A Secret Surrender - Darcy Burke Page 0,91
you let him leave?”
“Why would he stay?”
“Because you love him, and he loves you.” Beatrix looked at Selina as if she were mad. “You belong together.”
“He does not love me.”
Beatrix let out a breath of pure exasperation. “Of course he does. Weren’t you listening?”
“Yes, and I was standing right in front of him as he stared at me with the coldest expression you can imagine.” Selina shivered.
Beatrix rolled her eyes and dropped her hands from her hips. “It was obvious to me, and I was just listening outside.”
“How can you possibly tell?”
“He is clearly jealous of Luther. And when he stopped you from saying what Boyer did—” Beatrix clamped her lips together. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say his name.” They’d agreed long ago to never say it again. Beatrix came forward and squatted down in front of Selina. “Harry cares for you. I can tell. You forget that for a time—a time I remember quite clearly—I had two parents who loved each other. Even if they weren’t married,” she added. “Unlike you, I know what that looks and sounds like.”
Yes, Selina did forget that sometimes. Beatrix had memories Selina couldn’t imagine. She was so bloody deficient in every way! “How could Harry possibly care for me? Or want me? Or love me?”
“Why does there have to be a reason? You’re an amazing woman who would captivate any sane, intelligent man.”
Selina shook her head. “That’s not me.”
Beatrix stood and threw her hands up. “It is you. Or it should be anyway. You are the strongest person I know, and yet you so often fail to truly believe in yourself. You don’t even think you can love, but you can. You do.”
She did. She loved Harry so much. Shouldn’t that make her feel good? It sure as hell shouldn’t make her feel weak or defeated.
Selina pushed herself out of the chair. “I should fight for him.” It came out sounding a bit like a question.
“Yes, you should,” Beatrix said firmly. “You have never shied away from risk. It’s time for you to take the biggest one.”
Beatrix was right. Selina wanted him. She wanted a future with him. First, she had to tell him everything, every horrid detail of her background.
She should also tell him that her brother and the Vicar were one and the same, but she didn’t want to endanger her brother’s plans. Not after everything they’d been through since their parents had died.
Selina had known fear before, but not like this. She’d experienced joy and hope—and love—which would make the loss of it that much harder to bear.
Harry threw himself into a chair in one of the offices at the Magistrates’ Court. It had been a grueling day, during which he’d gone to a wedding in Mayfair and arrested the bloody groom for extortion. Yesterday, a friend of a friend, the Viscount Colton, had come to report the extortion.
The tale had been rather involved, but it included the Vicar, who’d loaned money to the viscount. The groom, Chamberlain, whom they’d arrested, was the one who’d put the viscount in touch with the Vicar. Unfortunately, the groom could only say the Vicar lent money from St. Dunstan-in-the-West, which was of no use to Harry since he already knew that.
Furthermore, Selina hadn’t sent any word about Frost. Harry had to accept she’d probably lied to him again. Except he knew she was still in London. He’d checked last night, standing across the street from her house like some sort of prowler.
He might be a fool, but he believed everything she’d told him the other day. Every horrible, heartbreaking detail.
A clerk knocked on the door before opening it. “Mr. Sheffield? There’s a…girl here to see you.”
Weary, Harry waved his hand. “Have her come in.” He straightened in the chair.
The girl walked slowly into the office, her head turning this way and that as she surveyed her surroundings. She shifted her weight nervously before looking at Harry.
He recognized the basket weaver from Saffron Hill immediately. “Maggie, it’s good to see you.”
She tucked an errant strand of dark hair behind her ear. She ought to have a bonnet. Harry would see to that.
He stood and went to stand near her, then offered an encouraging smile. “How can I help you?”
“You said I should come see you if I needed anything. I need my brother to stop being a thief. ’E’s going to get caught and end up on a convict ship.”
That was all too possible, unfortunately. “What would you like me to do?”
“You wanted