Page 81 of Cloaked in Beauty

It took a few hours to get everything settled with the sheriff, the lawyers, and the Pinkerton office, but Philip gladly handled the details in order to spare Letty and her mother the grueling questions and inquiries. They had enough on their plate taking care of Letty’s grandmother. When Philip arrived at the house, Carter informed him that the physician had visited and declared Mrs. Anderson as feisty as ever, though he did prescribe no excitement or strenuous activity for the next few weeks.

Philip left Steele in the capable hands of the stable master and made his way to the house. He had a promise to keep, one that had his heart pounding with equals parts dread and hope.

Standing in front of the door, he pulled his hat off and fiddled with the brim as he summoned and discarded idea after idea regarding how to say what needed to be said. As he mentally wadded up idea number seven, the door opened on its own.

Fellows stood on the other side, a bland look on his face. “I thought the knocker might be broken.”

Heat crept up Philip’s neck. “Thanks. No telling how long I mighta stood there stewing in my own thoughts.”

Fellows opened the door wide and showed him in. Strange to fall back on customary manners when yesterday he’d had a gunfight with a would-be assassin in this very entry hall. The butler took Philip’s hat and hung it on the hall tree, then gestured for Philip to follow him to the sitting room.

“She’s been waiting for your arrival.”

Philip’s brow creased. “Mrs. Radcliffe?”

“No, sir. Miss Scarlett awaits your visit. Along with Mrs. Krouse as a chaperone, of course.” Fellows glanced over his shoulder. “She tends to doze off whenever she’s not bustling about the kitchen, though, so you’ll have some manner of privacy.”

Surprise must have shown on Philip’s face for the butler nearly smiled. “Any man capable of slaying the dragon of Radcliffe Shipping deserves a private moment with his lady.”

Oh, how he wished she was his lady. But then, that was why he was here, wasn’t it? To plant seeds and pray they grew into future happiness.

As Fellows opened the door to the sitting room, a strange familiarity hit him. Walking into this room to meet Leah Radcliffe for the first time, to hear her story, and take on her case. When he entered this time, however, a different redheaded woman rose from the blue settee to greet him. Only she didn’t wait for him to come to her. She ran to him, wrapped her arms about his middle, and pressed her face against his chest.

Had any torture ever been so sweet? It didn’t matter that they had an audience of servants discreetly looking at carpets and knitting needles, Philip folded his arms around Letty and bent his cheek until it rested atop her hair.

Man, but it felt good to hold her. Not only to reassure himself that she was indeed alive and well, but to tantalize himself with the dream that she might one day be his.

“Thank you, Philip.” She loosened her embrace and tipped her head back until he could look directly into those mesmerizing hazel eyes. “You saved us. All of us.”

He basked in her adoration, even as he warned himself not to get so lost in being her hero that he forgot to be her friend.

His arms unwound themselves from her back as he retreated a step and edged toward the sitting area. “Carter and Rusty saved me first.” His fingers slid down her arm until they snagged on hers. It seemed neither of them were ready to let go completely. “But I think we both know who really deserves the credit.”

Letty followed him to the settee and lowered herself to the cushion, tightening her hold on his hand to ensure he didn’t wander off. Biting back a smile, he acquiesced and sat beside her. Even let her hold his hand hostage without making a single escape attempt.

She squeezed his fingers, her face so earnest it made his pulse throb. “I’ve sent up so many prayers of thanksgiving in the last few hours, I’m sure I’ve made quite a mess of the holy throne room.”

His smile tugged free of its confines. “Somehow I don’t think the Almighty will mind that particular mess.”

They both grew silent, the only sound in the room the quiet clinking of Mrs. Krouse’s knitting needles in the far corner of the room.

Philip searched for the right words, but every phrase that entered his mind felt wrong.

Beside him, Letty sighed, and her shoulders dipped. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

Philip closed his eyes for a second, his heart aching at her forlorn acceptance. His need to assuage that pain overrode his need to find the right words. “I am, but not because I don’t want to stay.”

She turned to face him, her face brightening just a bit. “Do you have a new assignment?”

How easy it would be to use work as an excuse, but she deserved his full honesty. He shook his head. “No, though I imagine I’ll have one soon enough. I’m leaving because I want to give you time to discover who you are as Scarlett Radcliffe, heir to the Radcliffe fortune.”

Her face scrunched up in a frown that he might have found adorable if it hadn’t been aimed in his direction. “I know who I am, Philip. What name I go by doesn’t matter. The size of my bank account doesn’t matter, either. At least it shouldn’t. Not to the man I love. The man who I believe loves me.”

Hearing her declaration, even when said in frustration, made his heart soar. He lifted her hand from the sofa cushion and wrapped his other hand on top of where their fingers laced together. “I do love you, Letty. And I don’t care two figs about your money. I never have. What I care about is not taking advantage of your innocence and trapping you in a relationship you might later regret because you never had the chance to meet other men or experience life as one of Houston’s elite. There is another world out there that is vastly different from what you experienced on your grandmother’s homestead. One filled with advantages and opportunities you’ve never imagined. You might find that it fulfills something in you that life with a simple man could never accomplish. I don’t want to rob you of that.”

She stiffened and pulled her hand from his. “Just because I’ve lived most of my life in seclusion doesn’t mean I’m naïve. Nor am I flighty. Do you really think that if I committed myself to you, I’d look twice at another man? When I give my heart, I give it completely, Philip, and I’ve already given it to you.”

Tears misted her eyes, and his chest felt as if Radcliffe’s guillotine had just sliced through it.