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He shook his head. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not? Why did you even come here, anyway?’
He reached into his pocket, fumbling inside, and then suddenly she blinked, a flash of gold and green momentarily blinding her.
‘Where did you get that?
It was the ring he had given her. The ring she had returned.
‘From James. He came to see me. He gave it to me. He also gave me a pretty hard time. Told me a few home truths.’ His face was drawn. ‘I deserved them.’ He drew a steadying breath. ‘He told me I was a fool for letting you go. That you stood up for me after I left.’
Her cheeks grew warm, and she looked away. ‘I did. Which makes me the fool, not you.’
‘Daisy...’
He spoke quietly, but something in his voice tugged at her heart and she turned reluctantly, her pulse leaping frantically in her throat.
‘He said you loved me.’
There was a moment of silence.
‘Was that true?’
His skin was stretched tight across his cheekbones.
A shiver passed through her, but she couldn’t lie to Rollo—no matter how much it hurt to tell the truth.
She nodded mutely.
‘And what about now? Is it still true now?’
His eyes bored into her, reaching inside so there was nowhere to hide.
She nodded again.
His chest heaved, and he breathed out shakily. ‘Then marry me.’
His voice was so quiet she could barely hear him. But his words punctured her skin like nails.
She stared at him numbly, her brain frozen. ‘You don’t want to marry me, Rollo. You never did. I was just a means to an end.’
‘At the start.’
His eyes were feverish and she could see that he was trembling, his whole body shaking like a marathon runner.
‘But then it changed. I changed. Only I didn’t know how to tell you.’
His face was tight with emotion.
‘Tell me what?’ she whispered.
‘That I love you,’ he said hoarsely.
And the last of her grief and pain was forgotten.
‘I don’t deserve you, Daisy. But I love you. And I want you to be my wife. For real, this time. That’s why I had to leave. I knew you hated lying to the Dunmores. But you would have kept doing it—for me. And I couldn’t bear that, so I had no choice. Or rather, I had a choice. And I chose you.’
Her heart tumbled over in her chest and a wild, dizzying happiness that was tinged with sadness swelled inside her.
