Page 49 of The Governess’ Unlikely Suitor (The Dashworth Brothers #2)

O pposite Edward, Kate was bouncing her knees up and down, as if she wanted to get out of the carriage and run.

Rage, hot and molten, burned beneath his skin and he wanted to jump down from the carriage and pound his fist into the bastard’s face.

He didn’t. Kate’s solution was better than violence, although it had been very satisfying to hit him at the end.

‘Edward,’ she said, pulling him from his thoughts.

‘Yes.’

‘I am going to need a lawyer.’

He stared at her face for a long time before she grinned, laughter bursting out of her.

‘Do you even have proof he is engaged in dodgy dealings?’

Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away with the pads of her fingers.

‘I really thought he would listen to reason. What was I thinking?’ She continued to laugh, holding her sides.

‘I mean, I guessed there had to be something wrong with those debts. I did do some research and found some things out, but I don’t know, know …

It just came out in the moment. Goodness, I was lucky.

I am so very na?ve, Edward. I thought…’ She shook her head, turning to look at London as the carriage moved through its streets.

He sat staring at the woman who held his heart. ‘That could have gone badly.’

Her laughter slowly faded away.

‘Luckily,’ he continued, ‘I have looked into him.’ He held up a hand. ‘Do not be cross. You did not inform me of your plan and as much as I would be happiest burying him somewhere, I have not killed before and I am not entirely sure I could cope with the mess. You have seen what I am like.’

Her eyes crinkled at the corners, her gaze soft.

‘Anyway, you were right in your guess. A lot of his deals do stretch the letter of the law. Rather than hide them with a lawyer, I think we should pass the details on to someone in authority. He might go to prison and then his family would be better off, would they not?’

‘Yes, I think you are right. Thank you, Edward.’

He settled back on the squabs to watch her face.

He had understood why she had wanted to leave Glanmore House, even when the others hadn’t.

At first he had been hurt, cut to the core that she wanted to leave him , but now he didn’t think it was that at all.

She wanted a life where she did not have to rely on anyone.

He hadn’t liked her dependence on him and his family either, because he’d hated the power imbalance.

It was for that reason he had not put any money towards her new accommodation, although he knew Tobias had and that she would be able to live comfortably in her lodgings for as long as she needed to.

He wanted her to be separate from him. He wanted, needed , them to be equals.

He was watching her intently and saw the look on her face when she saw the building he wanted to show her. Her lips parted softly and then she pressed her nose against the glass, trying to get a better look. He did not try to hide his smile.

‘This will be outside our budget.’ He liked that it was our . It meant she could see a future with him in it. Perhaps not the one he wanted but one he would accept.

‘It is within budget, but it is not in good condition inside and will probably need work.’

‘You have seen it already?’

This and several other locations. ‘I did not want to get your hopes up if it was no good. It used to be a nunnery, but it has not been occupied by anything other than rats and dust for some time.’

Inside was worse than he remembered. Perhaps he had been seduced by the size of the building or maybe it had been the promise of spending time with her looking around and it had taken on a romantic haze for him.

As he tried to view it through her eyes, he could see how tired it was, how much work it would take to breathe new life into the stones.

‘There are already bedrooms on the second and third floor, although they will need work to make them suitable for families. But if we start our tour on the first floor, you will see why I thought this place would be suitable. There are rooms further along that could be used as classrooms. One could be a music room, perhaps. I could see whether it’s me who’s a terrible tutor or whether it’s you.

’ He winked at her. ‘There’s also a large hall for dining. ’

He turned to the right and pushed open a door.

‘This room could be an office for administration. You could have drawers all along here.’ He pointed to the far wall.

‘When I think about all the organisation that will need to be done…’ He pretended to shudder in delight and Kate rewarded him with a wide smile.

They made their way further into the building, the silence between them loaded with hope.

‘Here is the hall.’ A few benches were lined up against a far wall; light streamed in from high windows and he could picture it full of children, eating their fill because of the work Kate had done.

‘I am not sure what is behind the far wall, but we could have a kitchen put in.’

Kate was walking towards the centre of the room, her boots making tracks in the dust. She reached the centre and spun in a circle, slowly taking in every aspect of the room. ‘Edward,’ she said.

‘Yes.’

‘I think this place could be perfect.’

‘Wait until you see…’

‘Also, Edward, I wanted to tell you, I love you.’ His world stopped.

‘I do not expect anything from you. I appreciate men of your station do not marry women like me. I am not telling you for that reason; I just thought you should know. You are such a good man and, well, I love you and I am so pleased to have met you. I want, more than anything, for you to be happy. You deserve it; you need to let go of what your aunt did to you and enjoy your life, play your pianoforte so people can hear you, laugh with your brothers.’ She drew a semi-circle in the dust with the point of her toe. ‘That is all.’

He took several steps towards her, stopping when she was an arm’s width away. She was smiling at him softly, not expecting him to say anything in return, her words purely a selfless gesture. ‘I wish you had not told me that here.’

The light in her eyes dimmed slightly. ‘Oh.’

‘I mean, it is filthy. I am fairly sure a family of rats is watching us, debating whether they can take us down so they can feast on our bodies, and do not get me started on the dust.’

Rolling her eyes, she said, ‘Come on. You are going to show me upstairs.’

He reached out his hands and took hers in his before she could move. ‘The problem is, you have now made this spot ours. Whenever we want to celebrate a milestone we will have to come here and remember that this is where you told me you loved me and that this is where I told you I loved you back.’

Stepping forward, she closed the gap between them, pressing the length of her body against his. ‘You have not said it yet.’

‘I love you, Katherine Hornel. I love you so much that we are going to make this hall spectacular so that whenever we return to it, we will be able to enjoy knowing this is where our future began. And when you are ready, you are going to accept that men like me do very much marry women like you and that’s when I’ll ask you.

You’ll probably have to accept Emily designing your wedding dress and living with the Dashworths again, but this time you will know you are equal to us in every way, or rather you are better, because your heart is so large.

But that is all in our future because right now, I am going to kiss you, rats and dust be damned. ’