Page 109 of A Dangerous Scheme (Regency Spies & Secrets 4)

“I see.”

Guy looked at him curiously. “What is it that you see?”

“After watching you and Miss Locke this evening, it is evident that you two care greatly for one another.”

“It matters not,” he said. “A future between me and Miss Locke is an impossibility.”

“Why is that?”

“For starters, this,” Guy said as he tugged down on the end of his waistcoat, “is just an act. I am no gentleman.”

“And yet, you have managed to fool an entire town,” Hawthorne said. “Why do you think that is?”

“They are easily tricked.”

“You were raised to be a gentleman.”

“I was, but that life vanished the moment my father was killed.”

Hawthorne gave him a pointed look. “You are just going to let Miss Locke go without a fight?”

“Yes,” Guy said. “That is the honorable thing to do.”

“I never took you for a coward before.”

Guy lifted his brow. “In what way am I a coward?”

“You aren’t fighting for the woman you love.”

Guy ran a hand through his hair. “Pray tell, what should I tell Miss Locke?” he asked. “Should I start by telling her that the whole reason I was in Anmore was a lie?”

“I would not lead with that.”

“How do you think Miss Locke will react when I explain that I have no prospects and live on a meager wage?”

Hawthorne shifted in his seat. “I cannot answer that, but I do believe you should give her the opportunity to decide if there is a future between you two.”

“Rest assured, there is not,” Guy said firmly. “I am no fortune hunter.”

“I would agree, which is why I think you would suit Miss Locke admirably.”

Guy huffed. “You live in a gilded world, my lord,” he said. “I have always been on the outside of that life.”

“I just think—”

Guy interrupted him. “You don’t get to have an opinion about my life.”

“So that’s it?” Hawthorne asked. “You are just going to return to London, without Miss Locke?”

“I suppose I am.”

“You are a fool.”

Guy shrugged. “I have been called far worse.”

The coach stopped outside of the coaching inn and Guy stuck his hand out the window to open the door, not bothering to wait for the footman.

As he stepped out, he said over his shoulder, “I will come speak to you after my meeting at the coffeehouse.”

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