Page 79 of The Phoenix Bride
He looks tired and anxious, sleeves rolled to his elbows, dark hair loose around his ears. His beard is less neatly trimmed thanusual, but it is still short enough I can see the arrowhead-angle of his jaw—was his neck always so broad? Were his arms always so tightly corded, his hands so large? Perhaps his brief absence since that night at the Myddletons’ has changed him somehow; or perhaps it is me who has changed, that sees more of him and wants more of him with each moment in his presence. It is impossible to tell.
David says something to Jan in Dutch, then he notices me. His face goes slack with astonishment.
“Cecilia,” he says.
I hadn’t realized, until this moment, how terrified I have been for him; how much I had believed that we would never meet again. I lurch forward and fling myself at him.
David catches me, stumbling with my weight, steadying himself with one hand on the doorframe. I tighten my arms around him, burying my face into the crook of his neck. “I thought I’d never see you again,” I say. “And the fire—the fire—I thought the fire…”
“Cecilia,” David says again, and he returns the embrace. “How…”
I press a kiss to his jaw, and then another against his cheek. He makes a wounded noise, but he doesn’t release me.
Behind us, Jan coughs. “Forgive me for interrupting,” he says. “But, David, surely you want to bring more than this?”
“I doubt we can carry more,” he replies.
“There is plenty of room on the barge,” Sam says.
David stiffens and drops his arms. Reluctantly, I step away from him.
“Sir Grey,” David says. “Forgive me, I did not notice you.”
“Oh, that’s quite all right. I am glad you are well, Mendes. Cecilia was so worried!”
David blinks at him, flummoxed. “You—I—yes. The barge?”
“Yes, that’s how we got here. It is waiting in the river. I am certain we can take you, and Master van Essen, and…pardon, mistress, what was your name?”
“Elizabeth Askwith,” the maid says gruffly.
“And Mistress Askwith. It might be a little crowded, but I’m certain we shall manage.”
“But…Where will you take us?”
“Well, home, I suppose,” Sam says. “Where else? There is more than enough room. Unless you think the fire will reach Saint James’s?”
David sags with the weight of his relief, leaning heavily against the doorframe. “It shouldn’t, considering it spreads in this direction. Sir Grey, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh, it is nothing, really. It was Cecilia’s idea to come. And I enjoy entertaining.”
Jan laughs. “Sir Grey, you are a treasure. I shall go collect more things to take with us.”
Sam glances between David and me. “Good idea. I will help you.”
David maneuvers us out of the doorway. Sam goes inside, and Jan follows, the maid trailing behind them both with a long-suffering expression.
Once we are alone, I look at David imploringly. “Forgive me,” I say. “I came here without asking. I know I may be unwanted.”
“You aren’t unwanted, Cecilia.”
“Even after what happened at the Myddletons’?”
“I wanted you then, too,” he says. “That was the issue. But—the wedding—
“We aren’t married. We came here instead.”
“But…Why?”
