That was alittlehigh-handed, she supposed, but not quite annoying enough to make her angry.
“Hmph,”the landlady said emphatically. “Good. Well, here is your key. Rent is due on the first of the month. No exceptions. And any… carousing and ye will be out on your behind before ye can blink, no matter how many well-heeled connections ye have. Understand?”
Letitia found this brusque attitude oddly comforting.
“I understand, ma’am,” she said politely.
The landladyharrumphedagain, put the key in Letty’s hand, and disappeared in a flurry of voluminous skirts.
Alone with Ezra again, Letitia found herself hesitating. She needed to go, needed to break this off—finally.
But somehow, she was still standing there.
“Can I walk you up?” he asked, hefting her bag, which he had once again snatched from the driver before she could intervene.
“No, but only because I don’t want to deprive you of your chance to put your clever plan into effect,” she said, the jest falling from her lips all too easily.
He grinned. He was so beautiful when he smiled like that.
“Much obliged.” He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was pitched very low. “Miss Knightley. If you do not allow me to accompany you safely, I shall keep this valise full of...” He shook it, listening to the sound. “Sensible frocks and edifying literature forevermore.”
“You soundridiculous,” she informed him, making a hasty grab for the valise. He dodged her, then dangled it tauntingly out of his reach.
“Fine,” she said. “You can accompany me.”
“Thank you, madam,” he said in that same voice, sweeping a bow.
She laughed again as she led the way up the stairs. She had never laughed so much in her life before she’d met him. She wondered what would make her laugh now that they would be apart.
These last few moments felt immeasurably precious. She could not keep him. She had not lost sight of that. But she felt strangely desperate to cling to the time that remained.
That desperation made her foolish, for, when they got to her rooms and unlocked the door, she turned to him and said, “You can come in, if you like.”
She stepped aside to let him in. The rooms were simple, but clean and sunny. There was a bed off to one side, larger than Letty could have hoped to find, with extra quilts sitting in a large basket at the foot. The landlady had told Letty that the rooms would be cleaned once a week and that Letitia was responsible for keeping the space tidy the rest of the time. But she was given a good starting point.
Logs were already stacked neatly by the fireplace, and a tinderbox was upon the mantle. There was a small table and two chairs. Ezra put Letty’s bag down on the table, then crossed to the window, rattling the frame to confirm that the latch held secure.
“It seems safe enough,” he said, his tone slightly begrudging.
She laughed at this. “It’s far nicer than I might have hoped to find without your help,” she said. “So, thank you. And thank you for letting me leave.”
His expression flickered atletting me, and she could tell that he was burning to ask her about the past that she guarded so closely. But he had said that he would respect her wishes, and she did not think he was a man who went back on his word.
He closed his eyes briefly.
“You have more power than you think, Letitia Knightley,” he said. “I hope you realize it, because when you do…” He gave the quietest huff of a laugh. “You will achieve all you ever desire. I am certain of it.”
“Ezra,” she said. Why did it feel like her heart was cracking right in her chest? She fought for a quip, hoping it would break the spell. “That’s something coming from you. A duke would know power, wouldn’t he?”
It was the wrong thing to say. It fell flat between them.
He was still smiling at her, but it was as sad a smile as she had ever seen.
He walked to her, slowly, purposefully, until they were standing face to face.
“Goodbye, Letty,” he said. He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her knuckles—not a glancing, courtly kiss, but a lingering one.
He dropped her hand, and then?—
