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ELEVEN

Lilah

“This is wild,” said William quietly under his breath.

His voice was so low, I was the only one who could hear it.

Which was probably a good thing. One didn’t borrow the Royal Box at the Royal Opera House without attracting some attention. I was almost certain the looks being shot by those in the balcony were going to be gossiping about us in the interval.

But it didn’t matter. This was something I’d wanted to come to for months, and never given myself the chance. I was always too busy, or it would be far too much of an imposition.

No longer.

“Explain it to me again,” said William quietly as he settled back in the rich red velvet chair, a bottle of champagne cooling to our left, a selection of the very best chocolates from the best chocolatier in London on our right. “How exactly did we end up here?”

I grinned, adjusting the long silk sleeve of the gown I’d chosen for that evening. A diamond bracelet that was worth half the entrance tickets to this place sparkled on my wrist.

“Lilah.”

I blinked. William was looking at me with a grin, that knowing smile I knew all too well.

“I was just thinking,” I said defensively, as the orchestra came out into their pit to great applause.

William snorted as he gently clapped. “You mean you got distracted and completely forgot that I’d asked you a question.”

I smiled, shivering at the warmth of his hand as he placed it on mine, the applause dying away.

Well, he wasn’t completely wrong.

It had been just over a week since we…since that day on the ship. A day that I would never forget. A day that would capture my heart for all of time.

The day we finally came to an understanding.

We hadn’t put a label on it. There wasn’t any point. How could you describe what we had with just a single word?

Yet there was a slight occupational hazard when it came to being around William, now we were on better speaking terms. Kissing terms. Making love terms.

It was so easy to get distracted by?—

I blinked. William was waving a hand over my eyes as the lights dimmed and the audience in the Royal Opera House settled themselves for a night of exquisite performance.

“And the question you have already forgotten,” William said in an undertone as the first performers strode out onto the stage, singing their hearts out, “was how on earth did you get access to…to all this?”

He gestured around the Royal Box with a hand .

I grinned. “If I told you I called in a favor from a minor royal who shall remain nameless, but was in need of wager once, would you believe me?”

The answer was clear in his eyes. “You’re jesting with me.”

“For legal reasons, absolutely,” I murmured cheerfully. “I have Georgiana to thank for that. And every now and again, I pull in a favor—a small one, just to make sure the debt is remembered.”

It made me sound far more callous than I was. In truth, the minor royal I spoke of wasn’t actually that minor. They’d promised me favors for life. It was probably foolish of me to spend them on things like this when I could ask for anything…

William was staring as though I’d announced I would be moving to the wilds of the North Pole.

Before he could say anything, a footman of the opera house stepped in and handed me a note.

“You’d better read that swiftly,” I said darkly.

“Sorry, sorry,” William muttered, unfolding the note and glancing at it. “It’s just that I'm waiting for an important…huh.”

His voice trailed off into a confused grunt.

A spark of excitement rushed through me. Was this it? Had the news reached him?

“What is it?” I said innocently.

“It’s…it’s the strangest thing,” William said quietly. “I…well, I hadn’t wanted to mention it, but my building just got bought. I had believed that my rent would double but it is now apparently but half what it previously was. According to the new landlord.”

Flutters of anticipation warmed me. “How strange. Who could have done such a thing, I wonder? ”

William hesitated, then looked up and met my eye. “You…you didn’t.”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded all the same. “I know you’ve been worried about your rent, and I thought?—”

“You bought my building?” William said quietly as the music swelled. “The Gambling Dukes is now my landlord?”

My heart sang. Oh, it was such a perfect idea, I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing it ages ago. “Of course not. I bought it, and I’ll give you the building. Georgiana can oversee the contract.”

William stared. “Hell’s bells. You’re giving me my townhouse?”

Only then did I hesitate, my heart sinking slightly as I saw his expression.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. I didn’t need the ten thousand, I wouldn’t miss it, because William and I would secure the Count of Guadalencia for the next round of wagers—the Anderley brothers be damned.

What was money for, if not helping those I cared about?

“Lilah, I can’t accept this,” William said in a low voice.

“Too late,” I said with a grin. “I want you to have it. You…well. You’ve earned it.”

I watched as the realization rushed through him.

He wouldn’t have to pay rent. He could instead spend it on dinners, on balls, on attending the races and meeting with the very best in Society. His whole life was going to be different. He would never have to worry about losing his home again.

And only then did the worry hit me.

Had I gone too far? Overstepped? I’d never wanted to make it obvious, the clear difference between my financial situation and his. Had I just made things complicated between us ?

Damnit. I had to ask.

“You don’t…you don’t find it odd?” I whispered nervously.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked the question, but honestly, I couldn’t help myself. It had been weighing on my mind for some time now. Ever since I had made the slightly rash decision to buy his building.

William and I…we were so different, in so many ways.

Our bank balances and titles being the main one.

Most of the time I didn’t feel like a duchess. I wasn’t one of those people who had been born with money, I’d had to earn it. Through difficulty, through pain, by accepting a marriage proposal which had not exactly disgusted me, but saddened me, I’d managed it.

And there was nothing more that I wanted than for William and me to be together. Really together.

But if money was going to get in the way…

William turned his head slightly to mine, and grinned. “Definitely odd.”

My heart sank. “Really?”

He frowned. “Well, yes.”

I couldn’t believe it. After all this time, everything we had been through, the time apart, the misunderstandings…

Was it truly money that would come between us?

“You can’t think this is normal,” William muttered under his breath. “People singing all the time, those ridiculous costumes. And how can anyone understand what they’re saying?”

His eyes were fixed on the stage, and my heart unclenched.

He was talking about the opera.

A slow chuckle escaped from my lips. “I actually meant…well. That I can do this—get the royal box like this. Ca ll in favors. The fact that I move in a…a different circle to you.”

Once again, William’s expression was far too knowing as he took my hand and squeezed it. “You mean, you’re a duchess and I'm just some gentleman with good ideas.”

I smiled weakly. “Well…yes.”

There was a reason I had not considered remarriage, and William was only one part of it.

It was difficult, finding gentlemen in London who didn’t immediately have a chip on their shoulder because of my title. I was hardly about to give it all up: I’d worked hard for this. Why shouldn’t I enjoy it?

But it was enough to scare off most men.

“It…it is difficult sometimes,” William said quietly. There was a serious look on his face. “I’d love to give you the world, Lilah, and I can’t. It’s not within my budget.”

I squeezed his hand back, desperately hoping he could feel within the touch that I understood. “I wasn’t born like this—I know what it is to?—”

“I know,” William interrupted, keeping his voice low so that we didn’t disturb the opera. “But you’ll never have to live like that again, and I will. A difficulty I'm happy to overcome.”

I blinked. Overcome?

“What do you mean?” I whispered.

William shrugged. His elegant suit—something I’d demanded ahead of time, to ensure he was suitably attired for this place—brushed up against my shoulder.

“Anything is worth overcoming,” he said softly, not looking at me but still watching the stage. “When you’re in love.”

For a heart stopping moment, I couldn’t breathe.

How could I breathe ?

William…William loved me?

And then he turned to me, and was kissing me, fiercely, possessively, as though I could be taken from him at any moment.

And I clung to him, clung to him needing him, knowing that everything I wanted right now was in my arms, within my grasp. Within William.

When the kiss broke, William’s hair was mussed and his lips stained with our mutual passion. “I love you, Lilah,” he said fiercely. “And you don’t have to say, I didn’t mean to put any pressure on?—”

“I love you,” I whispered.

His eyes lit up. “You…you do?”

I replied in the only way I knew how: by kissing him.

But William was quicker than I was. For some reason, he had slipped out of my grasp and had dropped to his knees.

“William—William, what are you?—”

“Keep quiet,” William said in a warning tone.

I stared. Keep quiet? It was hardly difficult to keep quiet during an opera performance—even if the story moved you to tears, you could?—

And then I gasped.

Oh, God. William had knelt forward, brought his head under my skirts, and?—

Oh, heavens. It was going to be a lot more difficult to keep quiet than I thought.

William

The words had been so long on my heart, it was almost a miracle that I didn’t shout them into the opera hall.

“I love you, Lilah,” I said, trying and failing to hold back my ardor. “And you don’t have to say, I didn’t mean to put any pressure on?—”

“I love you,” she whispered.

I blinked, hardly daring to believe it. It wasn’t possible. “You…you do?”