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“They’re not,” she said, “but they’ll be coming down to the city in a few days. My visit was, er, a bit of a surprise.”
Ainsley had only written to her friend once she was safely away from London. Edie had barely had time to notify the servants of Ainsley’s impending arrival at Breadie Manor.
“They know about Tira?” Royal asked.
She lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell them?”
As well as being a good friend to the Kendricks, Alec Gilbride was also Victoria’s cousin. Both were the illegitimate offspring of royalty. In Victoria’s case, her father was the Prince Regent himself. The cousins were close, so she’d rather expected Victoria to eventually confide in Alec. It was embarrassing, but Ainsley knew the Gilbrides could be trusted to keep her secret.
Royal shook his head. “Victoria and I felt it was not right to share that information without your permission. Not even with Alec and Edie.”
“That was very kind of you, but I’m sure Edie knows. That’s why I thought you might have told them.”
“Why do you think she knows?”
“Because Edie is always talking about you in her letters, extolling your virtues as a father.” She flashed him a rueful smile. “Believe me, I never had to write to Victoria to find out how things were going. Edie made a point of filling me in on the Kendrick family on a regular basis—and on you, in particular. You are now a veritable paragon in her eyes, unable to do wrong.”
Those letters from Edie and Victoria had been a lifeline, but they’d been painful, too. Each one had driven a nail into her heart as she read about the daughter lost to her, seemingly forever.
He scoffed. “I’m hardly a paragon, I assure you.”
Ainsley pressed a dramatic hand to her heart. “I am deeply shocked to hear that.”
When his gaze flickered down to her chest, warming with appreciation, she hastily grabbed her teacup and took a sip. Still, she couldn’t help feeling a teensy bit pleased that his attraction to her apparently hadn’t faded.
“I do try to be a good father, though,” he said after a moment. “Not that it’s difficult. Tira is so easy to love.”
“I . . . I hope you’ll let me see her. I promise I won’t make any trouble, and I’ll be very careful not to reveal anything.”
His smile faded. “All right, but you need to tell me why, Ainsley. I need to know why you’ve changed your mind about this. You were so adamant that you have no contact with her—or me, for that matter.”
She put down her teacup. “I’m in trouble, Royal. Tira and I both need your help, now more than ever.”
He instantly put down his cup and leaned forward, frowning. “You know I will do what I can to help you. What sort of trouble are you talking about?”
She took a deep breath and then leapt into the unknown. “I need you to marry me, and I need you to do it as soon as you can.”
Chapter Nine
If Royal had just taken a mouthful of tea, he probably would have spit it all over her pretty gown. He had the feeling his eyes were bugging out of his skull as he stared at her beautiful, tense features.
Ainsley’s image had haunted his sleep for months. But even those dreams—nightmares, in a way, since he always woke to bitter reality—had started to fade. He’d begun to accept that she would never be his and was finally making his peace with it.
Now here she was, upending his life yet again.
“Ainsley, did you really just ask me to marry you?”
Her pale cheeks threw up red flares. “Are you now troubled with hearing problems? That would be unfortunate, given your other afflictions.”
Royal pinched his nose. This was the Ainsley he knew, the living definition of chaos. She’d blown up his life more times than he could count. But she’d also given him back his life, and at the precise moment when he thought he had nothing to live for. She’d dragged him back from the brink in a fury of white-hot emotion he would never forget.
She’d also given him Tira, the best gift of all.
And now she wanted to marry him. After everything they’d been through, it was utterly, wonderfully absurd.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her brow suddenly wrinkling with concern. “Are you trying not to sneeze?” Then she sighed. “Oh, blast, are you growing sick on top of everything else? That’s just perfect.”
Royal couldn’t help it. He burst into laughter so hard it made his gut ache before he managed to bring himself under control. Then he caught her indignant expression and went off into another round of guffaws.
