Unrequited Love

by Rebecca King

  “You know about that,” was all she could whisper.

  “He told me this morning, and I did not give him permission to mention it to you. He did it without my knowledge and I certainly would never ask you to move on. Why would I? How could I suddenly change my mind when not but an hour previously I had told you and your family that you were welcome to stay for as long as you want? I wasn’t lying when I told you that I get lonely in that house. It is beautiful, but massive and far too big for one person. It has been fun having your sisters’ lively chatter, and someone to talk to and laugh with. For the first time in a very long time, I truly feel as if the house is a home, a proper home that I can live in and have fun in and simply be myself in. I don’t want all the pomp and circumstance most people adore. I don’t want to spend my days bowing and curtseying to the people I want to spend time with. Regardless of my title and wealth, I am just an ordinary person with the same wants and needs as everyone else. I hope you see that.”

  “I confess that I didn’t,” Sian sighed.

  “Be honest with me, Sian. I think that after all of the help I have tried to give you it is the least I deserve.”

  “You deserve so much more,” Sian whispered. “You have been more than generous toward me and my family. You could have delivered me safely back at my father’s house when you rescued me off that ledge, but you didn’t. You brought me back here and looked after me yourself. Not only that but you let my family stay and have helped Martha and Isambard secure a future together. Further, you have done everything possible to stop Wilhelmina and her machinations. I have so much to thank you for but have no way of ever repaying you.”

  “Then do so by being honest with me.”

  “I am.”

  “Are you?”

  “How could you doubt it? Why would you think I am lying? What would I have to lie about?”

  “I asked you to meet me the other day. Why did you not come?”

  Sian blinked at him. “Pardon?”

  Ryan looked at her. He mentally cursed at the blank look on her face. “Did you not get my note?”

  “What note?” Sian stared at him. “You sent me a note?”

  Ryan nodded.

  “Wilhelmina,” they said in unison.

  “She must have taken it to stop you meeting me,” Ryan sighed.

  “I am surprised you still talk to us,” Sian breathed.

  “Why do you think I have helped you so much?” Ryan asked suddenly.

  “You sort of got dragged into my family problems, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t have to be.”

  “But you are my father’s business partner. I confess, I am responsible for you being embroiled in my family’s problems. I should not have kissed you in my father’s study.”

  Ryan sighed. “I could have let you leave and then warned your father never to allow it to happen again. Instead, I followed you and kissed you again. Why do you think I did?”

  “To warn me off. You told me that I wasn’t ever to kiss you again.” Sian looked at him.

  Inwardly, she shied away from mentioning the main issue she absolutely, positively refused to acknowledge in front of him: her love. She loved him. It was as simple as that. What she couldn’t do was tell him, could she?

  “Why have you always ignored me whenever you came to see my father?” she began.

  “I wasn’t ignoring you.”

  “But you barely spoke to me,” she chided.

  Ryan shook his head and stared absently at the aisle while he contemplated the many occasions that he had visited Arthur, but only so he could catch a glimpse of Sian.

  “I have left your house far too many times than I care to count with a melancholy that I have struggled to shake off,” he murmured. “I have tried to ignore my need to visit but am unable to stay away. Even though I have tried to stay away from you and everything to do with you, my father seemed determined to thwart me. When I did manage to get to a point where I didn’t need to meet with your father, my father stepped in and always came up with a new business venture or proposition that needed Arthur’s involvement. Like a sop, I was always compelled to visit your father because my father was too busy.”

  “You could have asked Arthur to call upon you,” Sian pointed out.

  “It wasn’t your father I wanted to see, Sian. It was you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you. I have only gotten myself involved in the business dealings between your father and mine to be able to have a reason to visit your house whereupon I have always lingered long enough to be able to catch sight of you. Like some love-struck fool, I have been unable to do anything about it. Since the first moment I saw you when I was fourteen, I have been unable to forget you. You were so pretty that day, but so untouchable. My father told me that you were young and needed to mature before you could ever be considered old enough to marry. Strangely, though, he never warned me away from you. He always told me to give it time and see what happened as I grew older. I never understood what he meant by that.”

  “Now you do?” Sian was too afraid to even breathe for fear of stopping him from talking. She stared at him, more than a little shaken by his revelation.

  “You liked me?” she asked incredulously.

  “I loved you. From day one. I was fourteen at the time and as soon as you walked into your father’s study and dipped into a curtsey, that was it for me. My heart was taken and that was that. I have done everything possible to try to get it back but am thwarted at every quarter. Part of my wish to try to conclude my business with your father was driven by the need to put some distance between us so I could try to take steps to forget about you.”

  “Did you not stop to think that I might have some affection for you?” she whispered.

  Ryan turned to face her. “Do you?”

  Sian nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to speak. Tears sprang into her eyes. “You never once gave me any idea that you might feel any kind of affection for me. You were always so cold and remote. I thought you didn’t like me. I think it was part of the reason why I kissed you in my father’s office. It was important to me to try to shake you a little; as much as you shake me. I wanted you to stop seeing me as your business partner’s daughter and more of a female in my own right, but of course then father messed everything up and started ordering me around like I was one of the servants.”

  “Sian.”

  “I am sorry for that; kissing you that is. It was rude, and forward, and not something any refined lady would do. Norman was right to warn me away from you. I don’t belong in your world.”

  “Did you not enjoy living in the house with me?”

  Sian blinked at him. “Of course. I love the house. Its delightful. How could anybody not adore living there?”

  “But you want to leave it.”

  Sian looked so miserable that Ryan fell to his knees before her and caught her chilled fingers with the warmth of his.

  “If you had defiantly stayed you would, in a roundabout kind of way, have proven that you were staying just to make the most of living in a house you otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to live in. You would essentially be taking advantage of my generosity and using my name and status to thwart your father’s matrimonial endeavours. However, you didn’t. You were hurt and hurriedly packed to try to do what was right for me. To protect my family name, I think you said. It proves that you were not doing anything other than what I said it was perfectly fine to do; stay until you recovered. I enjoy your company, Sian. I confess I did have an ulterior motive. I had hoped that spending some time at home with me would make you see me more of a man and less of a lord of the manor.”

  “I have seen the man you have grown into take charge of situations with a calmness and authority that reassured everyone around you. You have been nothing but kind and generous and have not once ordered anybody around. Your staff adore you. Your friends adore you. My father deeply respects you.”

  “What about you, Sian? How do you feel about
me?”

  Sian blinked at him. Time froze. The world receded. There was just him and her, sitting alone in the church, holding hands; closing the distance between them; uniting against the world in a way that bound them together and made them stronger, and more able to face the world when it did intrude on this private moment.

  “I-I-”

  Ryan grinned. “You can say it, you know. Lightning won’t strike you. I won’t make any rude gestures. It won’t choke you.”

  Sian studied him.

  “Say it,” he breathed. “I love you.”

  Sian fought a smile. “I love you, all right? There, I have said it. It is true. I have for a long time, if I am honest. It is part of the reason why I kissed you in my father’s office.”

  “What is it?” he whispered when he sensed her reticence.

  Sian sighed. “It doesn’t matter how much I love you. I don’t belong in your world. I have no idea what to do at any of your grand social occasions. I shouldn’t even know where to begin to host a lavish ball, or any of the other social functions you frequent.”

  “I don’t go to many. I shirked them years ago when I became marriageable and started to feel hunted by every lascivious matchmaking mama who crossed my path,” Ryan admitted with a careless shrug. “I was already in love. With you. I always have loved you. I do love you. I always will love you. It is that simple. We must stay together, Sian. Please don’t go to your aunt’s. You and your family are more than welcome to stay at the house with me. I don’t mind at all. Norman can rest assured that you are not taking advantage and that you do return my affections. We need to spend some time together, don’t you think?”

  Sian nodded jerkily but struggled to focus on him because of the tears that pooled in her eyes.

  “I love you, Sian,” Ryan whispered.

  “I love you too,” she replied shakily.

  “Stay.”

  “I should love to,” she laughed.

  When Ryan stood up, he hauled her into his arms. With a laugh of pure delight, Sian clung to him when he lifted her off her feet and twirled her around in a circle.

  “I love you,” she repeated, pouring every ounce of the pure adoration she felt into that heartfelt sentiment.

  “Finally. I thought I was going to have to do something rash to shake it out of you,” Ryan chided ruefully.

  “Well, you weren’t all that forthcoming yourself,” she retorted with a rueful grin.

  “Now that we have confessed our true feelings, what are we going to do about the wolves baying at the door?”

  They turned to watch the huge iron loop twist as the latch was lifted. Thankfully, the locks prevented the new arrivals from gaining access but that didn’t stop them trying.

  “I think you should know that Cedrick and Wilhelmina face arrest. Not just for abducting you but for running up bills and leaving establishments without paying. The magistrate has most probably arrested them by now, but he will want to talk to you about what happened in town.”

  Sian swiftly told him.

  “Well, they won’t ever be in a position to do anything like it again,” Ryan assured her. He eyed the aisle behind them. “Of course, there is a way of making sure that nobody ever comes between us now that we have finally found each other.”

  Sian turned to look at the altar, which sat in regal splendour at the end of the long aisle.

  They looked at each other.

  “Marry me?” he pleaded gently. “I cannot bear the thought of you moving back home to stay with your father. I want us to be together all the time. We deserve a chance at being happy, don’t we? I have loved you forever. Don’t ever expect me to stop.”

  “Marriage?” Sian gulped and eyed the altar once more before she turned to study the man whom she knew she loved more than life itself. “I confess, I should be terribly miserable if I had to go and live with Aunt Sophia’s. I need to be able to see you occasionally, if only to assure myself that you truly are all right. It is what a woman does when she is in love.”

  Ryan nodded, but couldn’t stop his delighted grin from breaking out on his face.

  “Marry me,” he repeated.

  “I would be honoured to be your wife,” she breathed. A part of her was afraid to even pinch herself just in case it was all a dream. It was a fairy tale. “It’s better than a fairy tale. This is real.”

  “Better than a fairy tale,” Ryan agreed.

  “Should we tell them?” Sian nodded at the still rattling door.

  “I think we ought to, don’t you?”

  Rather than go anywhere near the door, though, Ryan gathered Sian into his arms, and sealed their promise with a very loving kiss. He now realised the dream had been nothing but a warning, driven by his subconscious need not to lose the woman he loved. He would move Heaven and earth for a chance of happiness with her. Having Sian as his wife was the very best life could offer and he was glad that Fate had been kind enough to give them a chance of a life together.

  “Name a date.” He pleaded, several moments later when he had finally released her lips. He peppered kisses down the length of her neck while he waited for her reply.

  “Shouldn’t we speak to the vicar about it first?”

  “Well, we have to post the announcement of our engagement in the newspaper, and then have the banns read, but we could be married within the month.”

  “A month?” Sian blinked at him. Her cheeks flooded with colour.

  “What?” Ryan demanded, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

  “The gossips will run rife and ask questions about the scandalous urgency.”

  Ryan snorted his contempt. “I don’t care what scurrilous gossips think. I have nearly lost you, twice now. Given half the village have already effectively told me to marry you to stop you running wild around the countryside, I doubt anybody would raise issue with our haste to marry. They will undoubtedly consider me a very wise man. Besides, they know we have known each other for many years. It won’t come as any surprise.”

  Sian leaned back to lift her brows at him. “I hope you have told them that I have only been running around the countryside to get away from lecherous prospective grooms.”

  “Well, this lecherous prospective groom has caught his prize, so no more running around the countryside, please?”

  Sian happily agreed. “I don’t intend to go anywhere.”

  “Thank God for that. I have vanquished the enemy. Cedrick and Wilhelmina are going to prison. Your father knows now that Cedrick has lied, and that Wilhelmina has been trying to force a marriage to you to try to secure her place under his roof. She has also lied about paying her rent. The money your father has given her has all been spent on luxuries but sadly not on keeping the roof over her head. She has to face justice, I am afraid.”

  “Good.”

  “Martha is going to marry Isambard. Given that he has my help now, I am sure your father won’t feel able to object to their union any longer.”

  “I think our wedding should give him more than enough to think about, don’t you?”

  “I like the sound of that,” Ryan murmured softly. “Our wedding.”

  “Forever.”

  “Forever,” he promised.

  Together, they looked at the aisle and the future that awaited them. At the other end of the church the people still rattling the door handle would bring various changes with them. Martha would marry the love of her life, and Isambard would gain his position as an accountant. His promotion earnt him an excellent reputation which made sure that his future was secure. Lucinda and Mabel would return to the house they had always lived in to give Mabel and Arthur the time they needed to work on restoring their marriage to the loving union it had once been, and everyone would eventually settle into a life of peaceful joy that chased everyone’s worries away.

  Eventually, life would move on, problems would be resolved, new relationships forged, and old ones swept aside to make way for new experiences in life.

  More importantly than any of
that, though, Ryan would spend the rest of his long, long, life with the love of his life by his side. Together, they would live in a house that was full of the joyous laughter of their children and together they would create many happy memories, just as a loving family should.

  The End.

  A TERRIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING (STAR ELITE)

  A NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS – STAR ELITE

  Book Six

  RELEASED 23rd JULY 2019

  With the Star Elite’s boss, Sir Hugo, missing and a murderous kidnapper on the run, the men from the Star Elite are busier than ever. The last thing Niall wants is to be given a new set of orders. He is disgusted, and protests most vigorously, when he is tasked with babysitting. Yes, babysitting. The somewhat stubborn, argumentative, too-clever-for-her-own-good daughter of the head of the War Office, Clara Potter. Despite his protests, he soon finds himself on the way to Gloucestershire, to the somewhat unusual little village called Serpentine.

  While he must follow orders because it is his job, those orders don’t tell Niall how he should go about making sure the petulant and spoilt Miss Clara Potter stays safe. Determined to stick to the shadows and watch her from afar, he takes to the shadows only to find them already occupied, by a slightly unnerving, far too determined suitor who is watching Clara as intently as he is.

  When Clara becomes aware that she is being followed everywhere she goes she soon does everything possible to thwart the handsome stranger. However, trouble soon catches up with her anyway because Clara seems to constantly run into the one man she is trying her hardest to avoid. She soon has no choice but to take her friends into her confidence and enlist their help to keep the rather too-handsome-for-his-own-good mystery man at a distance.

  While Niall battles inquisitive ladies at every quarter, his target finds herself in the middle of a lot of trouble. Can he rescue her before her suitor makes her vanish? Does her suitor have any links to the people behind the serious of mysterious kidnaps in Leicestershire? More importantly, when Niall returns to the Star Elite’s main investigation, will he need to join one of the new local crews who are entering into a brand new investigation of their own? Or will Fate, the Star Elite, and his own reticence toward marriage stop him from ever having his own happy ever after?