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“I was tracing Le Triton’s path. I landed at Falmouth but I was days late. He’d already been apprehended by Inspector Langley, with help from the Duke of Thorndon, his brother, and, much to my surprise, my niece.”
Mina swallowed. “About that.”
“I’m not angry, Mina, I’m just so very glad that you’re unharmed.”
He wasn’t angry that she’d defied his wishes? Mina led him into the parlor where he’d given her the Duke Dossier. He sat on the same lumpy sofa.
Grizzy’s misshapen furniture and stuffed hedgehogs no longer seemed like a penance to Mina. She’d grown closer to her great-aunt in the past weeks. She was surprised to realize that she loved her dearly.
Her heart had been surprising her lately.
“Shall I ring for some tea?” Mina asked.
“No. Let’s have a thimbleful of brandy. I hear from Thorndon that it’s your drink of choice.”
Mina blushed. What else had Thorndon told her uncle?
Sir Malcolm rose and walked to the sideboard. He poured them each a tumbler of brandy and returned.
The burn of the brandy in her throat reminded Mina of Drew. So many things reminded her of him. Everything, really. It was as though she’d been born anew the day she met him. Every memory started there.
Every hope.
Her uncle set down his glass. “I should never have kept you hidden away. I should have let you make mistakes and face dangers. Ravenwood told me that I was protecting you too closely because... because I lost Rebecca.” He finished on a whisper, his face averted from hers.
Mina had never heard him speak of the subject.
He laid a hand on her shoulder.
She froze. She didn’t know what to do or how to react. She’d always wanted tenderness from him—approval—but he’d always kept his distance.
“You did your best,” she said carefully. “You gave me a safe upbringing.”
“But not a happy one. But Mina, it’s never too late for happiness. I hope you will find it with Thorndon. I heard the entire story from Lord Rafe, and from Thorndon. How brave you were, how you could have... ended Le Triton, and you made the right choice. What I don’t understand is why you’re here talking to me and not with Thorndon?”
Mina sighed. “I’m lost, Uncle. I’m adrift. I found I don’t have the stomach for your work. I’ll never become... what I wanted to become. Without my heritage, without following in my parents’ footsteps, who am I?”
“This is what I was trying to protect you from all of these years. I was guarding you from my enemies and from this life. It’s a difficult life and it’s filled with danger and I wanted better for you, Mina.”
He’d called her by her nickname. He’d reached out to her. What was wrong with him?
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought you would be angry with me for involving myself in the capture of Le Triton.”
“I’m not. I’m proud of you, Mina. So very proud.”
A lump formed in her throat. She’d wanted to hear those words for so long, and now it was too late.
“I don’t have that one essential skill,” she said. “I can’t detach myself from my emotions.”
“And I never want you to learn that skill. I want you to live to a ripe old age. With Thorndon by your side.”
“I can’t just give up everything I’ve dreamed of and become his wife.”
“Who said anything about giving up your dreams? I know your strengths, Mina. I should have allowed you to use them openly. I shouldn’t have forced you to hide, to be so secretive.”
“You knew that I was watching you?”
“Of course I knew. Did you think you could spy on the spymaster?” That last sentence was whispered.
