Page 83 of The Scent of Intuition
“Bea,” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. She stiffened but didn’t turn around, her silence speaking volumes.
“Get out of my room!”
Alfie saw a bed, an open trunk with fabrics. The journal on her vanity table. This was a room in which she’d spent much time before. It was a home for her, her grandparents’ estate. And he was an intruder.
“I’m so sorry,” he continued, his words rushing out in a desperate attempt to bridge the cleft between them. “I’ve been a fool. I should have talked to you, should have told you—”
“Why now, Alfie?” Bea interrupted, her voice trembling with raw emotion. She finally turned to face him, her eyes red and glistening with tears. “Why are you here now, when it feels like everything is already falling apart?”
Alfie took another step forward, closing the distance between them. “Because I can’t stand seeing you in pain. Because I care about you more than anything, and I can’t see you like this.”
Bea shook her head, her expression a mix of anger and sorrow. “You don’t understand, Alfie. I’ve been trying so hard tohold everything together, and now… my parents are here. I failed at the one thing they asked me to succeed at, because of you!”
“Why me? I gave you the love serum. I stepped aside so you and Prince Stan can—”
Her eyes flashed at him, full of emotions he didn’t dare identify. “I don’t want you to step aside! Why would you even?”
Alfie jerked his head back. “Why? Because you’re a lady and I’m not the prince you deserve.”
“I’m an earl’s daughter and I have danced with so many gentlemen, Alfie. I’ve been to Almack’s and the finest balls in Town just like they wanted. Yet, I failed to accomplish what they wanted me to—marriage to a peer—and the worst is that I don’t even care about the failure as much as I care about not getting what I want.” She crossed her arms over herself and frowned in a way he might find adorable if she wasn’t so upset. “I’m a spoiled doll,” she declared.
He sobered himself. “You’re not a doll, Bea. And you’re not failing. You’re standing up for what you believe is just, and you’ve been helping the prince to help my friends. That’s strength of character. And you’re quite the diplomatic genius!” Alfie said firmly, his voice steady despite the turmoil inside him. “What do you want that you can’t have anyway? You can afford anything you want to make you happy.”
“Except for you,” she whispered.
Except foryou, his heart echoed.Bea. My Bea.
Silence hung between them, heavy and charged with unspoken feelings. Alfie took another step, and then another, until he was standing right in front of her. He reached out, hesitating for a moment before gently taking her hand in his.
“I’m here, Bea,” he whispered, his voice full of earnest sincerity. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere if you wish for me to stay. But you have to say it.”
Bea stared at him, her eyes searching his for some sign of the truth. Truth without truth serum he supposed.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she began to relax, the tension in her shoulders easing as she allowed herself to believe him. Alfie squeezed her hand gently, offering her a small, hopeful smile. In that quiet, sun-dappled room, surrounded by the echoes of the past, they stood together, ready to face whatever came next.
“Why didn’t you speak to me last night?”
“I did.”
“No, you avoided me in the carriage.” Bea looked down at her hand in his.
“I had some of the truth serum and didn’t want to spill too much… Everybody has secrets.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Am I one of them?”
He shook his head. “Not you. Only my feelings for you.”
“And you didn’t want to admit them? I feared you didn’t—” she sucked in air, “I wanted to hear you say it.”
“It wasn’t my place. Just like it wasn’t in India—”
“It is now.”
And Alfie’s resolve grew. Downstairs was the prince, her parents, and uncountable members of the Ton who’d welcome seeing Bea with the royal. She hoped nobody had seen her return to the building since they took a rarely-used side door. But here, she was with him.
Finally alone.
Chapter Thirty-Three
