Ethan shook his head, “You don't give off that impression, Miss Riverside.” He said, nervous. Certain he might lose his courage if he remained seated so close to her with her gaze on him, he rose to his feet and began pacing. “My wife, Juliet left, leaving behind nothing but a letter containing a single sentence 'I'm gone, goodbye.' I was devastated.”

“As you should be,” Gretchen's gaze followed his movements.

“A year later, I woke up to a baby on my doorstep with a short note explaining my newly acquired title as the baby's father. You can imagine my devastation.” He turned to Gretchen who nodded solemnly in understanding. “Then you came, Gretchen,” he paused before her, thinking how beautiful she was even in her nightdress, and how much he loved her —how much he wanted to hold her.

Unable to help himself, he leaned down and pulled her to her feet with him, ignoring the slight frown on her face as his hands held hers captive. “Then you came,” he whispered, holding her gaze. “And try as I may to rid myself of every feeling I have for you,” he said, and he thought he felt her hands tremble slightly where they laid in his. “Try as I may to ignore you, to deny this thing in my heart...” Releasing her left hand, he touched her face as it paled before him. “It's the way my heart takes to beating in my chest when you're around me.”

“Lord Williams...” Her lips trembled.

“Ethan...” He said, stepping forward.

She shook her head slightly. “You're highly mistaken. You see, a man such as yourself should be with a woman who at least has a fortune to her name and I don't. I'm your child's nanny for goodness sake!”

Ethan smiled a little. “Then this is your only concern; money?”

“I rejected a man's proposal once for money. I'm a terrible person, Lord Williams. You asked why I had to come to London for a job. Well, I did so because that man whom I rejected is now happily married and has a new baby. I tried for weeks to destroy his marriage but I failed. My father is penniless thanks to this phony business he got himself into...”

Ethan didn't recognize the picture of the woman Gretchen was trying to paint for him. He hadn't met that woman and he was sure he would have been incapable of falling in love with that sort of woman. That woman was incapable of showing such selfless love to his daughter. That woman was incapable of admitting to being wrong. That woman was incapable of taking his breath away. But this woman, this woman right here who stood before him, he was crazy about.

“I love you, Gretchen.” He whispered. “I don't care about your past —who you were or what you did— I love you.” He said.

Silence stood between them for several minutes, her fingers trembling in his as he held her gaze. For a second, as he watched tears fill her eyes, he imagined she'd turn him down and walk away