Page 155 of Their Master

“I want to see it,” Smith said.

“I’m not very good.”

“Yes, she is,” Luke said, nodding at Smith. “She’s very good—she can paint, too. And her piano playing is… exquisite.”

They both looked at Moira, who’d turned a shade of red that clashed with her hair.

She pursed her lips and shook her head at them both, but Luke could see that she was pleased.

“What happened?” Luke asked. “Why don’t I recall anything?”

“The doctor had to give you a great deal of laudanum.” Moira said, her hand finding his beneath the blanket and squeezing. “Charles came to the house and you tried to protect me—he shot you.”

Nowit was coming back to him.

“The baby! Is—”

“Shh,” Smith murmured, taking his other hand. “The baby is fine—Doctor Felson made sure of that.” He smirked. “You two have kept the poor man busy. I’m beginning to think I’ll need to hire him full time.”

“I was shot? He operated on me?”

Smith nodded. “You were fortunate the bullet did not damage anything internal, but he had to dig around a bit to make sure.”

Ah. That would explain the excruciating pain in his side.

“You need to make sure you don’t disturb any of his work—which means resting.Resting,” Moira repeated, giving him a stern look.

Luke smiled at her, amused by her attempt to look threatening. But then he frowned. “Wait—I remember now, Charlestookyou! Tell me what happened, please.”

Moira looked at Smith and Luke saw a weighted glance pass between them. It was a look that caused a definite pang in Luke’s chest, this one not the result of a bullet.

Something had happened to bring them back together, perhaps they had even mended the rift and admitted to the love he knew they felt for each other.

They were together.

Luke swallowed, grateful that neither expected him to speak because he wasn’t sure what he would say. He was happy for them—of course he was—but…

Moira gripped his hand tighter and said, “Charles and a man named Sir Clayton Tyler abducted me.”

“Sir Clayton is an enemy of mine,” Smith added, an expression of guilt sitting strangely on his normally confident face. “I put you both in jeopardy with my quest for vengeance.” He looked from Luke to Moira and back. “But that is over now.” He hesitated and then said, “I will tell you both the truth—all of it. It is the least of what I owe you.”

Luke stared, his breath freezing in his chest. “B-both of us?”

∞∞∞

Smith looked at the two people he loved—yes, he could admit that what he felt for Moira and Luke was love—and it terrified and shamed him that it had taken almost losing them before he came to his senses.

“I want to apologize for putting both your lives in danger.”

Moira dropped her gaze, clearly uncomfortable.

“Sir, you did nothing wrong,” Luke said, looking just as unhappy about Smith’s apology as Moira.

“Yes, I did. I should have known that Charles presented a danger.” Smith grimaced. “He was never the most stable of men and I’m afraid my time with him did nothing to help that instability. He needed monogamy and security and I knew before I ever allowed our relationship to commence that I couldn’t offer him the first of those things. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I dallied with him again—because I’m selfish.” He gave them both a wry look. “But then that is no surprise to either of you.”

He reached out a hand to Moira, so that he held a huge hand in his right and a delicate hand in his left. “It’s hardly original, but I’ve realized—long past the time that I should have—that my revenge is not nearly as important as some other things in my life.” He smiled. “Like the two of you.”

A tear rolled down Moira’s pale face. “I’msoterribly sorry for what I—”

---