Chapter 11

Eleanor had waited all day to speak with Caleb, but he wasn’t about. Willie told her he’d gone to London and would be back later. She’d kept watch for him, but he didn’t return until nearly dark.

After dinner, she went out onto the terrace to wait for him. It wasn’t long before she recognized his footfall coming toward her.

“Willie said you were looking for me.” Caleb walked across the terrace toward her. With each familiar step, she felt her concentration slithering away.

“I was,” she answered. “I wanted to . . . to . . .”

“You want to know where I was. What I found out. What Sophie told me last night. And what’s going to happen tomorrow night.”

“Am I that obvious?”

He smiled, and the fluttering that had overtaken her stomach escalated. He affected her unlike any man had since her husband had died. He caused an eruption of sensations that confused her beyond reason. She didn’t want what stirred inside her, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t quell the riot of emotions that consumed her.

“Would you care to walk with me?” he asked.

He didn’t wait for an answer but held out his hand. She placed her fingers in his palm and rose, allowing him to lead her across the terrace and through the garden.

This was her special place, the place where clarity ruled her thoughts. The place where she birthed the ideas that would save more children. Where she mentally prepared herself for the duties she had chosen to shoulder.

Thankfully, money wasn’t an issue. She had more income than she would ever require, but there was always the concern of providing enough staff to see to the children’s emotional needs. Of helping them past the losses they’d suffered, whether it be the loss of their homes or their parents.

Eleanor walked at Caleb’s side as they made their way through the garden. Wisteria vines that trailed along the rock wall were shedding their late spring abundance, creating a fragrant path that led to a small summerhouse. They stepped inside.

The open-air structure was Eleanor’s favorite place within the garden. She walked to a cushioned bench and sat. Caleb sat next to her.

“What question do you want answered first?” he asked, leaning back against the low wall that shaped the shelter.

“What did Sophie tell you last night?”

“She has a plan to take down Blackboot.”

“Does her plan involve as much danger as your reaction tells me it does?”

“What reaction is that?”

“You barely said a word all the way back to Southern Oaks. And you clenched and released your right hand as you have a habit of doing when you’re thinking.”

He laughed. “I didn’t realize I did that.”

“You do. Just as you tap your index finger on your thigh when you’re impatient with something. Or someone.”

“I’m impressed. You’re quite observant, my lady.”

Eleanor lowered her gaze. She didn’t want him to know there wasn’t much about him that she hadn’t noticed. There wasn’t much about him that didn’t fascinate her. “What is Sophie’s plan? And do you think it will work?”

“Yes, I think it will work.” He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his thighs and locked his fingers. “But instinct tells me I can’t guarantee I can keep her safe.”

“Then don’t let her do it.”

“She says she’s willing to take the risk. She wants Blackboot arrested. She knows it’s the only way the children will be safe. It’s the only way she’ll ever be safe.”

Caleb rose and walked to the other side of the summerhouse and stared out one of the screened windows. “Blackboot wants Sophie.”

“Wants her? Why? Because she rescues the children he’s after?”

Caleb shook his head. “He wants to make her pay for something she did.”

“What?”

“She killed his brother.”

Eleanor leaped from the bench in shock at what she’d just heard. She was stunned, horrified at the girl’s dire predicament. When she didn’t speak, Caleb turned to her.

“Blackboot’s brother raped Sophie.”

“No.” Eleanor gasped and sank back onto the bench.

“And she killed him. Blackboot’s been after her ever since.”

“He wants her dead.” Eleanor whispered, her eyes glistening in her pale face.

“He doesn’t just want her dead. He wants her to pay for what she did. And when he’s finished, killing her would have been kinder.”

Caleb watched her wrestle with what he’d just revealed, the onslaught of emotions passing visibly across her features.

“So she’s going to be the bait to draw Blackboot out, and when he gets her, you’re going to step in to rescue her.”

“Yes. If we can get to her in time.”

A lump lodged in Eleanor’s throat. “Are you sure the authorities will arrest him?”

He was silent a moment, then turned toward Eleanor with a heavy sigh.

“Yes. That’s where I was today. I spoke with Inspector Jeffers, and he’s more than eager to arrest Blackboot. It seems that every time he gets close enough to capture the brute, he escapes as if he knows the authorities are coming. He has enough charges against Blackboot to get him exiled, if not hanged.”

“Is there another way to get Blackboot without using Sophie?”

The captain shook his head.

“I’ll have as many men as possible there to protect her, but there are so many things that can go wrong.” He stepped to the bench and sat beside her, his hands pressed hard against his knees.

“Oh, Caleb,” she said. She could see the pressure he felt. Knew the risk Sophie was taking. Believed that Caleb would blame himself if something went wrong.

It seemed the most natural thing to place her hand over his. She wanted him to know that she understood the conflict that must be raging inside him. He was the protector. He was the defender of her dear ones. And he could not guarantee that Sophie would return from this unscathed.

She studied his downcast profile and knew that it was tearing him apart not to be able to reassure her.

But she understood, and reaching out to him was the most natural way to show it.

He lowered his gaze to where their hands touched, then lifted his head and held her eyes with his own. A heartfelt understanding connected them.

Without shifting his gaze from hers, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers.

At the touch of his lips, Eleanor felt a seemingly ancient ache suddenly vanish. For days she had longed to be kissed by him again. She had longed for the emotions that surged through her when he pressed his lips to hers.

He opened his mouth and demanded she follow his lead. Not to comply was an impossibility.

He stood and pulled her up with him, drawing her close and deepening his kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose to the tips of her toes. Pressed as close to him as one could possibly be, she still felt a desperate need to be even closer. When he wrapped his arms around her and nestled her against him, her heart shifted in her breast.

She should turn out of his arms. She knew she should. But the thought of stepping away left Eleanor feeling so bereft that she clung to him fiercely. She cared for him too much. He’d found a way into her heart, and she couldn’t turn him away.

She met his kisses with an ardor that astonished her and in the same breath thrilled her, and he exceeded every requirement she made of him.

Their breaths meshed, then came as one. Eleanor felt as though she were a part of him. That they were one and the same.

As wild abandon crept perilously close, Caleb lifted his mouth from hers.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he told her in a ragged whisper. “You know that, don’t you, duchess?”

“Yes,” Eleanor answered.

She stayed in his arms for several more wonderful minutes. “You know how impossible this is, don’t you?”

“I know. I have nothing to offer you.”

Eleanor heard his words, but their implication was swept away on a tide of contentment until she realized what he meant. He thought he had nothing to offer her because of the difference in their stations. As if it mattered to her that he was the son of a commoner and she was the granddaughter of a duke. Love crossed all barriers, especially manmade barriers. Surely he knew that.

What prevented them from being together had nothing to do with him. It was her. She was the one who had nothing to offer. She was the one who was lacking. She could never give him the one thing every man wanted. A child. A son. Someone to carry on his name.

Tears filled her eyes. She saw how much he enjoyed the children. Saw how sweetly he held tiny Molly. Knew that if anyone deserved to have children of his own, it was Caleb.

And that was the one thing she could never give him.