Page 65 of Engaging Sir Isaac

“Yes. You are a conniving little social climber. Like your mother.” Lady Olivia’s smile reminded Millie of icicles, cold and brittle, but dangerously sharp. “And you will do as I say, or the world will see you the way I tell it to.” In a twirl of silk, Lady Olivia departed.

“Millie.” Isaac had come at last. She looked up at him, and his whole countenance changed from one of welcome to deep concern. “What happened?” he whispered.

She shook her head and took his arm. “Isaac,” she whispered, then a tear fell. “Get me away from here for a moment. Please.”

He did not hesitate even long enough to draw breath. Isaac acted, quietly and decisively.

Isaac took hold of Millie’s forearm and unceremoniously pulled her through a side door into a less crowded room, then led her into the corridor. A turn, a few steps, and he opened another door, into a darkened room.

He shut it behind them, and he turned to Millie as she wiped at her cheeks. She leaned back against the wall beside the door and closed her eyes against the firelight in the hearth.

“Millie,” he whispered, and she felt him place his hand upon one wet cheek. “My heart, what happened?”

She laughed shakily, and leaned into his hand. “Isaac.” That one word had enough heartbreak in it, a sound of pain she knew he could not miss.

“Look at me, Millie,” he commanded gently. “Please.”

She shook her head and kept her eyes shut tight. “I cannot. I—You need to leave. I have ruined everything, Isaac. She wants to hurt you. Lady Olivia, she wants to humiliate you, to break you. And she will use me to do it. We cannot outwit her.”

Millie’s heart broke as she spoke, but when she opened her eyes, she saw fire in the man before her.

Chapter 24

“Leave? While you are in pain? Never.” Though Isaac heard her words, they made little enough sense. His beloved was broken hearted. Nothing had happened to him. Nothing would happen. But Lady Olivia had somehow crushed Millie.

“If Napoleon’s troops could not manage to put an end to me, what makes Lady Olivia think she has a chance at doing such a thing?” he asked quietly. Why would she not look at him?

“It does not matter how,” Millie whispered. “Though she wishes me to do it, I cannot. I will not let her use me like that, no matter the consequences.” She whimpered and her eyes filled with enough sorrow and dread that he could not doubt her word. But the fear unnerved him.

Isaac did not remove his hand, nor did he step back. He watched the woman he loved, the woman he had sworn to protect, even if he could not make her his own, as the hope left her eyes.

“What could that ridiculous woman do to me? To you?” he asked again, keeping his voice level, pleading with her to speak to him.

Pain flashed in her eyes. “She will turn the world against us.”

He shook his head. “Impossible. You give her and her family too much credit. They do not have the power you think—”

She gulped in a breath. “Leave, Isaac. Please. She wants to humiliate you, all because you turned down her advances. She wants to mock you.” Millie’s hands came up, grasping his wrist. “You are a kind and honorable man, and you ought to stay far, far away from Lady Olivia and people like me.”

“No.” He forced a smile, tried to soften her words with his own whispered denial. He had to tell her. She had to understand. “I love you.”

Millie made a sound part sob and part laugh. She pushed herself away from him and put her hand on the door. “Do not say that. Please.” She opened the door and slipped away without another word.

The woman he loved, the woman who had filled the gaps in his soul and made him forget all that had been taken from him, left.

It was completely unacceptable. He had lost too much. Isaac would not lose her, too.

Isaac was out the door, his long strides catching up to Millie before she could reach the stairs. Before, he had taken her arm. This time, when she turned to see who came up behind her, he tucked his right shoulder down, caught her up with her arm, and carried the protesting young woman over his shoulder to the top of the stairs. “Stop your twisting, or we will fall,” he warned.

She froze and caught hold of his waist with her arms. “Isaac, you imbecile, what are you doing?” she demanded in a hiss. “If anyone sees you—”

“We will explain you turned your ankle and I am helping you home,” he said, looking about until he saw another abandoned room to duck inside.

“What are you doing?” she asked again, in the quiet room. “Have you gone mad?”

Isaac lowered her to the ground. This room had been well lit with gas lamps, a withdrawing room for the ladies of the party, still empty that early in the evening.

“Come away with me, Millie.” He kept her hand, though she stepped away from him. “Marry me.”