Page 79 of When the Rogue Returns
He glared at her. “They won’t judge us, I promise you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Tristan is the reason I found my family. He risked much to reunite me with them. He’s not going to do anything to hurt me.”
“But you don’t know if he’ll hurtme.He has no loyalty to me.”
“He will,” he said firmly. “You’re my wife.”
“And due to me, you’ve suffered. Your friends may not take that as well as you have.”
“Have faith in me for once. The way I always have faith in you.”
She snorted. “Not enough to consult me on your decisions or abide by my wishes.” Her blood thundered in her ears. “Did you go to Carlisle, too, after you promised not to? Did you lead Jacoba and Gerhart to Amalie?”
“Of course not!” he said, outrage in his tone. “I made you a promise, and I uphold my promises. But I never promised to keep my friends out of this. And I won’t, do you hear me? Weneedthem, damn it. You’ll just have to trust me on this.Ifyou’re capable of that.”
For him, it was a matter of trust, but for her it was so much more. She’d acquiesced to everything her family wanted when she was young, and she’d transferred that acquiescence to her husband after she married. It had nearly destroyed her life.
But after she’d been on her own, she’d begun to trust her own instincts, and her instincts were screaming that they should keep their past as secret as possible. So it didn’t sit well with her when he stepped in to take over her life as if she should have no say.
“Isa,” he said quietly. “You know damned well that if we don’t resolve this problem with Gerhart and Jacoba, they will come back one day—perhaps when Amalie is about to get married, or you’re heavy with our second child—whenever we least expect it. And they will attempt to wreak havoc again. I know better than anyone that family secrets rarely remain buried.”
He was right. But that didn’t lessen her terror of what might happen when he opened the Pandora’s box of their past for the world to see.
When she didn’t answer, he took her gloved hand and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. “It’s too late to stop Tristan and Dom from coming,lieveke.I sent them an express yesterday, and if I know them, they’ll be here before the house party is over.”
He hesitated, then added, “But I didn’t tell them why I needed them, only that it was urgent. So if, by the time they arrive, you’re still uncomfortable with their involvement, I’ll keep silent about why we’re seeking your relations. How’s that?”
A lump stuck in her throat. He was trying. He really was trying. “That’s all I ask—that you consider what I want, before you go off and follow your own instincts.”
He sighed. “I’ll do my best. But it’s been a long time since I had a wife.”
“I know. And a long time since I had a husband.”
They finally smiled at each other, and were silent awhile.
Then she brought up what she’d been thinking about during their discussion of income earlier. “Is there no possibility of us living in Edinburgh? Perhaps you could do some investigative work here.”
His expression was thoughtful. “I suppose it’s possible.” He glanced over at her. “But I’ve just begun to know my family. I would like to know them better if I can. And there’s no reason you can’t open a shop in London. You might make more money there.”
She eyed him askance. “I’m sure your cousin will be delighted to have one of his relations in trade.”
“That’s a good point. We’ll have to see how that will sit with him. Then again, his wife’s family runs Manton’s Investigations, so he obviously doesn’t stand on ceremony as much as a duke generally does.”
His cousin sounded more intriguing by the moment. Perhaps he wouldn’t look down on her so much afterall.
“There’s another, more important consideration,” he put in. “Amalie could go to school in London, and then you wouldn’t have to send her away.”
Isa hadn’t thought of that. “That is indeed an important consideration. And one that might just tip the balance.” She glanced at him. “I miss her so, when she’s gone.”
He met her gaze with a smile, and her heart flipped over. Perhaps everything could work out after all. Assuming that her relations stopped plaguing them.
Victor was right: They couldn’t go on with the past hanging over their heads. They had to resolve the problem of Jacoba and Gerhart before it destroyed their lives again.
19
THREE DAYS INTOthe house party, Victor roused to the feel of his wife’s soft hand stroking his hard cock.
