Chapter 27 #2
“Perhaps not, but I think you’d like to know that Youngdale has been arrested—again.
This time for the murder of his first wife.
” Cassie’s skin prickled as Hugh continued.
“I had some officers look further into her death, and the coroner confessed that Youngdale paid him an unfriendly visit, encouraging him rather forcefully to gloss over some other markings on the woman’s body that indicated previous abuse.
But it was one of Youngdale’s housemaids who clinched it.
She was threatened to keep silent about witnessing a dispute near the top of the stairs that resulted in her mistress being shoved to her death. ”
What Isabel had said was true then. He’d killed his first wife, and he would have had no qualms about doing the same to her after their child had been born. He’d wanted the child. Not her.
“That is awful,” Genie said softly.
“He will be going away for quite some time,” Hugh said confidently. Cassie nearly swayed with relief.
“Do you mean to say that my sister was in the presence of a vile murderer?” Michael asked, the skin above his cravat turning florid.
“I am perfectly fine, Michael,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “The important thing is that a woman is safe, and a murderer is going to prison.”
“Yes, a woman who compromised herself, and with a man of immoral character,” Tobias said, his cheeks becoming just as red as Michael’s. “Not just her but all those women. How could you align yourself with such people? Really, Cassie, a home for unwed mothers? It is shameful.”
Cassie reeled from the sharp scolding. Grant took a step toward her, as though he had seen it. But he stopped short of reaching for her. Instead, he turned to Tobias.
“There is nothing shameful about showing compassion. There are too many men who sow their wild oats and never look back to see what comes of them. Your sister is protecting and caring for women who have nowhere else to turn. You should be proud of her; you should support her.”
Cassie stared at him in wonder, but Tobias only grated out a laugh. “Support her as she ruins herself by associating with other ruined women?”
“Choose your next words carefully, Tobias.” The lowering timbre of Grant’s voice lifted the small hairs on her arms.
She went to Grant and laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right. He doesn’t know.”
Tobias was the only person in the room who didn’t. At the time, he’d been away at university, and it had been easy to leave him in the dark. The fewer people who knew, the better. But now, she knew she would have to tell him.
“That doesn’t make it all right,” Grant argued. He took her hand from his shoulder and held it between his palms. “I won’t hear a single word spoken against you; I don’t care who it comes from.”
“Grant,” she whispered, keenly aware of all the eyes on them. “Why are you here? The charade is over. I’ve asked you to stay away.”
Looking at him, just hearing his voice, hurt as much as it soothed.
He lifted her hand, still clasped between his, to his lips and held her in a stare so tender and vulnerable, it made her heart ache. “The charade is over, yes. It was over long before I even realized it.”
She shook her head. “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know when it happened. It might have been when you helped me with Amir at the clinic, or maybe when you confided in me about the baby.
But it could have been even earlier when I saw you for that first time at Hope House.
If that is the case, and I’m beginning to think it is, then the charade ended before it ever began. ”
She stared at him through hot welling tears as he pressed two more kisses to her fingertips.
“What is the blackguard saying?” Michael hissed to someone, but Cassie ignored him. She found it simple to do while locked in Grant’s unyielding gaze.
“The blackguard is saying that he’s been a bloody fool.
” Grant lowered her hand but didn’t relinquish it.
He only held on tighter. “When I bullied you into that courtship, I had every intention of getting what I wanted. But because of you, what I wanted changed. By the time I’d come to my senses, I’d done everything wrong. ”
She sipped shallow breaths, the rest of the room and everyone within it disappearing. Only Grant mattered. Though she could barely see him through the haze of tears.
“All of London is right. I am a blackguard. I’m a scoundrel of the worst ilk. I’ve treated you wretchedly, and I will beg your forgiveness every day for the rest of my life if I must because whether you want me to be or not, I am in love with you.”
A sob lodged in her throat, and with a blink, the welling tears spilled over. “You can’t be. I’m ruined, Grant. I’m broken.”
“We’ve both been broken,” he said. “But we don’t have to stay that way.”
Her heart threatened to burst as she clung to Grant’s hands. They were the only things keeping her upright as he sank to one knee. “I want you as my wife, Cassie. And there is nothing false or pretend about that.”
She trembled, her mind reeling, her heart thrashing. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.
“I want to believe you.” Her voice shook. “I want to trust you. I’ve never wanted anything more.”
He frowned. “But?”
“But you said you’d never marry again, and I can’t ask you to. I can’t ask you to stop loving her.”
“I never will.” It was resolute. Unemotional. Just bare fact. Surprisingly, the twist of envy she’d felt the few times he’d spoken of his lost wife did not come. Grant was not fickle. He was steady and tenacious, and she admired him for it.
“My love for Sarah is entirely different from my love for you.” He got up from one knee and pulled her closer, holding her hands to his chest. “She was the woman I needed then. You are the woman I need now. Cassie, you’re the woman I want.
Say you want me too. Tell me you love me, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying like hell to make you smile, even if I have to make a bloody fool of myself to do it. ”
Cassie laughed through her tears. “Yes, you idiot. Yes, I love you.” She sucked in a breath. “I love you, and I’ll marry you. Genuinely, this time.”
A boyish grin cut those dimples into his cheeks, and she could no longer resist him.
She grabbed Grant by the collar and dragged his lips to hers.
He held her to him, squeezing her so tightly she could scarcely draw breath.
She didn’t care in the least. She didn’t need something as trivial as air when his lips were on hers.
“Thornton!” Michael’s bellow severed their locked mouths, but Grant didn’t let her go.
He kept a supportive arm around her as they faced the room and everyone watching.
Belatedly, her cheeks fumed at their display, but from Hugh’s wide grin, the tears sparkling in the corners of Audrey’s eyes, Genie’s steepled hands pressed against her radiant smile, and even Tobias’s slightly bashful smirk, Cassie realized they had nothing to be embarrassed about.
“Come to my study,” Michael said after his own flustered moment. “It looks as though we have important matters to discuss after all.”
Cassie linked her arm around Grant’s, unwilling to let him go. She wasn’t certain she’d ever want to be anywhere again without a part of him touching her. “I will come too,” she said. “If the pair of you will be discussing my marriage, I will be there as well.”
Michael only shook his head. “Of course you will. Come along then.”