Loving Lily (Fair Cyprians of London 6)

Lily sent him a beseeching look. “I lived with Celeste long enough to know when she’s afraid. Nothing and no one seemed to do that except this man. I think she sold Mr Novichov’s secrets to Mr Renquist, and that’s why Mr Novichov murdered him. And Celeste is afraid she’ll be next.” Lily shuddered. “And I’m afraid because I’ve found out.”

He looked at the ceiling. “Have you reported it to the police?”

“No. It was only tonight that he threatened me.”

“Will you report it?”

She covered her face with her hands. “I must.”

“But not as Lady Bradden. You know they won’t believe you.”

“Do you believe me?” It was painful to ask the question. Even more painful to see the truth in his regretful look.

“Lily, I know how much you want to believe you’ve found Renquist’s murderer. It’s worth a great deal to you. You’re beholden to the people who make you perform. You need to satisfy them, and the crowds.” Gently, he stroked her cheek. “I also understand that Celeste has put herself in a compromising position by consorting with gentlemen who have, well, opposing agendas. But this sounds like fantasy. You’ve taken a wild leap with no evidence.”

“You think I’m making it all up!”

“I think it’s not true; that’s all I’m saying.”

Outside the window, the streets were silent. Lily felt ready to admit defeat. She rested her head on his shoulder and did not try to stop the tears. “What shall I do?”

He was silent a long time. “I don’t know. But I will help you.”

She stiffened. “You feel you are beholden to me because of…the other night? A night you deeply regret?”

“Lily, I never set out to take what you didn’t give freely, and I would never have taken anything had I realised how...vulnerable you were. My feelings for you got the better of me. I was weak.”

“We both wanted it, Hamish.” Her throat felt thick with emotion to realise that the love she’d thought was about to blossom between them had withered on the vine. Now, his innate decency was making him behave towards her as he would towards a troubled friend to whom he owed some kind of reluctant duty. “I thought perhaps you…” She tapped her heart. “Felt something for me, here.”

Impulsively, he gripped her tightly before setting her away. “I did. And I do. But now I know the truth, and…” He looked away, but not before she’d seen his pain and disappointment. “Too much stands in the way of…a future.”

“Like my husband? Despite all he did?” Bitterly she went on, “At first I was the thief. The runaway you chased into a…brothel.” Her voice faltered. “You had little reason to trust me after that, I suppose.”

He looked at their interlaced hands. At least he was still being tender and understanding. She must make the most of this moment.

He sighed. “Never once did you tell me the truth, Lily.”

“The truth?” She gave a short laugh. “That I was the wife of a baronet who despatched me to an asylum? No, strange I didn’t mention that in such terms. Do you think you’d have believed tha

t? Do you think you would have believed the truth when I was, to all who only looked at me, a creature from the gutter? The rookeries?”

He shook his head.

“I was abducted from a maison in Brussels where my husband effectively discarded me and then threw away the key. Then I became Mr Montpelier’s prisoner as effectively as I was my husband’s. I had no one to turn to. And no one to turn to, now.”

It was time to go. She struggled out of his arms, but he held her, soothing her panic. “Except me,” he said softly. “I will help you. Somewhere there will be a place where you can get better—”

“But I am not ill!” This time she resisted his efforts to calm her, the blanket falling to her feet as she rose. “How do you propose to help me? Tell my husband my whereabouts? So he can lock me up again?”

“Wait, Lily!”

She turned at the door.

“There are places that will take you. Places where you can be looked after until you are well again.”

“Like the maison in Brussels looked after me?” Her mouth twisted. “Another man I once loved promised to take me to a place where I would be looked after.”

He let her speak.