Page 60 of The Mysterious Miss Lydia
Luke frowned. “But...”
“No buts,” Richard said. “You don’t have the support of Sir Cedric or the Home Office any longer, if you’ll recall.”
“I remember,” he said dryly.
But he didn’t feel the familiar pang when this fact was pointed out. He still regretted the fact that he was being forced to leave that world behind, but...
Well, for the first time he was beginning to see that perhaps there were other options for his future. One that wasn’t as dangerous as the Home Office, perhaps, but that didn’t mean it had to be dull, either.
His mind’s eye filled with the image of Lydia’s smile. The intelligence that glinted in her gaze. The way she spoke so thoughtfully and with such insight.
He set his glass down, his chest too tight with emotion. It wasn’t just the thought of a future with her that made him feel this new sense of hope—though that was a large part of it.
But it was also the man she saw when she looked at him. The potential she seemed to see. The way she saw him...it made him want to make something of this new opportunity.
He’d let go of his regrets over how it came about and focus on what he could do with it. For her. For the family he hoped to create. For the world he’d leave behind for his children and grandchildren.
You have more power and wealth than most can imagine, her father had said.
He didn’t have to follow in his brother’s footsteps and merely attend society events or endure stuffy afternoons with gentlemen at the club.
He could make of it what he wished.
Gratitude mixed with affection, and he wished more than anything that he could see Lydia right then and there. That he could tell her all that was in his heart and hear what was in hers.
The nagging sense of incompletion he’d been experiencing ever since he left her made his smile fade to a frown.
“What is it?” Richard asked. “Worried about tonight?”
“No,” he said slowly. “I’m worried about Lydia.”
“Sir Cedric would never force her to marry—”
“Not that,” he interrupted. He tried to pinpoint what exactly had been bothering him. “The way we left things... Before the headmistress showed up, I mean.”
“Miss Farthington,” Richard said.
Luke arched a brow. “Do I look that daft when I speak of Lydia?”
Richard let out a guffaw that interrupted the tedious conversation going on beside him. “You look far more foolish, I’d imagine.”
Luke chuckled and shook his head. “It’s just...there was this moment. She wanted to help, to be involved in some way...”
“With capturing Wendell?”
He nodded.
Richard frowned. “You said no, I hope.”
Luke nodded again. “It was the right decision.”
“Of course, it was,” Richard agreed.
“I need to keep her safe,” he continued.
“Of course, you do.”
They sat in silence for a moment. It was one thing to say it and have Richard agree, but he couldn’t shake the look of disappointment he’d seen in her eyes. Not just at being denied this chance, but...
