Page 74 of The Fearless Miss Dinah

Henry could only shake his head.

“He said mother left because she never came to care for him. Theirs was an arranged marriage and Mother, for whatever reason, believed they would never love one another. He said she’d come from a...cold home. When her parents forced her to marry Father, she assumed he would be just like them. Unfeeling, demanding, strict. She never even gave him a chance. He said she started looking for an escape before they had even said their vows. After she had both of us, she found it in the form of a manservant who, unexpectedly, came into some land.”

That was quite a bit more than Henry had known. He knew she’d left and had not looked back—he hadn’t known that for years, she’d kept herself closed off to Father, despite his best efforts to show her love.

Gads, but that sounded frightfully like what Henry himself had done. A cold chill flowed down his spine. Had he not told Dinah that first day that there was no chance for love between them? Had he not closed himself off because of previous experiences? He’d been running from the very hurt Mother had inflicted on him all his life, only to find himself perpetrating it.

“I tracked her down,” Henry said. Dinah had said he ought to tell David. She was right. He should have told his brother well before now.

“Excuse me?”

Henry looked up at his brother. “While Father was sick. About the time we both realized he wasn’t going to pull through. I paid a Bow Street Runner. He found her grave.”

David shut his eyes and angled his face away.

“She was buried alone,” Henry continued. If there’d been a man buried directly beside her, he may have suspected the truth. But such had not been the case. “But it was a nice headstone. Someone cared enough for her when she passed to see to that much, at least.”

They were both silent for some time. Slowly, David turned toward him once more. “Thank you for telling me.”

Henry nodded.

David stood up straight but didn’t move to leave. “You do realize that you and Emily never would have suited. You and Dinah on the other hand...I think the heavens must have intervened that night you were seen together. No one but the angels could have picked so perfect a wife for you.”

Henry didn’t have anything to say to that. He felt wholly spent after their brief exchange regarding their mother.

David shrugged. “She is quite different than my sweetheart.” He smiled softly. “Did you know that dress Emily wore at the ball was Dinah’s creation?”

Henry’s head snapped up. “What?”

David nodded. “Baby John soiled the dress Emily had been wanting to wear, and she didn’t have anything else suitable. So Dinah gave her the dress she’d made for herself.”

David walked up toward the desk once more. Placing his hands against the top of it, he leaned down. “You and Dinah are opposite in many ways. You like order and carefully made plans, but she’s more spontaneous than any individual I’ve ever met; you are quiet and thoughtful, but she expresses everything openly and without hesitation.However...”

Henry waited, scared of what he might hear and simultaneously hopeful, despite himself.

“However,” David finally continued, “now that I have come to know her better, I see that you two are actually quite alike. You both feel deeply. You both care fiercely. You both value family and good friends above all things and are not shy about shaping a life which proves that. You may have different approaches, but your hearts are the same.”

Henry wasn’t sure what to think or even feel about David’s words. The turbulence inside him swirled too fiercely for him to make heads or tails of what his brother was telling him. But among all the chaos that was his heart, one emotion rang truer than all the others—

He loved Dinah. He loved her completely and wholly.

Her spirit and vivacity. Her fiery expressions and determined brow. The way she worked hard at what she loved. The way she loved and cared for family. Her fearlessness in facing life.

He wanted her by his side;neededher there.

“Do you honestly think she might come to care for me?” Henry asked.

“I think she already has.” David pushed off the desk, standing straight once more. “And I think you’d know that already if you ever gave her a blasted chance.”

Did David really believe that? Henry dropped his head into his upturned hands and ran his fingers through his hair. Did he dare believe it himself?

“Emily and I will be leaving in about a week’s time.” David’s voice reached him from near the door. “If you’re not here to see us off, we will understand.”

Not here? Henry lifted his head. Where else would he be?

David shrugged. “You know, in case you decide to go chase down a certain wife of yours between now and then.”

“Yes.” Henry stood abruptly. It would take him a day or two to settle the few business items that had reached him that morning, and there was packing to see to. Nonetheless, he knew what course to take now. “Yes, I think I might just be away after all.” He moved around his desk and hurried over to where David stood by the door. Now that he was thinking clearly for the first time in months—no, in years—Henry knew he’d been a fool to let Dinah go without telling her how he truly felt. He’d be an even greater fool if he let her leave without going after her.

“Thank you,” Henry said, clapping David on the arm.

“You’ve always looked out for me. Just returning the favor.” David shared a smile with him then motioned for Henry to go ahead. “Now, I think we both have a bit of packing to get to.”

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