Page 159 of The Language of Love

“Did you put fakes in the vault because you knew the Lorings were going to steal them?”

“The real reliquary and its contents have been in the bank vault for the last seventy-five years—after the last attempted theft. The set that is shown to the public every year is a fake.”

“But… why?”

“After the last robbery attempt, my grandfather decided that keeping such a valuable collection at Stoke was criminally foolish.”

“So, all these years people have been admiring fakes?” She snorted. “I admired fakes.”

“As did I. It wasn’t until I went to Leeds with you a few weeks ago to see if there was anything of value in the family vault that I found the originals and a document explaining why they were there.”

She frowned. “But I don’t understand. Why would Julia have gone to all this trouble to steal fakes?”

“Because she didn’t know. The letter—written in 1743—instructed subsequent Earls of Rotherhithe to keep the location of the true relics a secret to protect them.”

“But you’ve just told me.”

He slid his arms around her. “That’s because I trust you.”

“And you don’t think your cousin trusted Julia?”

He laughed. “No, Charles was smarter than that. Jenkins told me their marriage was an unhappy one even before it started. Apparently, Charles had fallen in love with the sister of a schoolmate, but my uncle had his heart set on him marrying Julia. Julia did, too, it seems. I gather she tricked Charles into compromising her so he had to marry her.” He shrugged. “All these years I believed that he’d taken part in the charade that got me thrown out of Stoke because he loved Julia. But it was just another spiteful prank.”

Annis laid her head on his chest. “Thank you for trusting me, Henry.”

Henry kissed the top of her blond head. “Thank you for marrying me, Annis.”

“Henry?”

“Yes, darling?”

“I really, really don’t have any other secrets now,” she said, her voice muffled by his coat.

Henry laughed. “Me either, love. Me either.”