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“It does not hurt.” Mary shrugged, but the red marks on her delicate wrists, where she had clearly been bound at one point, did nothing to soothe Rex’s ire. He turned his glare to the man lying on the floor, unconscious but groaning. Rex was the only one allowed to put marks like that on Mary and for an entirely different reason.
“Who cut the ropes?” Browne asked, holding up the severed lengths and frowning. He had been prowling the room for the past several minutes, taking in the scene.
“Evie.” Mary looked around, her brow wrinkling. “Is Elijah not with you?”
“Who is Evie?” Browne and Jones asked at the same time, both halting in their movements, focusing on Mary with similar sharp-eyed gazes.
“Stuart’s niece,” Rex supplied when all three ladies’ lips clamped tightly shut. Three feminine gazes of outrage swung to glare at him. Rex glared right back. He did not have the patience for their secrets right now, and telling Browne and Jones did nothing to endanger Evie.
“Stuart has a niece?” Jones asked blankly. Browne looked just as confused. The ladies relaxed, going back to focusing on Mary.
“One who would like to be more involved in his investigations, I gather.” Something which he doubted the spymaster approved of, but Miss Stuart was not Rex’s problem—Mary was. Speaking of which. Rex tightened his hold on his wife. “If you will excuse us, Mary and I are going home.”
“But… Wait! What is going to happen to Collins? To Lucas?” Mary tried to pull away, but Rex’s grip was unyielding, and his strength far outmatched hers. “I want to stay!”
“I am sure your friends will catch you up later,” he said, cutting off what looked like would have been an intervention by those same friends. Miss Pennyworth’s eyes narrowed at him, but she did not protest when he met her gaze evenly before turning back to his wife. “You and I have some things to discuss, like putting yourself in unnecessary danger. Having to wait to know what’s happening will be part of your punishment for making the rest ofuswait to know what had happened to you.”
That did it. Both of Mary’s friends rocked back on their heels, and Miss Davis even nodded her head in firm agreement. Neither ofthemwas happy about Mary’s actions and thought having to wait to have her curiosity satisfied equitable retribution for the distress they had suffered when she had hied off on her own. Betrayed, Mary scowled at her friends, but neither of them said a word as Rex escorted her out the door.
Mary
Feeling very much like pouting, but trying not to, Mary was led back into Hartford House. She knew Rex was right. She had behaved impulsively, and she regretted her impetuous decision. It had not been like her at all. The only excuse she could think of was she had become caught up in the moment.
“What the devil were you thinking?!” The moment their bedroom door shut behind him—truly it was his room, but since Mary slept in his bed every night, she had begun to think of it as their room—the lecture Rex had been holding back since finding her in Lucas’ residence began to flow. Mary had known he was biting his tongue the whole time. “Or were you not thinking? What possessed you to go with Collins based on a note? Especially a note from Lucas, who you already suspected of being a traitor?”
“But—”
“It does not matter that he was not a traitor!” Rex roared, hands on his hips, glaring ferociously. “You suspected he might be, and youstillwent! Why? What possessed you to be so daft?”
“I knew you would want to help him.” She stepped toward Rex, hands held out in front of her, pleading and placating. Unfortunately, the movement only fired up his temper even more when he looked down to where her sleeves had pulled up, and the rope marks on her wrists had become clearly visible.
“Of course, I would, which is why you should have come and gottenme.”
“I worried what might happen to him if I did not go immediately—”
“Whatever happened to him would not be worth endangering you!” Her lion was roaring again, pacing back and forth in front of her, hands behind his back, shooting her the occasional glare.
“He is your best friend—”
“And you are my wife!” Stopping in front of her, Rex shouted the words, flinging his hands out to either side of them, then reaching up to run them through his hair. Mary had never seen him so distressed. “I will not have the woman I love—”
“Thewhat?” This time it was Mary’s turn to interrupt him, her question coming almost as a shriek of total shock and surprise.
They stared at each other for a long moment, Mary’s jaw agape, Rex’s set firmly, then he finally straightened, eyes averted, tugging on his waistcoat and jacket. For the first time, he seemed a little unsure of himself but was gathering his usual confidence about him like a cloak—or a suit of armor. Rolling his shoulders back, he met her gaze, this time with some semblance of his customary self-assurance.
“The woman I love. There. Now you know. And even if you do not have the same force of feeling for me, I hope you will be respectful of mine for you.”
Emotions collided inside Mary as she struggled to accept what she was hearing. Hope. Fear. Elation. Rexlovedher? But…
“Why?” How? When? So many questions, but only one made their way to her lips. Losing some of his aplomb, Rex’s brow furrowed.
“Why? Because… because I do.” He waved his hands. “Because you are clever, intriguing, and beautiful, because you make me laugh, because I feel comfortable with you in a manner, I do no one else, and because… because I justdo. What do you mean, why?”
Tears sparked in the backs of her eyes, along with a hot blush across her cheeks. She had wanted him to love her, had asked for advice to win his heart, but deep down… well, deep down, she had not expected it to happen, not even with all the effort in the world. While her family loved her, even her parents, who were very bad at demonstrating it, were obligated to do so. Her friends loved her, but they had grown up together, pushed together by geography and circumstance.
Rex, though, had the option of any woman in the world. He had married her, but that did not mean love. Not among their peers and social circle. Loveless marriages were far more common.
“I love you, too.” Saying the words made her feel so very exposed, but it was worth it. Besides, he had said it first. It was only fair she confessed her own feelings as well.
