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“I was wrong,” he said as he turned to her, his bruised face warm with affection. “About a great many things, it turns out.”
Georgiana patted his hand. “As was I. But now we will fix them. Together.”
Henry’s arm tightened as he pulled her even closer. “Yes, my lady.”
***
While under questioning at Scotland Yard, Tobias admitted that he had struck a deal with Mr. Rigby, the competitor who had refused to meet with Henry, to intimidate Georgiana. It turned out that Mr. Rigby was as bad a gambler as Tobias and owed a considerable amount of money. As more and more workers left his factory for Georgiana’s and production rates plummeted, he grew increasingly desperate to have her expansion shut down. Desperate enough to turn to murder.
After they had each made their statements, Henry escorted Georgiana home, where she insisted on dressing his injuries.
“As much as I hate to admit it, he made a good point, you know,” she said as she dabbed his cheek with a wet cloth.
They were tucked away in her study with a blazing fire and a tea cart laden with all kinds of treats. Cook had gone overboard once she learned that the injured Captain Harris was recuperating under their roof. Henry was laid out on Georgiana’s sofa with a blanket over his legs and Barnaby dozing at his feet. Despite his initial protests, he looked quite comfortable.
“Who?”
“Tobias,” she replied, still focusing on his cut. “I should have talked to you that night at the Wrenhews’ ball instead of running off. I made such a terrible mistake when I married the viscount. Not only because I hurt you, but I hurt myself as well. What my father asked of me was wrong. I see that now. But if I had simply stood up to him in the first place and told you the truth, then—”
Henry stilled her hand. “Georgie. Don’t. You can’t take the blame for everything that happened. And I can certainly understand why you didn’t speak to me that night. I was devastated when Tobias told me about your engagement, but it’s not an excuse for the things I said. I should have handled my disappointment better and not simply assumed the absolute worst of you.”
She set down the cloth and met his eyes. “There is something I still need to tell you. I was on my way to your office to do it this morning, but I confess, I am quite terrified to do it.”
He cupped her cheek. “You can tell me anything.”
“I was the one who spread those rumors about you years ago. That you were nothing but a fortune hunter. So itismy fault, you see,” she whispered as she bowed her head. “If I hadn’t done that, you could have married. You wouldn’t have had to spy, and then Turkey would never have happened.”
He was silent for a long moment before he took her face in both his hands. “You must listen to me, Georgiana,” he began, his voice low and urgent. “I know that you are used to taking care of everyone around you, but you absolutelycannottake responsibility for what happened to me. Darling, you don’t have that much power,” he added tenderly.
Georgiana’s nose began to sting. “But I ruined your chance to avoid Naval Intelligence. You said so yourself in Monte Carlo that they wouldn’t have taken you if you had married.”
“No,” he said firmly. “You are not responsible for my choices. You did what you thought was right based on the information you had at the time. And besides, you weren’t wrong,” he continued. “Iwasa fortune hunter, and I did propose to those two other women like an absolute scoundrel. Though I doubt I would have gone through with it anyway…”
She sniffled and looked up at him. “Why not?”
Henry began to slowly brush his thumb against her cheek. “Because it is one thing to marry for mutual convenience when both parties are unattached, but quite another when one has fallen irrevocably in love with someone else.”
Love.
It felt as if Georgiana’s heart was about to burst, yet she still managed to raise a teasing eyebrow. “Irrevocably?”
“It appears that way, seeing as I’ve now fallen in love with you on two distinct, highly inconvenient occasions,” he said with a smile before his gaze grew concerned. “Is that why you didn’t want to talk on the steamer?”
She looked away and nodded. “I was so certain you would hate me if you knew what I had done. And I just couldn’t bear it. But I was being a coward.”
“I had worried it was because of what I told you about Turkey,” he admitted. “That you wouldn’t want to be with me once you had learned the truth. Because I wasn’t the hero you thought I was.”
Georgiana’s mouth dropped. “Absolutely not. You’re certainly my hero,” she added.
“Seeing as how you savedmenot too long ago, I think it’s the other way around.”
She gave him a watery smile. “All right. But I’m so sorry you thought that for even a moment.”
“Well, I forgive you,” he said simply. “I lost you once before, and it was hell. I had to convince myself that the girl I fell in love with had never existed. Because that was the only way I could stop myself from loving you. But my heart has always been yours. I was a fool to think I could ever resist you.”
“My goodness. The things you say.” She let out a soft sigh and pressed her forehead to his. “I’ve loved only you, Henry. No one else has ever come close. Even when I thought you utterly despised me. It was quite vexing,” she added.
He let out a short laugh. “A dilemma I can relate to all too well, my dear.” She grinned at him, and he took in a stuttering breath. “But can you forgiveme?”
