“Basil, believe me, Fanny’s feelings toward you are far from brotherly. I am absolutely sure of it.”
His gaze arrested on Lily. “They are?”
“Most definitely. She told me so herself last week. And that was before you risked life and limb to rescue her. I have no doubt that your heroism helped to melt her heart even more.”
“Do you truly think so?” he asked as if not daring to believe.
“Indeed I do,” Lily replied. “Fanny hasn’t seen this valiant side of you until today, as I have. But now she knows that you have hidden depths that any woman would admire.”
That gave Basil pause. “I suppose I do have a hidden depth or two.”
Lily smiled at the surprise in his tone. “Of course you do. And I suspect her concerns about matrimony are based more on practical matters. Fanny thinks she cannot afford to marry you. She doesn’t know how she would earn a living. But if she no longer has to support her friends because of O’Rourke’s settlement, then she can curtail her expenses significantly. And she has her savings back now, thanks to her bargain with O’Rourke. If you could find employment that provides a higher income…Well, then, a marriage between you is not beyond the realm of possibility.”
When a fragile hope shone in his eyes, Lily pressed harder. “So you see, if you leave now, Basil, you will never know what might have been between you and Fanny. You must stay awhile longer, no matter how painful it is at the moment.”
His clutching fingers releasing his hair, Basil slowly nodded. “I think you may be right.”
“I know I am right about this,” Lily insisted.
Basil sank back in his chair, deep in thought. Then suddenly he took notice of the valise Lily had laid out on the bed and the neat piles of clothing that were stacked beside it.
His brow furrowing, he glanced back up at her. “Why the devil are you packing?”
The question made Lily recall her own troubles, but she tried to keep the despair from her voice when she replied. “I am returning to Chiswick in the morning. I plan to live with Tess for a while.”
“You are leaving London?”
Lily shrugged as she went back to folding the last of her gowns. “Why not? I have done everything I came here to do and more. I will be perfectly content to leave.”
Which was a blatant falsehood. She was immeasurably happy that things had worked out so well for her friends, but otherwise she was perfectly miserable.
“You just told me I could not leave,” Basil said slowly. “I think perhaps you should take your own advice.”
Lily couldn’t meet his gaze as the ache in her throat returned. “The two circumstances are very different.”
She felt Basil eying her. “Are they, Lily? I think our circumstances are closer than you are willing to admit.”
Turning, she sank down onto the bed. It was true, she thought bleakly. She had insisted that Basil needed to remain in London, and so did she.
She couldn’t leave Heath. She couldn’t bear to just walk away.
She bit her trembling lower lip as she stared down at the carpet.
When she remained silent, Basil’s tone became more insistent. “What are your feelings for Claybourne, Lily?”
Her feelings? How did she answer that complex question? Her feelings for Heath were…complicated. Intense. Confused. Overwhelming. And in the end, so very simple.
“Come now, you made me bare my soul.”
She nodded faintly. Basil was one of her oldest, dearest friends, and she wouldn’t try to deceive him, even if she had been doing the same to herself for quite some time. But she couldn’t fool herself any longer.
She loved Heath.
She was dreadfully, desperately, painfully in love with him.
Sometime in the past fortnight, the walls she had so determinedly built to protect herself had tumbled down, leaving her vulnerable and defenseless to his passionate enchantment.
She had fallen in love with her determined suitor.