Page 83 of Cocky August Rake

He stopped walking.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The path stretched around them, the ordinary sounds of the park carrying on as though Rose’s entire future had not just been pulled out from under her feet.

Then Reginald turned fully toward her. He took both of her hands in his. And squeezed them.

“Come with me, Rose.”

She stared at him.

“When The Gale sails,” he said, “I want you with me.”

The birds, the breeze, the distant carriages—all of it disappeared.

And for one, fantastical instant, she saw something else, something impossible. The deck beneath her feet. Sunlight scattered across a blue sea. Strange cities appearing, foreign lands. Reginald beside her.

And at night⁠—

His cabin. His bed.

His hands upon her without money or duty between them.

Only…

Then what?

The image broke apart.

“What about The Domus?”

His face hardened—not against her, she knew, but with the resolve she’d come to recognize all too easily.

“I am closing it.”

Her fingers went rigid in his, and she slowly began shaking her head side to side. “You can’t. We still have time. You said⁠—”

“It stays open until the end of the month,” he said. “I will keep my word on that.”

“But you have already decided.”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation.

“No one will be in want,” he continued. “Each of them will receive a generous sum. Enough to live upon while she or he decides what comes next. Anyone who needs help finding a position or another home will have it.”

“But The Domus is our home!” Her family!

“It isn’t, Rose. Not truly. I cannot keep such a place open.” His grip tightened. “I cannot, Rose.”

She pulled once, but he did not release her. And she saw it, a look of pleading in his eyes.

“You don’t have to be alone. I won’t leave you behind.”

Rose blinked, and suddenly, the fantasy of the past few weeks fell away.

She’d been right to remind herself of the illusion. Nothing about their relationship had ever been proper. While she’d believed she was convincing him to stay, all along, he’d been paving the way to…

To rescue her?