Page 11

Cassian froze, and his tongue refused to obey and utter some vague comment, then move on from the moment. Because what he truly wanted was to tell her the truth right then and there. To let her see him as himself, not some poor imitation of his brother.

Her brows drew together as the silence between them stretched.

“There’s something I must tell you, Miss Bridewell.” The moment the words were out, he could breathe easier, as if a weight had begun lifting from his chest.

“Yes?”

“The brother you asked about?—”

On the point of confessing all to her right there in the sultry air of the Palm House, a noise rippled through the others in their group. A collective gasp.

“Oh heavens, it’s happening,” Miss Bridewell said cryptically.

“What’s happening?” Cassian took a few steps to see past those who’d gathered on one of the paths of the glass structure. They were quite far ahead. He’d been happily strolling slowly with Miss Bridewell.

At the far edge of the Palm House, he saw a tall, bronze-haired nobleman, who was impeccably dressed and seemed fixed on the lady before him. When she turned, he caught a glimpse of the lady’s profile—Lady Selina.

Then Miss Bridewell touched Cassian, and his thoughts scattered. She’d reached out a hand and clasped his—their bare fingers brushing against each other for a tantalizing moment.

“I’m so sorry, Lord Windham.”

Cassian , he wanted to shout. Just once, he wanted to hear her speak his true name.

When she made to pull away, he instinctively wrapped his hand around hers.

“What are you apologizing for?”

Before she could answer, a shout of “hurrah” rose up among the guests Knowles had invited. Then they all broke into applause.

Miss Bridewell winced and squeezed his hand. “For your disappointment,” she said softly. “I know it will be great, and I would not have invited you if I’d known…” She seemed so forlorn that he had the urge to soothe her, to wrap her in his arms.

“Oh, Daphne!” Lady Selina emerged from the crush.

Miss Bridewell immediately dropped his hand, and Lady Selina seemed to notice him for the first time all morning.

The debutante’s joy dimmed only for a moment. “I do hope you’ll understand, Lord Windham,” she said, barely able to contain her beaming smile.

“Understand?” Cassian murmured.

But Lady Selina had already turned away from him to huddle close to Miss Bridewell. She thrust out her left hand, and Daphne took it to examine the sparkling ruby and diamond band on Lady Selina’s finger.

Bloody rotting hell . Her beaming smile, the eye-catching ring, the other gentlemen slapping the bronze-haired man on the back. He’d failed Julian.

“Is it not perfection?” Lady Selina whispered.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Miss Bridewell agreed, her lovely blue eyes lifting to Cassian and brimming with regret.

All he wanted was a moment alone with her.

His gut twisted with guilt at the thought of failing his twin, yet his chest was full of another feeling entirely.

The whole point of this ruse had come unraveled.

The engagement was sealed, and Lady Selina looked incandescently pleased.

Perhaps she had once fancied Julian, but now another man had won her hand, and apparently her heart.

Cassian had always believed in fate, unlike his brother. Julian was born to inherit; Cassian had been meant for the sea. And now it seemed that Julian was destined to marry someone other than Lady Selina Lytton.

He dreaded telling his brother that he’d lost him the chance to marry his heart’s desire. Yet Julian had always known the lady’s favor would be a contested prize. That had been the root of this whole charade.

And perhaps it made him a selfish bastard, but Cassian breathed a sigh of relief at the sense of being freed. No more lies. No more pretending.

He was damned well going to tell Daphne Bridewell the truth.

And before he said goodbye to her forever, he was going to hear her speak his name.

She’d drifted off with Lady Selina, and all the other ladies in their party had circled around too.

Cassian bided his time, continuing on the Palm House’s path and examining the specimens until the cluster of ladies dispersed and it was decided that the group would move on to take a stroll around the pond toward the arboretum.

Cassian stepped forward just as Miss Bridewell started in his direction.

“Shall we walk together toward the Temperate House?” he suggested.

She glanced back once as the group that now included Lady Selina’s intended made their way out of the Palm House. Once they were out of view, she turned back and nodded.

“I’d like that. I hear there are extraordinary camellias there.”

“They’re a favorite of mine.” Camellias were some of his most prized specimens back in his Scottish greenhouse.

“You studied the plaques in the Palm House closely,” he said as they took to the broad gravel path in the opposite direction of the rest of Lord Knowles’s party. “Are you interested in botany?”

“Not so much botany, but horticulture. I love to grow plants. I grew up tending my family’s garden in Derbyshire, and it always felt a bit like magic to plant a seed the size of a pinhead and watch it flourish into something grand.” A little smile curved her lips.

“I feel the same.”

“Do you garden?” The notion seemed to surprise her.

“I do. Does that seem odd?”

“A little.” She studied his face a moment before looking ahead toward the Temperate House. “Yet again, you surprise me, my lord.”

“I have a greenhouse back home where I grow specimens I’ve collected from all parts of the world.”

“That sounds marvelous.” She arched brow as she looked over at him. “You’ve traveled a great deal?”

“I have. Over many years.” He wanted to confess why.

“Do you tend to the plants yourself?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course. There’s something terribly satisfying about sinking your hands into the earth, pruning a plant so it can flourish, or even tending it day after day, watching a bud form and then bloom.”

“It takes patience.”

“And a bit of hope.”

She laughed. “I have plenty of hope. It’s patience I struggle with.”

“Do you?” The confession surprised him.

He recalled her at the Harringtons’ dinner party, making conversation with even the most boring of lordlings and never revealing a bit of impatience at inane chatter about hounds and horses.

“It’s not something I admit to many people, and my family certainly doesn’t see me that way. I can be long-suffering when it’s required,” she admitted with a rueful grin.

He didn’t like the thought of her suffering. Ever. And he certainly never wanted to be the cause.

“There’s something I must say to you, Miss Bridewell.” Cassian looked around at those queuing to enter the Temperate House, longing for a private moment with her.

“I know today must have been a shock,” she said, her voice full of sympathy. “I should have warned you. I didn’t know how to say it.”

Of course. She would think he was bothered by Lady Selina’s engagement.

“She seems pleased with her choice.” Even with the guilt he felt over failing Julian, he couldn’t muster any genuine regret in his tone. “I can only wish them the best.”

She tipped her head and studied him. “I thought you harbored hopes of offering for her yourself.”

“No, I did not.” Bloody hell, this was a tangled mess. “Is there a place where we could speak privately?”

Her eyes widened as if it was the last thing she’d expected him to say.

Then their chance came to enter the Temperate House, and he escorted her into the balmy air inside the glass structure. The verdant smell of various flourishing greenery was almost as enticing as her floral scent.

For a while they merely proceeded along like the other visitors, appreciating the beautiful specimens from all over the globe.

When they reached the camellias, she turned to him with a beaming smile that made his pulse kick up. “They don’t disappoint. How lovely they are.”

“Yes,” he agreed, but he didn’t mean the flowers.

As if she sensed it, warmth rushed into her cheeks. The same shade as the nearby camellia japonica.

“I cannot meet you alone, Lord Windham.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “But my sister and brother-in-law are hosting a small dinner party this evening, if you’d like to come.”

He’d not yet purchased a ticket to depart London, nor arranged for a telegram to be sent to Julian. Heaven help him, he wanted more time with Daphne Bridewell and the chance to give her the honesty she deserved.

“I’ll be there.”