Standing under Rose’s bedroom window, he looked up, glad to see the flickering glow of a candle up there. She was still awake then. He had thought about knocking on the door before dismissing the idea. He doubted Mr. and Mrs. Winter would welcome him with open arms. They were far more likely to throw him out onto the street or threaten to call for a constable.

Reaching down, he picked up a handful of gravel, tossing it up at the window on the first floor. Last time she had opened that window, it was to climb down and run away with him. It felt like a lifetime had passed since then. There was the flicker of the curtain but nothing else. He tossed up another handful, rewarded by the window swinging open a moment later.

There she was, leaning out and looking as beautiful as ever. No, more beautiful. She needed no candle to light her, a glow shone from her soul and touched his heart, making him yearn for her so much it pained him deep inside. “What do you want?” she asked, barely concealed anger evident in her voice.

“A minute of your time.”

“Be quiet! Or do you want my parents to hear you?”

“Please, a minute of your time and then I’ll be gone forever.”

“Very well,” Rose sighed, climbing out of the window and skilfully lowering herself down the drainpipe. She reached the ground a few seconds later, looking at him with her arms folded. “Well, what is it?”

“I read that a date had been set for your wedding to Mr. Carlisle.”

“It has, what business is it of yours?”

“I…I hope you will be happy in your marriage to him.”

“I am sure I will.”

A silence fell between them. Titus ached to take her in his arms, to kiss her forehead, to look after her forever, to take care of her for the rest of his life. Instead he rubbed his lip with his finger and then crushed his hands together behind his back, doing his best to keep his emotions under control. She looked so cold, had she lost all feelings for him? Was this a mistake?

Rose blinked, her mouth opening as if she were about to say something. She then shook her head, blinked again, before saying, “I am led to understand that you are also engaged.”

“I am.”

“To the Smethwick girl?”

“To her.”

“She is just your type, a lovely mature woman by all accounts.”

“She is.” Titus sighed, unable to contain himself any longer. “I must confess; I do not want a mature woman for a wife. I want a pretty little Rose.”

“You probably said the same thing to your last wife. And you’ll no doubt say the same to your next.”

“I do not have a wife.”

“Don’t continue to lie to me. You forget I saw the ring with my own eyes. Or do you deny it?”

“Yes, that was my wedding ring.”

“I knew it.”

“And yes I was married.”

“Who is she?”

“She was called Emily. It is not easy to talk about her. We were wed when I was twenty and she eighteen. She did not see her twenty-first birthday.” Titus paused, taking a deep breath, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him. “She died in childbirth and in one moment I lost wife, child, and family. And do you know what hurt the most?”

She didn’t respond, her hand over her mouth in shock at his confession.

“It was not even my child. It was Thaddeus’s. My wife had been sleeping with my brother and I only found out after she had died. That is why I have a wedding ring in my possession, a reminder of the woman I loved despite what she did. That is also why I no longer speak to my brother. I vowed never to love again after I found out the truth. It was a vow I kept for more than ten years. But then I met you and my vow counted for nothing. And now you know and I shall leave you to your happy marriage. My blessings on you both.”

“Titus,” Rose said as he turned away, her hand falling on his shoulder. “Papa.”

He froze in place, his breath catching in his chest as she moved round him, standing facing him, her hands slipping into his. “Yes, Rose?”

“I am sorry.”

“As am I. I know I should have told you the truth when we first met but I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid of revealing my past, of admitting I had loved before, that I had been mocked and taken for a fool by my own brother. Afraid that you might not love me if you knew the truth.”

She squeezed his hands in hers. “I have never stopped loving you.”

“You…you haven’t?”

“Not for a second.”

“But you are engaged to another man.”

Rose smiled. “Guess what I have on under my dress?”

“What? What sort of question is that?”

“Come on, guess.”

“I don’t know. Must you play such confounded parlour games now? I have just poured out my soul to you.”

“And I am doing the same, in a manner of speaking. Come on, have a feel if you need a clue.”

She lifted the hem of her dress and brought Titus’s hand under it. He frowned as he felt the edge of a rough cloth, a towelling cloth of some sort. “What is that? Is that a nappy?”

She nodded. “It is.”

“But what does that mean?”

“It means that Mr. Carlisle has no interest in me being little so I have been doing it in secret.”

“My little Rose,” Titus said, smiling broadly. “Full of surprises.”

“My Papa,” she replied, reaching up and kissing him lightly. “I have missed you.”

“Rose!” A woman’s voice, shouting from inside the house.

“That’s Mother,” Rose said in a panic, shimmying straight up the drainpipe. “You must go.”

“But will I see you again?”

“Yes, but not yet. Wait until I send for you. I will write to your office. Goodnight, Papa. Remember, your little Rose loves you.”