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Chapter Twenty-Four
Edward loved her. He saw that with stunning clarity now as he bracketed her between his arms. She was wearing his long overcoat. He hadn’t thought twice before handing it to her as she had seemed so cold. Her fingers under his own had gradually grown warmer.
“What is it?” she asked in a worried voice, her brows furrowing. Edward placed a finger between them and smoothed it away. “Tell me,” she insisted.
He could he? He had no appropriate words that could possibly express his feelings toward her without pushing her away. Besides confessing meant a certain promise of a future, but it would be cruel to let her think it was possible and then take it away. His father had threatened to harm Ariadne and he couldn’t bear anything happening to her because of him.
But if he didn’t tell her, he would lose that and that possibility eclipsed everything else. He had come here to see her one last time, but instead, he had found his truth. “I love you, Ariadne.”
Ariadne gasped and her eyes widened. To his surprise and dejection, she took a step away from him. This wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. He was certain she felt the same way for him.
“It’s not true,” she said. “How is it even possible?”
Edward frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How can you love me? I…I’m stubborn and impatient and even temper isn’t my strong suit. I like to spend my days in the studio instead of doing whatever it is women are supposed to do.”
“You answered your own question. I love you for all of those reasons,” he said. There was a beat of silence and Edward saw the myriad of emotions passing through her face until—
She stepped closer and touched her hand to his cheek. He closed his eye at her touch instinctively. “I’ve never trusted another man, not even my father. He was a good man but he was unreliable, often forgetting that we were starving at home while he locked himself up in the studio to work on his inventions. I love working here, but only because my father has molded me this way.”
She looked around the studio. “Sometimes I wonder if my passion is only a burden of my father and I’m an imposter.” She was pouring out her truth to him and Edward could feel how much she trusted him and how much it took for her to confess this.
“Ariadne. Do not doubt yourself for a path other men have chosen for you. I’ve seen the way you work with your inventions. This is your passion, the one thing you love.”
“Not the only thing,” she breathed.
“Perhaps the greatest,” he said. His heart began to beat faster and faster. He had almost lost his love but he knew he had to fight for her. Guilt gnawed inside him. He hadn’t told her about Jane yet but he didn’t want to break the fragile bond of trust just when he had made her his. He would break his engagement and she would never find out.
“I thought that until I met you,” she said. His heart almost stopped at her confession and then began to beat anew, and this time it was filled with a single truth. It sang to him even before Ariadne spoke it aloud. “I love you too, Edward.”
Edward kissed her. He couldn’t help herself but there was no lust in the action, only sweetness. She loved him back. Edward felt like he had conquered the world and the rest of everything lay under his feet. When they broke apart, reality crashed into him but he didn’t feel as daunted as he had before. He had a lot to fix but at least now he had Ariadne with him. His father had been wrong all on counts.
“I missed you,” he said truthfully. The last two days of not seeing her had been utter torture for him. He had burned at night thinking of Ariadne, prone, and vulnerable with a possible blackmailer on her trail. Ariadne wasn’t a threat to his reputation and her parents’ identity didn’t define her as a person. Besides, she was helping him become a better politician by opening his eyes to the unfairness in the first place. He had also realized something else. He wasn’t leaving her, ever.
She took his hand in hers and kissed her. Concern flitted in her eyes. “How will you return home? It’s already dark outside. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I have a hack waiting for me at the end of the street,” he explained. “He will take me back. Listen, Ariadne, I didn’t want to leave so early but I have to head back home.” He didn’t want to arouse his father’s suspicion yet, not until his plan was set. As long as he believed that he wasn’t meeting Ariadne anymore, she should remain safe. Above everything, he was concerned for her safety.
She nodded. “I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Of course you will,” Edward said matter-of-factly. It cost him everything to stay away from Ariadne. “But before I go, I shall escort you back to your home. I don’t want you working alone here.”
“Fine,” she said. “Let me lock up.”
* * *
Edward let himself back into his room, the plan already brewing in his mind. By the time he met Charles at the club, he had already grown impatient. His cousin hurried to his seat at the tea table and Edward shot him an annoyed look. “Where were you?”
“I was meeting one of the advisors to the boroughs of Lincolnshire. Something you told me you would help me with,” Charles said, giving him a pointed look.
Edward swore under his breath. He had agreed to help his cousin win the ticket to the House of Commons for the next election but in the chaos of everything that had ever since he left his home that fateful night, he had simply forgotten about it.
“Your father was asking me how often I saw you,” Charles said. “Is something wrong?”
“He knows about Ariadne and me.”
Charles gave him a sharp look. “What did he say?” Edward explained everything to his cousin, giving him a short rundown of the conversation that had happened with his father.
