Chapter 23 #2
“The truth is that I love you, Isadora. I’ve loved you from the moment you defied me in that corridor. From the moment you touched my scar without flinching. From the moment I watched you with Lillian and understood what family could actually mean.”
She opened her mouth. He pressed on before she could speak.
“You are not convenience. Not some practical arrangement I agreed to out of duty. You are my wife. My heart. The only way I can protect you and Lily is by standing beside you in truth, not by pushing you away.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks now. But she didn’t speak. Didn’t move.
Edmund felt his own control fracturing.
“I called you nothing more than convenience. Said it to hurt you. To push you away because I was terrified that caring for you meant betraying James’s memory. Because I was convinced that if I let myself love you, I’d inevitably destroy you the way I destroyed him.”
His voice cracked.
“But the only thing I’ve destroyed is what we might have had. The only person I’ve hurt is you. And Lillian. And myself. Because pushing you away didn’t protect anyone. It just proved I was too much a coward to risk feeling anything real.”
Isadora wrapped her arms around herself. “And if you fail me again?”
The question struck deep. Fair. Devastating.
“I won’t,” Edmund said simply. Let steel enter his voice.
The sort of oath he’d sworn to James in a field at dawn, sworn to Lillian the night he’d become her guardian.
“I would rather die than let fear drive you from me again. Would rather face society’s judgment, would rather tell the truth about the duel and damn the consequences, would rather burn every wall I’ve built—”
He stopped, drew breath.
“I love you, Isadora. And I will spend every remaining day of my life proving it if you’ll give me the chance.”
She stood there. Silent. Dawn light strengthened and the innkeeper watched from a discreet distance and Edmund’s heart hammered so hard he could hear it in his ears.
Then—finally—she spoke.
“You broke my heart.” Barely above a whisper. “Called me nothing. Made me believe for one perfect moment that perhaps we might have something real, then shattered that belief with three words.”
“I know.” Edmund moved closer still. “And I will regret those words until my dying breath. Will carry the knowledge of what I did to you as another scar. But Isadora—”
He reached for her.
Slowly. Giving her time to retreat. To refuse. To tell him he’d lost his chance through cruelty and cowardice.
She didn’t resist.
His hands framed her face. Thumbs brushing away tears that continued to fall despite her obvious attempt at control.
“I love you,” he said again. “Not because you’re convenient.
Not because you help with Lillian or manage the household or present well to society.
I love you because you’re brave when I’m cowardly.
Because you touch my scar without flinching.
Because you see past the Dangerous Duke to the terrified man underneath. ”
He leaned closer, close enough to feel her breath against his mouth.
“I love you because you make me want to be better than my fears. Because you’ve shown me what family actually means. Because when I’m with you, I feel like I might deserve happiness after all.”
“Edmund.” His name emerged brokenly from her lips. “I can’t—if you hurt me again—”
“I won’t.” The oath settled in his chest like truth finally claimed. “I swear on James’s memory. On Lillian’s future. On every remaining day of my wretched existence—I will not push you away again. I will not let fear win. I will not hide behind walls when you deserve courage.”
He pressed his forehead to hers.
“Come home, Isadora. Please. Allow me to earn your forgiveness. Let me show you that I can be the husband you deserve.”
She stood there. Trembling. Tears still falling.
Then her hands came up. Gripped his coat with enough force to crumple fabric. Held him as though afraid he might disappear if she let go.
“If you fail me,” she whispered against his throat, “if you push me away again, I will leave. And I won’t come back. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Promise me.” Her voice hardened. “Promise me you’ll fight for this. For us. Even when it’s difficult. Even when fear tells you to retreat.”
“I promise.” Edmund pulled back enough to meet her eyes. “I will fight for you every single day. Will tell society the truth about James. Will defend Lillian publicly. Will tear down every wall I’ve built if that’s what it takes to prove I mean this.”
He cupped her face in his hands. Let her see everything—the love, the fear, the desperate hope that perhaps forgiveness was possible.
“I love you, Isadora Ravensleigh. And I will spend the rest of my life making certain you never doubt it again.”
She searched his face. Looking for lies. For the fear that might make him retreat.
Edmund held steady. Let her see truth finally claimed.
Then—finally, mercifully—she nodded.
“Take me home,” she whispered.
The words struck like absolution. Like forgiveness and hope and every impossible thing Edmund had convinced himself he didn’t deserve.
He kissed her.
Not gently. Not carefully. With the desperate intensity of a man who’d nearly lost everything and understood—finally, completely—how close he’d come to destroying the only thing that mattered.
She kissed him back. Hands tangling in his hair, body pressed against his, pouring weeks of pain and love and stubborn hope into the contact.
When they finally broke apart—both gasping for air, foreheads pressed together—Edmund felt something fundamental shift in his chest.
The walls were gone. Burned away by love finally acknowledged. By courage chosen over fear.
By a woman brave enough to forgive him despite every reason not to.
“I love you,” he said again. Would say it every day for the rest of his life until she believed it completely. “I love you and I’m sorry and I will never push you away again.”
“You’d better not.” But she smiled through tears. Actually smiled. “Because I’m not going through this twice. Next time you get frightened and start building walls, I’ll simply tear them down myself.”
Edmund laughed. The sound rusty but genuine. First real laughter since she’d fled.
“I don’t doubt it for a moment.”
He turned to the innkeeper. Called instructions about Isadora’s trunk. Arranged for her carriage to be sent back to London. Made plans with the efficiency of a man who’d wasted too much time already.
Then he lifted Isadora onto his horse. Climbed up behind her. Wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
“Let’s go home,” he murmured against her hair.
She leaned back against him. Settled into his embrace as though she belonged there.
As though they belonged to each other.
“Home,” she agreed softly.
Edmund turned his horse toward Yorkshire. Toward Rothwell Abbey where Lillian waited. Toward the life they would build together now that fear had finally lost its hold.
The sun rose over frosted fields. Golden light warming the world. Burning away darkness and cold.
A new day. A new beginning.
And Edmund Ravensleigh—the Dangerous Duke who’d spent ten years hiding from life—finally understood what it meant to be truly alive.
It meant loving someone more than you feared losing them.
It meant choosing courage over safety.
It meant believing you deserved happiness even when guilt whispered otherwise.
It meant holding tight to the woman in your arms and refusing to let go.
He tightened his grip on Isadora. Felt her hand cover his where it rested against her waist.
“I love you,” he said again. He knew he would never tire of saying it.
“I know.” She turned her head, meeting his eyes with smile that held forgiveness and love and stubborn hope. “I love you too. Even when you’re being an impossible fool.”
“Especially then, I hope.”
“Especially then.”
They rode toward home. Toward Lillian and Mrs. Crawford and the household that had mourned Isadora’s absence. Toward society and scandal and the truth Edmund would finally tell about James’s death.
Toward the future. Together.
And for the first time in ten years, Edmund allowed himself to hope.
Not just hope—to believe that love was worth the risk.
The Dangerous Duke was done hiding. It was finally time to live.