Theo sat thinking about Andrew's words for a long time after he had left. Theo had always been a proud man. It was why he'd run from his duties after the death of his parents. His pride would not let him fail at something.

But then he started to try living the life they would have wanted and still his pride followed him. He wore it like a badge. At first, it was just as an act, to make people think he had it all together.

But then it became something more, until one day even he believed it. Theo liked feeling that way, in command and so sure of himself. But he had never been more insecure than he was right now, the evidence of his foolhardy single-mindedness laying before him.

Eventually, he moved his armchair over so that he could sit closer to Addie. He watched over her deep breathing for a while, marveling at her beauty as she slept. Her full lips were parted slightly, her eyelashes fluttering in barely recognizable movements, her sleek waves of hair laying around her face in a halo. But then his thoughts drew him back in and he was lost in his own self-retribution. Theo didn't know how much time had passed when Addie's voice alerted him.

"I am sorry, you know," she said quietly.

He looked up to see her large blue eyes boring into his own. He frowned and went to kneel by her side.

"What could you possibly have to be sorry about?" he asked.

"I am sorry for not telling you the truth...about who I am," she clarified.

"Hush," Theo put a finger to her lips to stop her from saying any more. "I could not help but be upset at first, but I know why you did it. I am sorry, too."

Addie shook her head in a slight movement, and Theo's finger fell away. "No, it is alright. You had a right to be mad." She paused. "I wished to tell you that night in the library. But I was not ready."

Theo bent down and kissed her forehead. "I know. I should never have reacted the way I did. I wish I could take it back, Addie. Tonight has been..." He paused, running his fingers through his hair with a deep breath. "There are no words to describe it. I am still trying to wrap my head around everything. But right now, I am simply happy you're safe."

He longed to press his lips against hers again, to feel the warmth of her body—almost as a reassurance that she was truly alright. But Theo wanted to reassure her too, and he wasn't certain if that was what she needed at the moment.

So Theo pulled away, and she was staring at him with an open vulnerability that crushed his heart.

He sighed. "I have to tell you something."

Her brows drew together. "What?"

"We cannot see each other if you wish to stay here."

Addie nodded, not seeming surprised by the statement. "Yes, I figured as much."

"It will not be easy for me to forget about you, Addie."

"You don't have to forget about me."

"Oh yes, I do." Theo ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head at the same time. "I have to forget that you are living in the same house as me. I have to forget that you are only steps away or else I will never be able to leave you alone."

Addie finally swallowed, shifting slightly on the bed.

"Why are you not married, Theodore Shepard?"

Theo flopped onto the pillow, taken aback by the question. "Must we talk of it?"

"I would rather talk of that than many other things right now."

And because of the low tone of her voice and the way her eyes fluttered around the room with uncertainty, Theo obliged in the best way he could.

"Well," he quipped with a smile, "my time has been preoccupied by a certain loquacious maid. Perhaps you've met her. She's an attractive brunette with sparkling blue eyes, shrewd, but alarmingly funny when she wants to be."

Addie swatted his arm with a reluctant, impish grin.

"What?" Theo continued. "You wish for me to be courting a lady?"

"That's beside the point, really. I've only been here a few months and you've long been a man of marriageable age. You're—wait, how old are you?"

Theo admired her matter-of-fact mood. "I am one and thirty," he answered.

She nodded immediately. That must have been about what she thought he was going to say.

"See? Precisely what I mean. You've had plenty of time to find a wife." She smirked, saying, "'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.'"

Theo emitted a long stream of air, debating what to tell her. "Quoting Austen does very little to convince me, darling. I cannot even take care of my own sister. Why would I pretend I could handle having a wife?"

Addie's nose scrunched up in an adorable look of confusion. "What do you mean, you cannot take care of Emilia?" Theo inspected the counterpane, concentrating on a loose thread in the stitching. He ran his fingers along the thin strand, avoiding the question. How quickly his life had unraveled when his father died, just as this piece of fabric was about to do.

"Theo?" Addie prompted, cocking her head to the side.

"My father knew that he was dying, and he pressed on me that I must take care of them, my mother and Emilia. But I couldn't keep the duchess from passing several years later, and then it was just the two of us left. And Andrew, of course. When Emilia came out into society, I was every bit the protective older brother. I did everything my father would have done. But Trotten fooled me when he asked permission for Emilia's hand. He was not a rake but an overt gentleman. He never spent too much time at the clubs and was a wealthy viscount to boot. But I was wrong about him, and ultimately it caused her ruination."

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed by in silence before Theo sheepishly glanced up to search for Addie's reaction. He wasn't sure what he wanted her to say, but he needed to hear something. Her head was still cocked to the side, her chestnut hair falling limply out of its pins and against her shoulder. She waited for his eyes to meet hers before speaking.

"She doesn't blame you, Theo."

"How do you know?"

"We've spoken about it. She blames Trotten, and maybe even herself a little bit, but not you."

Theo ground his teeth together and grit out, "She should not blame herself."

"No." Addie nodded in agreement. "But neither should you blame yourself."

He focused back down on the bedclothes, wrapping the loose strand around his finger, watching as his flesh grew red with the pressure. Addie's hand covered his gingerly, plucking the thread from his grasp. "Any lady would be lucky to be your wife."

Hell, he did not wish to be having this conversation. There was only one woman he could imagine as his wife, and she was assuredly not available. When Theo spoke, his voice was strained, betraying the blinding tension he felt at the thought of marrying a faceless stranger.

"And what about your previous...arrangements?" he asked, urging the subject to change.

She blinked twice, rapidly. "My arrangements?"

"With men," Theo clarified blandly, not believing for a second that he needed to spell that out for her.

A light flush had begun on her neck, growing deeper, reaching her face with an alluring, rosy hue.

"I did not have any arrangements," she murmured. Theo wasn't sure if she was embarrassed by the admission or by the topic, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I feel like there is a 'but' here," Theo said. A remote feeling of jealousy crept over him.

"There was a marriage consideration. But the prince did not seem truly interested. Likely, he had enough other possibilities that he could be choosy. And for me...well, speaking with others, particularly men, was awkward and uncomfortable." She paused before saying, "The kisses were awkward and uncomfortable, too."

A snort escaped Theo. "That cannot be true."

"I said was. Things changed after I was no longer a princess."

"Things must have, because you are anything but awkward and uncomfortable. Kissing you is anything but that."

She tilted her head up, as if offering her lips for him to take. Theo laughed shakily. "Do not tempt me, darling. My theory has been tested, and I was correct. I know your secrets, and yet, I still cannot resist you."

But then the damn woman breathed his name, reaching out to slip her hand behind his neck. Her fingers toyed with his hair.

"I specifically told you not to tempt me, Addie," he muttered, leaning in closer. Her light breathing fanned across his lips.

"Why?" Her mouth nearly grazed his as she spoke the word.

"I am attempting to be a good man," Theo answered, his eyes dropping to hers. They were bright, tempting him as much as her voice or her touch.

"You are a good man."

Theo hadn't realized how much he needed to hear those words from her after all of the ways he felt like a failure tonight, and he closed his eyes with the weight of them. And while his eyes were closed, he felt the light touch of Addie's lips against his.

"Addie," he breathed, cupping her face. And then Theo crushed his mouth to hers. Her grip on his neck tightened in response, pulling him into her. Addie kissed him with a need that Theo felt at his very core. Because he absolutely needed this woman. It did not matter whether she was a princess or a maid or whatever else.

She whimpered his name as their lips moved in sync with each other. Theo stroked his tongue against hers, allowing desire to drench him for a single moment before pulling away. His mouth slid away from hers.

Addie panted, looking up at him with barely concealed questions in her eyes.

However, Theo truly could not let their kiss continue when he desired her so acutely. And yet, he could not keep himself from saying, "Rest here tonight. Stay with me."

Addie's bewildered expression was understandable. "Theo, I cannot. You know we must distance ourselves."

"No one knows you are here right now. It is alright," Theo persisted, but she merely shook her head.

And then the opposite of what Theo had wanted occurred. Addie pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Theo caught her elbow before she could move very far, not wanting her to hurt herself with rash movements. "No, Theo," she said, "you're right. You need to forget about me."

"Goddammit, Addie. You are going to be the death of me," Theo swore, hoisting himself off the bed so that he could help her do the same. "I've already told you. I cannot forget about you."

"I—" She faltered, swaying slightly in the middle of his bedchamber, her previously expressive face wiping clean. "I am tired, Theo. I should return to my room."

Theo could only agree, his eyelids feeling heavy as he blinked. But he was hesitant to let her go in her condition.

"You should lie back down, Addie. You were injured significantly," Theo said lowly, standing close enough to her that he could help her if needed.

But he did not stop Addie as she turned toward the door. Instead, he stepped forward to walk with her, guiding her by her elbow. He half expected her to push his hand aside, but she allowed him the courtesy.

"I wish I could walk you to your room," Theo said, hoping that she would allow him that courtesy as well. "I wish you didn't have to be a maid anymore, and that I could keep you here with me. You shouldn't have gotten hurt tonight. You shouldn't have to be toiling away under my roof. It isn't fair, Addie."

But Addie only shook her head again, in obvious refusal, having no words to give back to him on that topic. "I take it that you and Andrew have decided what to do with Adam?" she asked, glancing back at him.

"He is already gone, I'm sure," Theo reassured her, "Andrew is tak—"

"No," Addie cut in firmly, "I don't need to know any more than that."

Theo nodded once, watching as Addie drew herself up, as if carrying an invisible crown upon her head. She stared at him with earnest eyes.

"Thank you, Theo."

She turned to leave, but he caught her. "Are you really going to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Go along with Andrew's plan?"

"It is who I am supposed to be, Theo. It is what I am supposed to do. " And with that, she was gone.