Page 67 of The Earl She Once Saved

“But you can rely on him,” he promised.

The words settled somewhere beneath her ribs.

At that moment, Win entered with a tray.

“I do not want it.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you bring it?”

“Because you need it.”

Verity took the cup. The drink was warm and smelled of honey, lemon, and something sharper beneath it. Brandy, probably. Win stood beside her while she drank, with one hand resting upon the back of the chair.

Ezra watched them.

“You are very fortunate,” he said.

Verity glanced at him.

“To have Mrs. Hale.”

Ezra’s eyes lit up. He looked at her as though she were a fact upon which the room depended. Verity understood the feeling.

Win lowered her eyes. For a moment, Verity could see the smile Win tried to conceal.

“She has been beside me through everything,” Verity said.

Win’s hand moved against the chair. Verity thought of creditors at the door, accounts spread across the table, and nights when the silence of the house felt like another debt she could not pay.

Win had always been there.

So had Sergeant.

The thought struck without warning.

Verity put down the cup.

Win moved closer. “My lady?”

“He should be here by now.”

Ezra looked toward the clock. Almost two hours had passed.

“Rafe will not leave him,” he said.

“What if he cannot find him?”

No one answered.

“What if Sergeant has fallen? There are hollows near the wood. In this rain, he might—”

“Don’t,” Win said quietly.

Verity turned upon her. “Don’t what? Consider what may have happened while we sit beside a fire?”

“Punish yourself with what you cannot know.”