Page 16 of The Blind Lyon (The Lyon’s Den Connected World)

“What did you do to overcome that fear when it’s the only thing you can feel?” Her voice sounded directly near his head. Was she resting against the door in an effort to be close to him just as he was doing with her?

“I did the thing regardless, for that is where we find our courage and our power, Annette. We have to stand up to the fear and stare it down, show ourselves that it has no sway over our decisions.” When a lump of emotion lodged in his throat, he swallowed hard around it.

“Too many times, people hold their bravery hostage. When that happens, that courage is never used. It’s hidden away, and then eventually fades from neglect.

” He paused, frantically searching for words.

“But those that do find their courage and hold onto it? Well, that is when life truly opens up before them. Everything changes in that moment.”

“It does?” The tiny kernel of hope in her tone encouraged him.

“Absolutely.” Would it work? Would it be enough to coax his new bride out of the house and into the light, both metaphorically and physically? “I desperately want that for you, Annette. Your life can begin anew and offer you so much joy you’ll be surprised by why you held back for so long.”

“But what if something horrible happens again?”

“There is no way of knowing if it will. To either of us. But I have lived long enough to know that fate is quite a master at maintaining balance. Life is exactly that. Good can’t exist without the bad.

Light can’t burn bright without being framed by shadows.

Joy can’t ever be felt deeply without knowing sorrow as well.

But we can’t allow ourselves to be lost in one feeling.

” As his pulse pounded in his ears, he decided to play one last card.

“I didn’t know your first husband, but I do know how I would feel, and I rather doubt Timothy would want to see you hiding from whatever else life wishes to bring you.

He would want you to be happy and thriving. ”

A half-stifled sob came from her. “What if I do that and begin to forget him?”

“You won’t, for he will be forever held close in your heart. That is how love works.” Then he added what would be the key that finally unlocked her reserve. “If you wish it, I would be happy to listen to your stories about him, about your life together, in an effort to help you keep him close.”

Did he have every right to feel jealous that she might still be in love with a man he’d never met?

Yes, of course, but in a way, he understood why she was desperate to horde those memories to herself.

Losing his grandparents and his parents over the years had left him bereft, and knowing he would never see the beauty in the world again still tripped him with grief every once in a while, but those feelings were no reason to toss out the baby with the bathwater as the saying went.

Silence brewed between them so long that he assumed she’d left the door.

“Well, I will leave you to your thoughts.”

“Not yet.” Seconds later, wonder of wonders, she opened the door several inches, for Romeo slipped out of the room and came into the corridor with a meow. “I’m holding out my hand to you, Peregrine. I need to feel your touch, for I’m terribly vulnerable just now.”

As stunned surprise held his chest in its grip, he felt about and then took her hand in his.

When her fingers trembled, he gave them a squeeze of support.

“I’m not leaving you, Annette. Of that I can assure you.

” Then he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back.

The act of her skin sliding against his and the scent of her teasing his nose had interest shivering along his shaft.

“Thank you,” she managed to whisper, and he had the feeling that she wasn’t talking about what he’d just said.

“It is my privilege.” After placing another kiss on her knuckle, he released her hand. “Goodnight, Lady Masterson. I promise that life will hold infinitely better moments than the one which took Timothy. After all, fate has already done its worst to me. Nowhere to go but up from here, hmm?”

“Goodnight, Peregrine. Sleep well.” The sound of the door softly closing echoed in his ears, but as he stood, her grinned.

“Come, Romeo. I would say we have earned a drink and a song.” With no urgency, Allan made his way to the drawing room for a drink.

He seated himself on the cushioned bench before his pianoforte, for he fancied a session at the keyboard before retiring.

That was how much his soul was buoyed after that conversation with his wife.

With a vocalization to announce his presence, Romeo jumped atop the instrument. “Meow.”

“You are right, boy. It’s a waiting game now, but I have had years to learn patience, so you and I will both wait to see what happens tomorrow. However, I’m more hopeful than I have been.”

“Meow.”

“If she doesn’t come out, that is her prerogative, but I won’t force her.

My father forced me to do things after I lost my sight.

It made me angry, so much so that I went away from home for a time, which is how I found the cat before you.

He was a nearly drowned wad of orange fur.

” The unexpected memory made him chuckle.

“Oh, he was a crusty old thing, skittish and angry like I was at the time, but he needed me, and that helped me concentrate on something other than self-pity.”

“Mrrrow. Meow.”

“Yes, eventually he died, and I was devastated because he’d left me.

Like everyone I loved eventually did, but then I had to remind myself they were never gone if I kept them in my heart.

” His fingers danced and glided over the cool ivory keys, and with every note played, peace came over him.

“A week later, guess who I found in a street gutter when I stepped out of my carriage? That’s right.

You. Chewing on a bit of shoe leather.” He shook his head with a grin.

“I suppose fate thinks it amusing to bring me orange cats who are at the lowest point in their lives, and perhaps when I am there as well.”

“Meow, meow.”

“Perhaps that is why fate—or rather Mrs. Dove-Lyon as it were—pushed Annette into my path. It’s time for another change.”

Romeo, devil that he was, jumped down onto the keyboard, causing a discordant crash of notes.

“Rogue.” Allan laughed. He scooped the feline into his arms and snuggled him against his shoulder.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you, but you must remember not to steal the duchess’s food.

” The cat’s purring brought him so much comfort and security.

“Shall we go find you some chicken and cream before bed?”

“Meow!”