Gathering her into his arms, Nathaniel held her close and patted her back as tears pricked the back of his eyes.
“You will never be alone again. I promise, Lilian,” he said, meaning every word. “I love you very much, and I will always be with you from now on. I will speak to Cecily and do everything I can to convince her to stay. She will not leave us.”
The thought of Cecily leaving hurt him just as much as Lilian’s unhappiness. Bypassing all conscious intentions, both his wife and his daughter seemed to have taken a natural place within him, as part of his own being.
“Do you love Cecily too?” Lilian hiccupped, her head resting on his shoulder as her sobs subsided.
There was no point in denying it anymore, to his daughter, to himself, or to the rest of the world.
“Yes, I do,” he admitted thickly. “I love Cecily very much.”
* * *
“Cecily.”
At the sound of her name, Cecily spun around violently and found Nathaniel standing in the doorway of her bedroom. His hair was tousled, his waistcoat unfastened, and his jaw unshaven.
For any other person, these things might have indicated a hard or busy day. For Nathaniel, they were merely his natural state, and to Cecily’s eyes, he was the most handsome man she knew.
“Oh God, Nathaniel!” she exclaimed, all her hopes, fears, and pleasure at seeing him coming together at once and making her quiver.
His perceptive, deep-blue eyes flicked to the bundles on her bed.
“Lilian thinks that you’re leaving,” he said, turning his gaze back to her.
Why did he always have to be so hard to read? Cecily could not tell whether the words were an accusation, a suggestion, or just an observation that needed no response.
“I thought you might want me to go, and Mary too,” she tried to explain. “None of it is true, but people you know will read thatpamphlet, and when it makes it to the newspapers, we will be ruined. I cannot hand Mary over and?—”
“Enough of that, Cecily,” Nathaniel cut her off, holding up a hand and then stepping toward her. She bit her lip, afraid to trust in the flicker of feeling she thought she saw in his expression. “I would never have believed those lies for one second. No one who does is worth my notice.”
“Do you mean that?” she breathed, leaning against a chest of drawers and closing her eyes.
“You must not talk of leaving either,” he continued, standing so close that she could smell his cologne and feel the warmth of his skin. “I cannot allow that.”
“Why not?” she managed to ask, opening her eyes. Her heart sped up as she breathed him in.
“Because… Lilian doesn’t want you to go,” he said after a pause, to her pleasure and disappointment.
“Is that the only reason?” she pressed lightly.
Regardless of all other pressing concerns, Cecily was already beginning to ache inside with longing for this man. They had not even been apart for a full day, and it already felt too long.
Was that what happened when you fell in love with someone?
“I don’t want you to go either,” Nathaniel admitted, his expression both troubled and tender. “I want you to stay here, with Lilian… and with me.”
As he reached out and stroked her face, Cecily threw herself into his arms, gasping out her relief against his strong chest as he embraced her tightly and dropped kisses onto her hair.
“I was so frightened, Nathaniel,” she sobbed. “I never thought my uncle would go this far. I was frightened for Mary, and for what might become of both of us if you threw us out.”
“Never!” he declared with absolute conviction.
“I was frightened for you, too, Nathaniel, and how a scandal might damage your name.”
“Holt cannot touch me,” he assured her, pulling her back a little and looking deep into her eyes. “As for the rest, I have dealt with the publishers of the scandal sheet and with Ashworth today. Tomorrow, it will be your uncle’s turn.”
Cecily almost staggered, though his strong arms would have held her up nonetheless. “You have dealt with it? That was what you were doing in London?”
