Page 68 of The Fearless Miss Dinah

“They promised Lord Fitzwilliam they’d check in on his grandmother frequently, so they’re leaving early and stopping by Curio Manor on their way back home.” Henry didn’t recognize the voice, though somehow he felt he ought to.

When Dinah spoke next, her voice was soft, and Henry had to strain to make out the words. “Are you saying...you’re leaving London with them?”

The man stepped closer to Dinah and finally came into view.

Henry could have punched himself. It was Sir Mulgrave. Only Dinah’s father.

Well, now he did feel like a fool. He’d been jealous of Dinah spending time with her own father. Devil hang him.

Sir Mulgrave placed a hand on Dinah’s arm. “I’m saying maybe you should come with us.”

Henry’s breath froze in his chest. Dinah...go with her father?

Leave Angleside Court? Leavehim?

Henry rested against the door frame. Would she do it? Then again, why wouldn’t she? It wasn’t as though he’d provided a warm and caring home for her. Yes, he’d seen to her needs. Every need he was ever made aware of. But he wasn’t so blind as to think that that would be enough for someone as filled with life as Dinah. She wanted love. She wanted passion. And those were two things Henry had flatly refused her.

“I didn’t even realize until I saw you tonight how much I have missed seeing you all.” Dinah leaned into her father who wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug. “It was all just silly pride that made me ask you to give me space.” Sir Mulgrave remained silent as Dinah brushed a hand over her cheek. “I suppose Charlotte will still be nearby.”

“Actually...”

Dinah pulled back and faced her father. “Don’t tell me she’s leaving, too.”

“She has expressed a desire to see her friend, the Dowager Fitzwilliam, again. She’ll be traveling with us to Curio Manor and will probably stay there for a few weeks. But after that, I believe she plans to return to London.”

“Then I really will be alone.”

Those simple words from Dinah bit hard into Henry.

Alone. She was living in a house full of people, yet she felt alone.

And it was all his fault.

Pushing off the door frame, Henry turned to leave, but not before hearing Sir Mulgrave’s next sentence.

“Are you truly so unhappy here?”

Henry didn’t wish to know how his wife would respond. He spun about, startling a few women who cried out in surprise, and quickly made his way back toward the ballroom. Dinah was finally leaving.

He shouldn’t be surprised. He’d always known this would happen.

He shouldn’t be hurt. Hadn’t he purposely kept her at arms’ length to avoid this very thing?

He shouldn’t be leaving the ball, stomping his way upstairs and toward his bedchamber where he could be alone. Yet he was. He was all of it—surprised, hurt, and certainlynotreturning to the ball tonight.

* * *

“Are you truly so unhappy here?” her father asked Dinah.

What could she say? She wasn’tunhappyprecisely, but neither was she happy. It was more complicated than either of those options. But how to explain all that she’d experienced at Angleside Court? How to express the contradicting emotions that pulled for her attention every day?

A surprised cry came from just outside. Dinah turned toward the slightly open door, but no one was there.

She could only pray it hadn’t been a rat that had caused the cry. Dinah hadn’t seen another trace of a rodent since that night. She couldn’t stop the warmth that filled her at the memory, especially when she remembered the way Henry had slept on the bench across the foot of his own bed so that she didn’t have to be alone. It had to have been terribly uncomfortable. Yet, he’d done it. Without complaining and without making her feel guilty.

Then again, the very next day he’d declared thema mistake. So, perhaps he hadn’t slept on the bench out of affection, but out of platonic responsibility.

“I cannot help but think I made a mistake in forcing you two to wed,” Father said, leaning back against the desk.

---