Page 49 of Dare to Risk it All

“Certainly it was. Don’t think I’m going to let you take the credit for it, because it was all my doing. I pursued you shamelessly and you know it.”

He sighed, wondering how someone who’d lived such a shocking life until now could deserve such good fortune. Of course, there was still Rothborn to face. Raphe’s good humour faded abruptly.

“You’d best get back to your room,” he said reluctantly. “The staff will begin moving about soon. You don’t want to cause an even bigger scandal by being seen leaving my bedroom in the early hours.”

Greer sighed, and her obvious reluctance to leave cheered him. “I don’t want to go.”

“I know, but the sooner you are up and dressed, the sooner we can speak to your parents. I suppose I had best speak to your father first.”

His anxiety must have shown on his face, as Greer hurried to reassure him.

“Pa will welcome you. Mama likes you, so you’ve done the hard bit. If she didn’t approve, things would be different, but she does.”

“Why?” Raphe demanded, helpless to understand what on earth she saw in him.

“For one, because you need loving, you need a family, and Mama is dying to mother you. For another, she knows you’re a good man, that you’ll do everything you can to make me happy.”

“How can she possibly know that?”

“Intuition, and your brothers,” Greer said. “The way they admire you, the way they defend you and wish to stand by you. You did that, Raphe, by never letting them down.”

His cheeks scalded at the undeserved compliment. “I let them down constantly,” he said, his throat tight.

Greer shook her head. “No, you didn’t. You were there when they needed you. You made them feel they mattered to you. That’s worth more than any amount of financial security.”

Raphe frowned but said nothing, so Greer kissed his cheek and clambered unsteadily to her feet. With regret, he watched her tidy her nightgown and wrap, covering herself up. She gave him a wistful smile.

“I suppose I’d better go. I’ll see you at breakfast?”

With a nod, he got to his feet and then walked her to the door. With one last press of his lips to hers, he sighed and let her go. Once he’d made certain the coast was clear, he watched her hurry down the corridor, and closed the door behind him.

Well, an audience with Mr Cadogan, then. His stomach clenched.

Mr Cadogan waited patiently while Raphe stammered his way through the reason for wishing to speak to him alone.

“—so, you see, sir, although I know she could do far better, I give you my word that I’ll never give you cause to regret the decision if you would be so generous as to give me a chance.”

Mr Cadogan watched him with interest and Raphe felt a sudden empathy for small scuttling things that scientists liked to study beneath magnifying lenses. His stomach, which had been turning somersaults all morning, cramped.

“And the drink, the womanising, the gambling?” Mr Cadogan asked, his tone mild. The man had remarkably blue eyes and, despite his jovial air, Raphe suspected he missed nothing. “I understand the lure of such behaviour, believe me. Are you certain you won’t be tempted back into that world? You were immersed in it for a long while.”

“Not immersed. I was drowning, sir,” Raphe said, wishing it weren’t so dreadfully hard to breathe. “It has been a long time since I found any pleasure in it. I don’t want that life. It’s behind me now and I’m glad of it. Word of honour. I’ll never bring her dishonour, never betray her trust.”

“You’re sure of that? You’ve only known her for two weeks,” her father observed, frowning a little.

“No, it….” Raphe began, and then stopped.

It couldn’t only be weeks. He scoffed inwardly, but then he worked it out. It had. It had been mere days, when he felt he’d known her forever, or ought to have done.

“Good heavens,” he said, rather alarmed by how fast things had happened. “I—”

Mr Cadogan snorted, giving him a look of deep sympathy. “Don’t fret, lad. I know how you feel. Meeting her mother was a bit like getting hit by the mail coach.”

Raphe laughed, still a bit stunned. “Yes,” he said faintly.

“And what about what happened last night at the ball? The fight with Lord Plumpton?”

Dragging his beleaguered brain back to the conversation, Raphe frowned. He could do nothing but answer honestly. “I should do it again in a heartbeat, though I am sorry for any distress the scandal might bring you.”