Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
The cottage settled into an unfamiliar quiet once the urgency of rescue had passed. It was not the silence of danger. Hector knew that kind well. It rang sharp, like steel waiting to be drawn.
This silence was softer.
The crackle of the hearth filled the single room while rain tapped lightly against the small windows. Someone had hung herbs from the rafters, and their earthy scent mingled with woodsmoke. It was humble. Far humbler than anywhere Evan had ever lived.
Yet Hector had never seen his brother look more at ease.
Evan knelt beside Colin with a basin of warm water balanced on a stool. His sleeves were rolled to his forearms, revealing skin scratched by weeks spent surviving alone. He dipped a clean cloth into the water before gently pressing it against the bruise along Colin’s temple.
“You’ll have quite the collection of scars,” Evan murmured.
Colin managed a crooked smile. “I should like to keep at least one. It will remind me not to ignore your advice again.”
“You ignored nearly all of it.”
“I was distracted.”
Evan huffed a quiet laugh. “I noticed.”
Watching them unsettled Hector in ways he had not expected. He had spent years imagining every possible future for his younger brother. None of them resembled this.
He had expected reckless adventures. Or debts. Scandals certainly. Another foolish wager that would require rescuing. Love had never crossed his mind. Not because Evan was incapable of it, but because Hector had never allowed himself to imagine Evan belonging to someone else.
That realization sat heavily upon his chest. He had always believed he was protecting his brother. Had he simply been holding him too tightly?
Across the room, Jane remained beside Colin’s chair, speaking little. Hector watched as she watched the two men with quiet attention, smiling whenever Colin attempted another joke despite the swelling around his face.
She had every reason to demand answers. Every reason to be angry. Instead, compassion shone plainly across her features. She was remarkable. The thought came without permission.
Hector frowned at himself and looked toward the fire.
Evan finished tying a fresh bandage around Colin’s brow before stepping back. “There.”
Colin reached up experimentally. “It seems you’ve become rather competent.”
“I had to learn.”
“You?” Colin teased.
“I was forever patching you up after your duels.”
“They were not duels.”
“They involved fists.”
Colin said, “They involved terrible decisions.”
“They involved you.” Evan smiled.
A smile tugged at Hector’s mouth before he caught it. Some things never changed.
Evan crossed to the kettle and poured fresh tea into chipped mugs. He handed one first to Jane. Another to Colin. Only afterward did he bring one to Hector.
“For you.”
Hector accepted it. “Thank you.”
Their fingers brushed briefly.
Neither mentioned how long it had been since such an ordinary exchange had passed between them. It felt like years.
Colin drank carefully before setting the cup aside. “We should return to London.”
The words landed like stones. Jane looked up immediately. “So soon?”
“We’ve done enough hiding.” His gaze drifted toward Evan. “Strachan’s men have been arrested.”
“We believe they have,” Hector corrected.
“That is enough.”
Hector said, “It is not.”
“It must be.” Colin leaned forward despite Evan’s immediate look of concern. “The authorities will wish to question me.”
“They can.”
“Mother...” His voice cracked. “She has believed me dead.”
Jane reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “I never believed that.”
Colin swallowed. “Perhaps not. But she has suffered enough.”
“So have you.”
“I am Earl of Wynten.” The title sounded less like pride than obligation. “It is my responsibility.”
Hector knew that tone. He had spoken with precisely the same conviction after their father’s funeral. Duty before grief. Duty before fear. Duty before every human need. He understood it too well.
Jane did also. He saw the recognition in her eyes before she even spoke.
“No.”
Colin looked at her. “No?”
“No.” She rose slowly from her chair. “I will not ask that of you.”
Confusion furrowed Colin’s brow. “What are you talking about?”
“I will not force you back.”
Silence spread through the little cottage. Even the fire seemed quieter.
Colin stared. “The earldom needs its earl.”
“It needs one.”
“It has one.”
Jane shook her head. “It has my brother.”
“And your brother is earl.”
“My brother is exhausted.”
He opened his mouth.
She continued before he could interrupt. “My brother has carried responsibilities that belonged to a grown man since Father died.”
“Someone had to,” Colin said. He sounded defeated.
“Yes, but you were only sixteen,” Jane said.
“I know,” Colin said. “I could not simply leave. I had obligations.”
Jane stepped closer. “So did Father. He also wanted his children to be happy.”
Emotion flickered across Colin’s bruised face.
Jane’s voice softened. “You have forgotten that.”
“I have not,” Colin protested.
“You have.” She smiled sadly. “You think duty requires misery.”
“It requires sacrifice,” Colin said.
“Sometimes.” She reached for his hand again. “But not always.”
Colin looked away. “If I stay here, the title passes. To Zachary.”
“Yes,” Jane said. Hector could hear the defeat in her voice, and yet she carried on.
“He hates us,” Colin said with a passionate tone.
Jane nodded. “I know.”
“He will take everything Father built.”
Jane’s expression did not change. “I know.”
“And yet you ask me to stay here,” Colin said.
“I do.”
He looked genuinely bewildered. “Why?”
Her answer came without hesitation. “Because I have seen the way you look at Evan. You love him.”
Colin’s breathing slowed. “Yes.”
Jane continued. “You have hidden that love for years. You have lied to everyone.”
“I had to.” A look of agony crossed Colin’s face.
“I know.” Jane smiled gently. “I do not blame you.”
Colin’s composure finally cracked. His shoulders sagged. “I was ashamed.”
Jane said, “No.”
“I was.”
“There is nothing shameful about loving someone.”
Hector could not believe how Jane spoke with such conviction. She was so much stronger than anyone gave her credit for.
Colin shook his head. “It is not that simple.”
“It should be.”
He laughed bitterly. “You sound as though society would agree.”
“I care very little what society agrees with.”
That earned the faintest smile from Evan.
Jane said, “I have watched both of you since we arrived.” She glanced between them. “I have seen enough.”
Hector remained where he stood near the fireplace. Something inside him shifted. He had expected Jane to demand Colin return. Instead, she was offering him freedom. She was willing to surrender security, simply because she loved her brother enough to let him choose happiness.
He had met countless ladies. Most had spoken eloquently about charity, virtue, and Christian duty. Jane simply lived it. The realization stole his breath.
He wondered whether she understood what she was offering. Or perhaps she understood perfectly. Either possibility humbled him.
Colin wiped hurriedly at his eyes. “If I remain, Mother loses her son.”
Jane smiled. “No.”
“She will,” Colin insisted.
“She will lose the earl.” She squeezed his hand. “But she will keep her son.”
Colin lowered his head. For several moments, no one spoke.
The fire cracked softly in the hearth, and outside, the wind stirred through the trees surrounding the little cottage.
The quiet did not feel awkward. It felt fragile, as though the smallest word might shatter something that had taken years to build.
When Colin finally looked up again, his eyes were bright. “You make it sound simple.”
Jane smiled. “I know it is not.”
“You know nothing of what you would be giving up.”
“I know exactly what I would be giving up.” Her voice remained steady. “If you return to London because you believe you owe us your life, then you will spend the rest of your days pretending.”
Colin’s jaw tightened. “I have become rather good at pretending.”
“I know.”
“I fooled everyone.”
“Not everyone.”
His brow furrowed.
“You never looked happy,” Jane said softly.
The words settled heavily over the room.
Jane continued quietly. “I thought Father died, and a part of you died with him.”
Colin looked away.
“I blamed grief.” Her eyes drifted toward Evan. “I know better now.”
Evan stood perfectly still. There was gratitude in his expression, but also guilt. Deep guilt. “I never wished to take him away from his family,” he said quietly.
Jane turned toward him. “You didn’t.”
“I did,” Evan said.
“You loved him.”
“I hid him.” The grief and regret in Evan’s voice broke Hector’s heart.
“You protected each other.”
Evan swallowed. “I asked him to keep secrets.”
“You both did.” She took another step until she stood before both men. “I cannot imagine how lonely that must have been.”
Neither answered. She reached out and took Colin’s hand before extending her other toward Evan. There was the briefest hesitation before Evan accepted it.
Jane looked from one man to the other. “I have spent weeks searching for my brother.” A small smile touched her lips. “It seems I have found him.”
Colin broke first. He wrapped his arms around his sister so suddenly that the chair scraped across the wooden floor.
“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked. “I’m so terribly sorry.”
Jane hugged him without hesitation. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I lied to you.”
“You were frightened.”
Colin shook his head. “I should have trusted you.”
“Perhaps.” She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “But you are trusting me now.”
His breathing became uneven. “I do not deserve a sister like you.”
She laughed softly through her tears. “You were born with one all the same.”
Hector looked away. The tenderness between them felt almost sacred. He thought of all the years he had spent believing strength meant carrying burdens alone. Jane had reached precisely the opposite conclusion.
Colin slowly stepped back. “What of Mother?”
Jane dabbed carefully beneath one eye. “I shall tell her.”
“It will break her heart.”