“All because the idea of her marrying me was so utterly distasteful.” Alec couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his words.

Sir Alfred gave him another long look. “You could have told me to go to hell five years ago, you know,” he pointed out. “But you didn’t. You saw the benefits of my offer.”

Alec thought of that morning. Of how easily Sir Alfred preyed on his deepest fears. And of another morning only days before when he had performed a similar manipulation. “Only because I believed the things you said about me. I believed I would ruin her life. That I didn’t deserve her.”

Sir Alfred seemed to consider this. “And now?”

Alec let out a dark laugh. “Oh, I still most certainly don’t deserve her. But I owe her an apology. One that is long overdue. And the truth.”

“We both failed her, didn’t we?” Sir Alfred sighed. “I know you love her, Alec. I’ve never doubted that. But I—I—” His voice broke as he collected his thoughts. “I’ve had to make a great many sacrifices in my life. Personal sacrifices. Some of which I have come to regret very much.” His gaze grew hazy, and Alec had the distinct impression that he was thinking of a certain beguiling Irish housekeeper.

One who clearly wasn’t in this town house…

Then Sir Alfred narrowed his eyes. “I suppose I didn’t see why you should have been any different.”

Alec had long assumed Sir Alfred’s strict discipline stemmed from dislike, but the man had simply been holding him to the same impossible standards he’d set for himself. There was a time when Alec would have been bullied into agreeing with him; now he could only hear the resentment lacing those words.

“But I am different, sir,” he said with absolute certainty. “If given the chance, I would have always chosen her. Over everything. Every time.”

Alec knew where Lottie was. And there wasn’t a moment to waste.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Though Lottie’s childhood predilection of climbing out of windows had finally proved useful, she still hadn’t mastered her fear of heights. Sheer panic had fueled her shaky descent down a conveniently placed lattice while she focused on the brick wall in front of her.

By some miracle she landed safely with only a few scratches and had taken enough money for a ticket to Surrey. It was poor form to leave Valentina behind, but Lottie knew she would only dissuade her. She would find a way to make it up to Valentina later, when the threat of marriage to Mr. Wetherby wasn’t quite so imminent. After she arrived at the tiny village train station, Lottie took a shortcut through the forest. It was late afternoon by the time she reached Haverford, bedraggled, famished, and cold; but the sight of the sprawling Tudor mansion, home to six generations of her mother’s family, warmed her with relief. Mr. Wetherby could not touch her here.

Lottie must have looked worse than she felt because Ailish, a housemaid, gasped at the sight of her while Ben, a footman, begged her to sit and immediately fetched Mrs. Houston. She had been working for the Lewis family for nearly three decades now, beginning as a scullery maid. There was no one Lottie trusted more on this earth than her.