothing but lay her heart out for this man. Like a fool. As if she had no pride or didn’t know her worth.
She did—she always had. It was he who didn’t know his. But she understood that now—or thought she did, and told him so.
Still, he’d refused her. Yet he walked towards her now, the distance not so great, the room not so wide that his path through the crowds could be anything else.
‘It matters not what direction he comes—he’ll remember the path to the door.’
Elizabeth released her hand and kissed her cheek. ‘Find happiness. That’s all I ever wanted for you.’
When Elizabeth turned away Alice kept her gaze on Hugh, weaving through the crowd. Happiness was all she’d ever wanted for him, but he refused it. Now he looked determined. She braced herself.
Then he stood in front of her.
‘Would you like this dance?’
Here, now. This was the question he asked? ‘You know the answer to that.’
‘You did dance with me at one time.’
She looked starkly at him. ‘Shouldn’t you be dancing with Helen?’
‘Helen from the St Martin’s Day dinner?’ He only just hid his smile. ‘So you did feel something that night.’
‘I don’t thinkmyfeelings have ever been in question.’
‘So mineare?’
She tilted her head. ‘Didn’t we talk of lies and deceits and flimsy vows? You have no purpose here. I meant what I said.’
‘I’m not here to stop you from finding the traitor. I’m here to help you find him.’
She’d be a fool to accept his offer of help this time. She’d be a fool to expose herself to the connection that he denied. Even when she’d handed him her heart she might as well have ripped it from her chest and dropped it in the darkest well she could find.
She tilted her head. ‘What changed your mind?’
‘You did.’
He lied.
‘I remember my words and your responses. What has changed?’
‘The next day.’
Cranley had accompanied her and William home. ‘I left that day.’
‘Exactly.’
So her leaving caused him to have a change of heart, when all their lives they’d been separated? ‘Is this a game?’
‘No, Alice. I’m here because I know who the traitor is.’
Chapter Sixteen
They stood in the alcove by the stairs. Not exactly private, but better. It was quiet enough for him to share his words, to make her understand.
She was angry now, and should be. But he still had her love—he felt it in every part of his body, in his own soul. So precious to him—though he had almost lost it.
