“Please leave me alone,” she cried. “I cannot stand to see you so angry with me.”
“I am not angry, Selina.”
Hearing the tender tone of his voice only made her cry harder. “You should be.”
His rough hand caressed her wet cheek. “I was a fool.” He chuckled when she nodded. “I should never have blamed you for what happened. I was just in shock when you told me. I had lived the past eight years believing the version of the story that everyone had told me.”
“They only sought to protect me.”
“I realize that now. I just needed some time to sort things out.” He lay down next to her and brought her close. “They all love you, Selina. Even then, they wanted you safe from my wrath.”
She let her head rest on his chest. Hearing his strong, steady heartbeat slowly relaxed her. “I’m so sorry, Colin. I really did everything I could at the time.”
“You were sixteen, as my sister reminded me. You had never delivered a child on your own.”
“My first should never have been the duke’s heir,” she whispered.
“All children are important. Your mother should have been the one delivering or at least there to assist you. Not unconscious from the gin.”
In her heart, she had always known that but it still hurt to hear him say it. “I know.”
“Can you forgive me? I never meant to hurt you, Selina.”
“I know,” she said against his chest. “You were taken by surprise with my admission.”
Strong arms lifted her up so her head was next to his. Looking into his beautiful blue eyes, she was struck by the love she saw.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “You forced me out of my staid existence and back to life.”
“I love you too, Colin. I have no idea how I went from completely disliking you and being terrified you would discover me living in your house, to love. I just couldn’t help myself. And I tried so hard not to love you.”
He smiled and kissed her gently. “Why did you try not to love me?”
“You are the Duke of Northrop. I am nobody. I knew there was no reason to think I could be anything but your mistress.”
His lips parted hers again and then he pulled back. “You actually are someone.”
Selina studied his eyes. “Well, yes, I am your wise woman.”
“And according to Mrs. Featherstone, the daughter of the second son of a country squire,” he said and then kissed the tip of her nose.
“Is that why you decided I was acceptable?”
“Sweetheart, I had no idea about your background until after I was shot. If you remember, I had danced three times with you at the ball. I was telling everyone there that not only were you taken, but I was too.”
It hadn’t mattered to him that she was nobody. Her heart swelled so completely she thought she might burst. “Did you ever find Mr. Wells?”
“Yes,” he said and then lay back against the pillows and stared at the white ceiling. “I don’t believe Mrs. Wells was involved but Mr. Wells admitted that he wanted you to feel some of the pain he and his wife felt.”
“What did you do?” she asked fearfully. She knew he had a temper and wondered if he sent the man to prison.
“I told him how you cried in the rain that night. I also told him to find another place to live.”
“You didn’t have him arrested?”
“No.” He sighed. “I understand his pain and even though he acted reprehensibly, I know about going a little mad after losing someone.”
She nodded and looked away. She wondered what they would do next. He hadn’t officially proposed to her yet. Did he mean to go back on his unofficial proposal?