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“See him on the first sail to the colonies.”
Thornwood nodded.
Catherine’s gaze remained hopeful. Fredericks’s stayed stoic. Nicholas settled on Nan. She looked at him with such love and warmth, the expectations of a mother satisfied glowing deep in her dark eyes. He glanced again at Catherine, her faith in him clear.
Thornwood and Isaac were about to exit the library. Isaac’s shoulders had caved, the man’s peacock pride a memory.
A sudden thought occurred to Nicholas. “The letters, Isaac. I’ll have the letters before you leave.”
The cherub turned, defeated. “The letters?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“My lord.” Fredericks drew his attention. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a packet. His gnarled hands shook as he held them out. “These are the damning ones. The others have been returned to your desk.”
Dear Lord, had Fredericks been a part of the scheme after all?
“I took them, my lord, that night your man was injured. I could not find Isaac but suspected he was behind the attempt at extortion. I feared he would press you further, so I wanted to remove any leverage he might use.” The old man’s eyes shimmered in the candlelight, sorrow deepening his hollowed cheeks. “I should have told you. I sincerely apologize for the hurt my family has caused yours. I will leave with Isaac.”
“No!” Both Catherine and Nan looked aghast at Nicholas.
Nicholas took the letters from Fredericks’s shaking hand. He walked to the fireplace and tossed them in, and the flames licked the edges before the paper flared. He folded his arms on the mantel, resting his forehead against them. Daniel’s words of love gone. Daniel gone…forever. The only sound in the room was the crackling fire and Catherine’s labored breathing. He knew they awaited his judgment.
Suddenly exhausted, he turned to Fredericks, the man who had been a part of his life since first memory. The old servant had loved them all. Nicholas, Daniel, Laurence, Catherine. And his grandson. Could Nicholas fault him for that? Nicholas hoped that, when the time came, he would stand by his own sons and their sons as Fredericks had done.
“Your place is here, Fredericks. It is your home.” He turned to his friend, waiting patiently in the threshold. “Thornwood. See Isaac with enough coin for a new life.”
Thornwood smiled in approval.
“Aye, my friend.” Thornwood held open the door. Isaac exited without looking back, hopefully leaving Nicholas’s life forever.
Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. How was he ever to explain all this to his father? He would deal with it in the morning. He shook his head, pulling his fingers free, and turned to Catherine.
She stared at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears, then flung herself into his arms, her breath rampant with pain. He pushed her back, holding her at arm’s length, aware of the agony she was feeling, both physically and emotionally. She looked at him with such love. He flushed at her uncensored adulation.
“It was all that could be done,” he said lamely.
Her eyes glistened. “You could have repudiated all. But you did not. Do not think I don’t understand how difficult this is for you.”
She stood on tippy-toe and kissed his nose. “I love you, Nicholas. Lord Walford. Husband of mine.”
His heart sang for the first time in many years as he picked up his wife, leaving the others to sort through their own emotions, and ascended the grand staircase. Daniel had not taken Nicholas’s life. He had loved as purely and truly as Nicholas did. Nicholas didn’t understand it, but Catherine did. She understood love in all its forms. And that was enough for him.
He kissed her forehead as he swept her up the stairs. His Catherine understood it all. Laurence. Daniel. Him.
How lucky was he?
