Chapter 25 #2
Cecily exhaled slowly as Tobias reached for her hand and led her towards the small settee near the window. They sat close together, the lamplight softly shining around them.
“I do not understand how you managed all this,” she said quietly. “You have been at the mine until so late every day this week.”
“I have,” Tobias said. “But I found time with the children several days ago. I spoke with them then. I knew what I wanted, even if I had not yet found the right moment.”
Cecily’s breath caught, her eyes softening.
“They were eager to help,” he continued. “Julian wanted to play something to show you how far they had come, and Amabel insisted it must be the first piece you taught them.”
“It was perfect,” Cecily said. “But the ring? You could not have arranged that this week.”
“No,” Tobias replied. “I already had it. It was my mother’s. Weatherby kept it for me after she died. I did not know when I would use it, but only that I would know when the moment was right.”
She looked down at the ring on her finger, still hardly believing it.
Just a week ago, he said I would return only as the piano teacher, nothing more. Nothing else. How can this have happened so quickly?
Tobias watched her carefully. “I know what you are thinking.”
She lifted her eyes to his.
“Last week,” he said, “I believed I was doing what was best. I thought I was protecting you, and I thought we could take as much time as we wished. But this week at the mine … everything I saw, everything I learned … it changed everything.”
He smiled softly.
“I realized I did not want to wait any longer. I knew I wanted to marry you.”
She immediately felt the truth of his words. The week had changed him. She had seen it in his eyes, in the way he carried himself, and in the way he sought her out without hesitation. Hearing him speak it aloud left her breathless.
Cecily’s heart fluttered. “I am really happy,” she said softly, her words trembling.
But then her brow knit, the thought catching up to her. “Wait,” she said, lifting her eyes to his. “Did you say after you learned what had been done at the mine?”
Tobias held her gaze, steady and unflinching.
“After learning what had been done?” she asked again, her voice quieter now, understanding his meaning as it settled over her. “Then you believe it was sabotage.”
“Yes,” he said quietly.
She stared at him. “Do you know who sabotaged it?”
“I do.”
Her breath caught. “Who?”
“Viola.”
Cecily’s eyes widened, shock rippling through her. “Lady Viola?”
Tobias nodded. “And not by Viola alone. I believe her entire family is moving against me. There is too much at stake for them. There is too much they stand to gain if I fall.”
He paused for a moment, tracing his thumb over the back of Cecily’s hand.
“When I saw the damage at the mine, I realized how close I came to losing everything again. And the only thought I had was of you. Not the estate. Not the title. You. And when I understood all of that, I understood something else as well.”
She waited.
“I knew I would never not love you,” he said. “And I knew I wanted to begin a life with you as soon as you would allow it.”
Her heart soared.
He took both of her hands in his. “I mean it that I want to open this house. I want to bring light into every corner that has been shut for years. But I cannot do it alone. And when I thought of who I wanted beside me, who I trusted, and who made this place feel like a home again, it was you. It has always been you. And I will need your help.”
She nodded. “We can do it together.”
A quiet relief seemed to pass through him as his features softened.
“What is your plan?” Cecily asked, feeling a flutter of nervousness. She knew it would be difficult to bring everything to light, but she also knew it would be the best for them all.
“I have been thinking about this for days,” he said. “Turning it over in my mind, weighing what I know and what I have seen. And I have decided.”
Cecily felt her heart tighten, waiting.
“I intend to expose them at the party and recital,” Tobias said.
A faint chill moved through her as she listened.
She had known the situation was serious, but hearing his plan spoken plainly made the danger feel closer.
Still, she felt no urge to pull away. Instead, she felt a quiet resolve form within her.
If he meant to confront the Stanhopes, she would not let him face it alone.
She lifted her chin slightly, ready to hear the rest.
“I believe the Stanhopes intend to use the party to undermine me. Viola pushed me to host it, and I believe she thinks it will give her all the leverage she needs to manipulate a proposal out of me.”
He shook his head slightly, the resolve in his voice deepening. “But she is wrong. I will not allow them to use my own home and my own family to strike at me. If they mean to make their move there, then that is where I will answer them.”
Cecily let out a slow breath. “Then the party is not really a celebration. It is actually a trap.”
“Yes,” Tobias said, nodding. “And they expect me to walk into it unaware.”
“How will you expose it?” Cecily asked, her voice low but steady. “How can you show anyone what they have done?”
“I cannot yet,” Tobias said. “Not fully. I need to find proof before then. I need proof of the lies, the sabotage, and the pressure they have placed on this estate. I need proof of all of it.”
Cecily met his eyes, searching them. “And once you have it?”
“Once I have it,” Tobias said, “I will end their hold over this house, and over every person they have tried to use.”
He paused, the firmness in his voice softening into something more vulnerable.
“But I cannot do it alone.”
Cecily nodded. “Then we will begin our plans tonight.”
They sat together as the rest of the house settled into silence, the night drawing in around them. They formed their plans in low voices, both certain that they were not only planning for the recital, but also laying the foundation for the rest of their lives.