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Rafe smiled. “The Honorable Rafe Davies would object to that description, but yes.”
Sylvia briefly pressed her lips into a firm line. “Doesn’t that get tiring?”
He sighed with relief. She understood. “I didn’t realize just how sick of it I was until I…until I met you.”
Surprise flashed in her eyes. Then she frowned. “But you were still acting a part when we met. Playing this role you created.”
Rafe’s smile fell, and he fiddled with the handle of his teacup for a moment, unable to bear the disappointment in her gaze. “I told you before. Everything between us was real.”
Sylvia shook her head slightly. “But how can I know that? And how can I know what’s real now?”
He could hear the fear behind her words. “Well, I suppose you can’t. Not entirely anyway.” Rafe leaned forward, wishing so desperately to push the damned tea tray out of the way and hold her, but he needed to go slowly. At her speed. “You’ll just have to take a leap of faith. The same as me.”
She turned away again. “And then what? You said yourself that an association with me could threaten yourcareer.”
The betrayal in her voice tore at his heart. “I was embarrassed and hurt to learn you had kept so much from me, and I handled it badly. For that I will always be sorry.” She glanced back at him, and seeing the moisture in her eyes was agony. “Please. Let me show you who I can be.”
“I don’t understand. This doesn’t change my past,” she said thickly. “And you were right. Iama threat to your career—”
To hell with decorum. Rafe knelt at her feet. He grasped her trembling hands in his. “Sylvia, I resigned last week. I should have listened to you back in Scotland. I tried to ensure justice was served, but I was overruled. They didn’t care about investigating the extent of the blackmail or any resultant corruption. They only wanted to protect themselves. And I was helping them do it.”
“So, you left?”
Rafe nodded, praying he hadn’t imagined the hope in her voice. “I should have done it years ago, but I didn’t think I was enough on my own.”
Sylvia’s brow furrowed. “How could you have ever thought that?”
Rafe reached out and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “It was hard not to at times. People have been looking down on me my entire life, so I decided to use it. I found I enjoyed having another side of myself. Of subverting peoples’ expectations right in front of their eyes. And, frankly, I was damned good at it. I fooled most of them. Except you.”
Sylvia’s eyelids fluttered closed, and she leaned into his touch. “Oh, Rafe.”
“But I can’t go back to being that man now, even if I wanted to. Any chance of that was gone when we met. Because knowing you has changed me. If nothing else, I wanted you to know that. I wanted you to know how powerful you are.”
Sylvia stared at him in stunned silence. He took an unsteady breath, as his heart practically beat out of his chest. “I think—I think I’ve been falling in love with you since that first afternoon at the castle, when you looked at me with barely veiled contempt.”
Her eyes widened. “No, I didn’t!”
“It’s all right.” He chuckled. “I deserved it.”
Sylvia turned her head and pressed a kiss to his palm. Then she met his gaze. “You were the handsomest man I had ever seen. And I thought for certain I knew exactly who you were and what you were after. But I was so wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as surprising as you.”
Rafe felt his cheeks heat at her kind words. “You saw me for who I really was,” he explained. “You were the only person who ever wanted to. And I shouldn’t have dismissed you so readily in Scotland. Especially after what you went through with Brodie.”
Sylvia shook her head. “You knew I had Georgiana. I wasn’t alone. And I said some ugly things too. You were in a difficult position because of your brother and your history with your family, but I didn’t try to understand you, either.”
It felt as though Rafe’s heart was breaking from happiness. “You are much too generous, my little bird.”
Sylvia inhaled softly as he continued to stroke her cheek. “Says the man who bought me a house.”
Rafe’s hand stilled. “Who told you that?”
The corner of her mouth tugged up. “You aren’t the only one who can do a bit of spying. When I came back to the village, I paid a visit to our family lawyer, and he told me what you did. Well, actually, he said a ‘fine gentleman from London’ bought out the lease and negotiated an outrageously low price for Hawthorne Cottage. It could only be you.”
Rafe’s hand fell away, and he sat back. “I tried to get Lionel to give it to you outright. I nearly thrashed him at our club. But he refused. Not without the promise of money. You weren’t supposed to know,” he added.
“Why ever not? Rafe, what you did for me—”
“Was only what your brother should have done,” he insisted, then looked down. “I know how important this house is to you, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to me in any way. Truly.”
