Gil recovered from his shock as Edward Croydon clapped his hands together and said, “That went well, I think.”

A sudden burst of betrayal filled him. No, it hadn’t gone well at all. He cleared his throat and made a curt bow to Alex and his brother. “Excuse me, sir,” he said, his voice rough.

He turned to go, but Alex stopped him with, “Hold on a minute, Phillips.”

With his jaw clenched, Gil turned to face his employer. “Sir?”

Alex’s expression shifted from firm and businesslike to compassionate, almost pitying. He opened his mouth, but thought better of whatever he’d been about to say. Instead, he shook his head and asked, “Do you have the valet applications?”

Gil cursed under his breath. The envelope of applications was still sitting on the table beside the door in the cottage. It had completely slipped his mind. At the same time, his lapse gave him exactly the excuse he needed to leave.

“I’ll fetch it right away, sir.”

He bowed once more, then turned and rushed out of the room. Strictly speaking, he should have waited to be dismissed, but with his world on the verge of falling apart, he was willing to risk a little insubordination.

He caught up with Ruby on the second-floor landing.

“What was that?” he hissed, glancing around to be sure that no one, other than James, was around to overhear them.

At least Ruby respected him enough not to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. She sighed, resting her hand on his chest, over the coat that he still wore.

“I knew you’d be upset,” she began in a low voice, her eyes downcast. “But it’s really the best outcome we could hope for.”

“Best outcome?” Gil sputtered. He was on the verge of losing his temper in a way he hadn’t in years, but with James standing by Ruby’s side, holding her other hand and glancing curiously up at him, he had to keep it in check. He leaned closer to Ruby and whispered, “The best we could hope for is that you marry me.”

Ruby’s face pinched its way through half a dozen emotions before settling on painful resignation. She looked up at him. “I love you, Gil,” she whispered. “But we both know that marriage would be a disaster.”

“It would not,” he argued, louder than he should have been. Agony raged inside of him, making him restless and reckless.

Ruby remained far calmer. She glanced quickly to James, then back at him. “My reputation is in tatters,” she said. “And your star is rising. You could be a truly great man someday, but the world will always know who I am. You will always know who I am.”

“You’re the woman I love,” he insisted, taking her hand from his chest and holding it with both of his.

She shook her head all the same. “I want to believe that the world is a good and forgiving place, Gil. I want more than anything to think that everyone we meet will be kind and understanding, and that they will take the circumstances of my fall into consideration. But people aren’t like that.”

“Then we’ll never speak of your past. We’ll bury it. No one will ever know.”

To his surprise, she laughed. The reaction caused Faith to wriggle impatiently in her sling. “How do you propose to explain away this one, then?” Ruby asked, pulling her hand away from him to rest on Faith’s back.

“Plenty of men have married widows with children from before,” he said, feeling as though he was losing his grip on a cliff-face, and that a hundred-foot drop awaited him.

Ruby shook her head. “Too many people know my past already. And if they didn’t, there are dozens of newspaper stories with my name written into the headlines, saying exactly what I’ve done.” She sighed, stepping close enough to rest a hand on his cheek. “I love you, Gil, but it wouldn’t work. Mr. Edward has offered me the most reasonable opportunity that will ever come my way. In his household, I could have a roof over my head, food on my plate, and above all else, I could fade into anonymity. I’d be a fool not to take it.”

“It’s not the best option you’ve been offered,” Gil insisted, pain radiating through him, centering in his heart. His head had long since given up fighting.

But all she said in response was, “I’m sorry.”

She sent him the saddest smile he’d ever seen, then lowered her hand and walked on. More than anything, Gil wanted to run after her and continue to argue his point. Love should have conquered all, but it was on the verge of being beaten by mundane, practical fate.

He stood where he was, fighting to steady his breathing and debating whether to continue to run after Ruby or not. He could continue to argue with her, but the resolve he’d seen in her eyes was like an insurmountable wall. If he was going to convince her that the two of them were meant to be together, and that her past didn’t matter to him, he was going to have to work harder.

He let out a breath and turned to march back along the hall and down the stairs. Like it or not, he had other duties to attend to. But the quick walk back to the cottage through the snow was exactly what he needed to cool his temper and steady his thoughts. Ruby wasn’t seeking to betray him, he told himself as his breath puffed in icy clouds in front of him as fat, white flakes collected on his shoulders, she was trying to protect him. Just as he was trying to protect her. It was a sign of love, not rejection, and if they loved each other, like he knew they did, there had to be a way through the impasse.

By the time he returned to the library with the envelope of valet applications for Alex, he’d worked through several solutions to the problem. He was able to approach Alex with an ironclad resolve to make a life for Ruby that they could both be happy with.

“That was an odd departure,” Alex said as Gil handed him the envelope. He wore a knowing look and raised his eyebrow in question.

“My apologies, sir,” Gil said, clasping his hands behind his back and standing straight.

Alex studied him for a long, uncomfortable moment before walking to his desk. He opened the envelope and took out the dozen or so papers inside. “Did you take a look at any of these? Do you have any favorites?”

A twist of embarrassment pricked Gil. “No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t had time.”

Alex glanced back to him, his expression as curious as it was cautious. “I sent you to get them just after luncheon. It’s almost supper now. What did you do with that time?”

A splash of heat hit Gil’s face that he couldn’t control. He knew how guilty he must have looked, and lowered his head. Images of tangled sheets and Ruby’s lush, naked body shot to his mind, and as hard as he tried to banish them, they went nowhere.

“I see,” Alex said, his tone and arched eyebrow hinting that he could guess everything. What Gil couldn’t assess was whether he approved. “You and Miss Murdoch have become very close, haven’t you?”

Gil cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. And to be honest, it’s something I would like to speak to you about.”

“Oh?” Alex put the applications aside and stepped away from his desk.

“Yes, sir.” Gil nodded, stiffening his posture. “I’d like to marry Miss Murdoch, sir.”

Alex’s expression dropped to a frown. Gil’s hope for a quick and easy outcome dropped with it. “I see,” Alex said, rubbing his chin.

“Marriage would, of course, mean that she would be unable to accept your brother’s kind offer of employment, sir. But it is my belief that Ruby would be happier in a home of her own.”

Alex didn’t reply. He continued to rub his chin, his expression growing darker.

At last, after what felt like an eternity, he sighed and said, “Not to be indelicate, Phillips, but you realize Miss Murdoch is below you.”

Gil clenched his jaw and had to fight to loosen up enough to say, “I disagree, sir.”

Alex let his arms drop and paced to the side. “I understand that you’ve grown very fond of her indeed, but a woman of her background is hardly a match for a young man on the rise, a young man with a promising future in the business and political world. Even if you don’t stay in my employ forever.”

It was clear Alex was attempting to compliment him in the highest way, but it felt like an insult all the same. “I love her, sir.”

“And I take it she loves you and wishes to be your wife?”

Gil couldn’t answer. More heat flooded him. He cursed over the fact that he probably looked like a Christmas candle. “She loves me,” he admitted, “and she will see in time that marriage is the best option.”

Alex’s brow rose. “So she has not agreed to marry you?”

Frustration had Gil clenching his fists behind his back where Alex couldn’t see them. “She does not want to hinder my career, sir, but I have assured her that her love and support could only lift my place in the world.”

Alex let out a breath and shook his head, pacing toward Gil. He stopped in front of him, sitting against the edge of his desk and crossing his arms. “Phillips…Gilbert,” he began, his tone paternal, his caring expression stabbing Gil with unexpected affection, “I know that you love her. But if what you’re telling me is true, Ruby may be trying to tell you what love is preventing you from seeing.”

“I will not be convinced that Ruby is undeserving or unworthy of all the love I can give,” Gil insisted.

Alex hesitated. “I’m sure she’s worthy of love. By someone. But you must also admit that Miss Murdoch has earned several marks against her.”

“She did not earn them, sir,” Gil insisted, his temper on the rise. “Those marks were thrust on her through no fault of her own.” If only he had argued so vehemently with himself months ago.

“It was her trust of Miss Goode that led to my son being kidnapped,” Alex said, a little less of the father about him and a little more of a man looking for justice. “She could have been the death of a child, the end of my line.”

“It was not her fault, sir.”

Alex arched a doubtful eyebrow. Gil was certain he would continue to argue the point, and he was ready with every counter argument Clara Fallon had used against him. But instead of continuing, Alex sighed and stood.

“Have you ever been in love before, son?” Alex asked, the paternal look back in his eyes.

Gil’s lips twitched, and he nearly spat out an answer several times before stopping and taking a breath. “No, sir. Not like this.”

Alex nodded. “You have your whole life ahead of you, Gilbert. Take it from an old man like me. Love can happen more than once in a lifetime, and your first love might not be the one to last the rest of your life.”

It was all Gil could do to swallow his anger at Alex’s patronizing tone. “Just because you had to wait until now to find the woman you were meant to be with doesn’t mean I should have to do the same. I love Ruby. More than that, she needs me. And dare I say it, I need her as well.”

“I’ve no doubt you believe you do,” Alex started.

“There is no believe about it, sir. I know it to be true.”

Alex sighed. “You are a brilliant young man, Gilbert. I’ve made my feelings clear, and I’m afraid I have to stand by them. While Miss Murdoch may be a kind and beautiful woman at heart, she has decided faults that cannot be recovered from. Should you marry, the sins of her past will become your cross to bear.”

“Then I will bear it with strength and patience, sir,” Gil said through clenched teeth.

Alex looked as though his patience was at as much of an end as Gil’s was. “Understand that I simply want what’s best for you, son. I want you to have a long, successful career and a happy personal life.”

“Which I will have, sir, with Ruby by my side.”

“But experience tells me that it simply won’t work out that way.”

“Forgive me if I disagree.”

Alex pursed his lips, frowning. “Very well,” he clipped. “I do not wish it to come to this, but because I truly and honestly believe you would be making the mistake of your life by marrying a woman who has not only fallen in the eyes of society, but who has made a stunning lapse of judgment that could have spelled ruin for my family personally, I’m afraid that if you continue with your plans to marry Miss Murdoch, I will have to rethink whether it is appropriate to continue your employment with me.”

Gil felt as though someone had punched the air from his lungs. He gaped at Alex, far more hurt than he could have anticipated. “Are you telling me I’m sacked if I marry Ruby?”

Alex’s face pinched. “All I’m saying is that I would have to seriously consider the measure.”

The same ache filled Gil’s gut that had racked him when his father had left. He’d been little more than an infant then, but he was a man now. He understood the implication and the rejection. He understood how Ruby must have felt as hope after hope abandoned her, leaving her out in the cold.

“I will not abandon Ruby,” he said, his voice hoarse and shaking. “She has no one else but me.”

“Gilbert, I’m sorry,” Alex started, his expression pinched. “I—”

Gil turned away from him and marched from the room before Alex could finish. He didn’t take his leave and didn’t show his employer the respect that he should have. There would be other men to show Alex respect, if that’s what he truly wanted. Threats would in no way earn respect from Gil, though. He’d find another position, or, if his reputation was ruined to the point where he couldn’t do that, he’d work in a factory, unloading cargo on a dock somewhere. He’d do anything to prove to Ruby that he wouldn’t forsake her when so many others had.