Chapter Thirteen

L ola climbed to her room in the attic and sank onto the bed.

"Hey, sis." A voice came from the shadows.

Lola wondered at the power of her imagination in her hour of need. Oh, when would her brother finally return? Sobbing into her pillow, she shook her feet, but the fine slippers fit so well that they didn't fall to the floor, as if the elegant didn't want to mingle with her humble flower girl surroundings.

Lola's fingers gripped the sheets as if to hold the shattered shards of her heart together. Each tear that soaked into the fabric seemed to carry a piece of her lost hope, blending sorrow with the linen. In her quiet room, she conjured her brother's comforting voice, a bittersweet symphony in her head.

"Darling sister, why are you crying?" he asked, tone laced with concern.

She knew it was foolish, this imaginary dialogue, yet she couldn't help but scold herself for indulging in such thoughts.

"Lola, a beauty dressed in such a lovely dress, surely has a reason for these tears," he said, as usual trying to coax a smile through her grief. It was her mind's trickery, nothing more.

As she wallowed in self-reproach, an unexpected warmth caressed her back, slicing through the lonely chill that had enveloped her.

"Lola?" His familiar voice sparked a surge of hope that she dared not believe.

Startled, she bolted upright, hastily wiping away the remnants of her tears as she blinked into the dimly lit room. "Leo?" Her heart hammered against her chest, fear and hope warring within her. Could it truly be him, or was her grief-stricken mind playing the cruelest of tricks?

As her eyes adjusted and the figure before her became clearer, all doubts evaporated. There he stood, her brother Leo, alive and as real as the beating of her heart. His hair was shorter, his shoulders broader, and his face slightly sunburned, but it was him, her beloved brother.

Overwhelmed, Lola launched herself into his open arms, the familiar scent of him wrapping her in a cocoon of safety. As she clung to him, the floodgates opened anew, but these tears were different, they were tears of relief, of joy. After what felt like an eternity of despair, she finally allowed herself to believe in the possibility of happiness again, cradled in the arms of her brother, her protector, her confidant.

And confide she did.

They talked for what seemed like an eternity. He told her of his adventures on the Continent, and she told him about the flowers, her little business, and the duke.

"What if you're with child?" her brother asked when Lola hung her head, ashamed of her stupidity.

As her eyes cast down in a pool of shame, the distant clatter and murmurs outside her room slipped by unnoticed. It was only when the door burst open, ushering in a breathless Mrs. Kitty, face painted with exertion and a flicker of thrill, that Lola's world snapped back into focus. Clutching the doorframe for support, Mrs. Kitty managed between gasps, "He refused to wait."

The question, "Who?" had barely left Lola's lips, when her heart, already tightening, sensed the answer. She stood, movements shaky as she swept the remnants of tears from her cheeks, leaving trails of resolve in their wake.

Filling the doorway with his determined stance, Edmund declared, "Me!" His voice, a blend of hope and insistence, seemed to echo off the walls, circling Lola in an invisible embrace. He stood on the threshold, a testament to the persistence of love, or perhaps folly.

Lola's breath hitched, and her gaze locked with Edmund's as if the intensity of their eyes could rewrite the past. The air hung heavy with the weight of unspoken promises and regrets, the silence between them a canvas for a thousand possibilities.

Leo walked to Edmund.

Wham! He punched him in the stomach.

"Leo!" Lola came to Edmund's side as he bent over and coughed, reaching to the wall for support. "My brother… oh, Your Grace!"

"I deserved that." Edmund coughed. "I'm an idiot."

He took a deep breath and fell to one knee.

Lola's heart stopped beating. She forgot to breathe.

"May I please make this right?" Edmund asked Leo.

While her eyes followed the goings-on, Lola's mind was unable to process that this was real.

Leo nodded, crossed his arms, and took a wide stance. "If you ever hurt my sister, I'll kill you. Royal duke or not, it's all the same to me."

Edmund pinched his lips and gave a nod.

Then he reached for Lola's hand. "Can you ever forgive me for being a stupid idiot who couldn't see the forest for all the trees in Northumberland?"

Tears pricked her eyes, and her voice failed her.

"I should have never proposed a business arrangement, Lola. If I'd recognized the symptoms, I should have… I mean…I felt them, and I searched for a way to keep you close, and business was the only way I knew how."

"Which symptoms?" she asked.

Edmund blew through barely parted lips. "At first, I thought it was the summer heat, but it was you who brought my blood to boil with your beauty. Then I thought you'd exhausted me, and that's why I slept. For the first time since my parents died, I rested at night. But it wasn't the heat, Lola. Not the sun, not exhaustion, and not anything that the apothecary's teas could cure."

Lola wiped a tear with her free hand, interlacing the other with Edmund's fingers.

"But the rumor is true, you know. Miracles in medicine and matters of the heart happen at 87 Harley Street for that is where I found you, my love." Edmund reached into his pocket and produced something sparkling.

Somewhere in the distance, Mrs. Kitty gasped, and Leo cleared his throat.

But Lola only had eyes for Edmund.

"Please accept this token of my love," Edmund held the ruby necklace up. "And this is an apology bracelet to match." He produced more jewels from a different velvet-lined box he pulled from his pocket. It bore the address of the jewelry store. "This is a pair of earrings because I was so stupid, it takes more than one piece."

Then Edmund's eyes locked with hers. "And if you can find the strength in your heart to forgive me, it would be the greatest honor if you'd accept this engagement ring and agree to be my duchess."