Page 60 of Rakes & Reticules
Allowed a madwoman to point a gun at her?
She snorted.
“Do I?” She refused to meet the eyes of the men, including his cousin, after giving her a compassionate look as they quietly exited, leaving her and Fletcher alone. “I don’t know you at all, Fletcher Westbrook.”
Then, before she burst into tears, she fled the office.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Quarter of midnight
That same night
Hair still damp after bathing and tending his battered face, Fletcher approached Siobhan’s chamber. Eager to speak with her, he only wore trousers, an untucked shirt, and the house shoes he’d slipped on at the last minute.
A golden glow beneath her door revealed she hadn’t yet gone to bed.
A self-deprecating smile bent his mouth upward.
His nightly rounds through his club might’ve also included passing hers and the children’s chambers. To reassure himself all was well with them. Thus, he’d learned her habits.
She didn’t sleep with a lamp lit. Probably a luxury her family couldn’t afford.
His efficient staff reported that Siobhan had seen her siblings settled into bed after a cup of hot chocolate. She’d bathed but refused the tray he’d asked Mrs. Dough to prepare for her.
Siobhan’s anger wasn’t unexpected.
After all, her spirit was much of what Fletcher admired about her.
In truth, he’d anticipated her fury but had gambled that she would eventually forgive him.
He might’ve lost that wager, and it gutted him that he’d hurt her.
The devastation she’d tried to hide in his study earlier tonight lashed him like a saber.
Fletcher also hadn’t counted on her whispering that she hadn’t told him how she felt about him or Lady Huxley proclaiming Siobhan loved him. Already prepared to give his life to protect her, everything had shifted after that.
He’d become determined to live, to confess his love for her too.
In the ensuing days since discovering she was a woman, though he’d fought it with every bit of integrity and common sense, he’d done the untenable and fallen in love with his Irish lass. Sensing she wasn’t ready for his declaration and hadn’t come to trust Fletcher yet, he’d determined to bide his time.
However, tonight changed everything.
Looking down the barrel of a gun swiftly convinced him that life was too short to dawdle when it came to matters of the heart. He must tell her his feelings and convince her he’d kept the truth from her to protect her.
The latter would be far more difficult to do.
Tonight was no longer about apprehending the viscountess and her mealy-mouthed wimp of a husband who had been all too willing to toss his maniacal wife under the proverbial carriage if it meant a less severe penalty for him. No, this night had become about forging a future with the most remarkable, delightful, and magnificent woman Fletcher had ever met.
Having stopped praying when he left the medical profession, he paused outside her door and bowed his head.
I don’t deserve it, but I need your help, Lord. Please give me the words to say.
If his brothers could see him now, they’d howl in mirth.
Holding his breath, he rapped once.
“Siobhan? I need to speak with you.”
