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And yet, he loved her for it. He’d kissed that spot that had hurt before, and made her feel like she was made of stars…

So what had gone wrong? Was it when he had learned about her wanting to be a sleuth that everything broke?

She laid her hand on her lower stomach.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We didn’t marry for love. It was a marriage of convenience. He helped me to find Spencer. I am carrying his child.”

Both her friends gasped, and Hercules and Argos looked back at them in surprise. Argos gave a questioning bark.

“Shhhh!” Calliope threw a worried glance at her brothers walking in front of her. “It’s not yet certain, and I don’t want those two to start a fuss.”

“That’s why you look green!” said Jane. “And thin.”

Calliope sighed and nodded in silent surrender.

“Oh, congratulations, darling,” said Penelope. “Our children will be cousins…and play together!”

Calliope smiled at her. “I hope they will be. I hope this pregnancy sticks.”

“Of course,” said Penelope, so beautiful and peaceful, Calliope’s heart soared. “Look, sister. Preston and I are another example that a marriage started without love doesn’t mean a loveless marriage. Ours was a marriage of hate, after all.” She threw a loving glance at Preston’s broad back. “And look at us now. He’s the love of my life.”

As though hearing her thoughts, Preston turned to look over his shoulder, and the most tender expression crossed his usually stark features. When he saw Calliope and Jane staring at him, he wiped the look from his face, but Calliope knew now how her ice-cold brother melted when he was alone with his wife.

She remembered a special look on Nathaniel’s face. The one that was just for her, when there were no footmen, no officers, no friends or family around. Just him and just her.

She missed it so much, tears burned her eyes all over again. She wished she could walk like her sisters-in-law, with her own husband just a few steps away. She wished Nathaniel would throw her that special glance that was just meant for her and no one else.

Especially now that she was pregnant, and both of their lives were going to change once again.

“And my engagement started fake,” said Jane with a chuckle. “As a ruse. We weren’t supposed to be married at all! And yet, Richard is exactly the man who made me realize I belong where I want to belong. And that where I want to belong is with him.”

They both looked at Calliope, whose heart beat hard against her chest.

“You deserve to be loved for your dreams, Calliope,” said Penelope. “Everyone does.”

“You’re lucky your husband supports your art,” said Calliope. “And Richard never once thought of stopping your school, Jane. And yet, Nathaniel took me to Kelford village and left me there.”

“Was it not because you had men following you…and thugs trying to attack you?” asked Jane carefully.

Calliope sighed. “Yes. He did panic, I know. I had just told him I may be pregnant.”

“Look,” said Penelope. “I’m not trying to excuse him by any means. That behavior is abhorrent. I’m just saying…if he left you in the countryside to protect you, that doesn’t scream to me that he disapproves of your dream. Or that he doesn’t love you. On the contrary, in his strange and twisted way…maybe he does. And he’s so terrified for you, he doesn’t know what else to do but to hide you away.”

Silence fell upon them, and only the gravel crunching under their feet and the faint sounds of conversation from their family members before them reached their ears.

“Not because he doesn’t want you or love you. But because he really, really does,” added Jane.

Calliope couldn’t really believe any of that. Logically, she believed that all of this might be true. And yet, she’d always thought of herself as someone who was too strong for a man to love.

She needed to think like a sleuth. Did she really have sufficient evidence to suggest Nathaniel did not love her? Or was he terrified to lose her—like she had been terrified of losing him when she’d seen him held hostage?

Knowing what he’d gone through when he’d lost his mother, could she imagine it was not about herself but about him? Could it be her own belief that stopped her from fighting for him?

Could the right man love her and still believe that her biggest dream sounded insane?

The sound of hooves behind her made her stop and turn around. Argos turned and growled, dashing past her, tearing the leash from her hand.

“Argos!” she cried. “Stop!” But when she saw the rider on the horse behind them, any further commands died on her lips.