Gibraltar regarded her with an unnerving mixture of amusement and condescension. “Nice try, Jillian. But I’m not playing games anymore. I brought three men here for you. Only two are left, and you will marry one of them. I’ve had it with your shenanigans. You’re going to be twenty-two in a month, and either de Moncreiffe or Logan will make a perfectly good husband. There will be no more moping about and no crafty little ploys. Which one will you wed?” he demanded, a bit more forcefully than he’d intended.
“Gibraltar!” Elizabeth protested. She rose from her chair, ruffled by his high-handed tone.
“Stay out of this, Elizabeth. She’s played me for a fool for the last time. Jillian will summon up one reason after another why she can’t wed until we’re both too old to do anything about it.”
“Gibraltar, we will not force her to wed someone she doesn’t want.” Elizabeth stamped a dainty foot to punctuate her decree.
“She’s going to have to accept the fact that she can’t have the man she wants, Elizabeth. He was here and he left. And that’s the end of the matter.” Gibraltar sighed, eyeing his daughter’s rigid back as she stood plucking at the folds of her gown. “Elizabeth, I tried. Don’t you think I tried? I knew how Jillian felt about Grimm. But I won’t force the man to wed her, and even if I did, what good would that do? Jillian doesn’t want a forced husband.”
“You knew I loved him?” Jillian exclaimed. She almost ran to him, but caught herself and stiffened further.
Gibraltar almost laughed; a broom handle couldn’t have been more rigid than his daughter’s spine. Stubborn just like her mother. “Of course, lass. I’ve seen it in your eyes for years. So I brought him here for you. And now Kaley tells me that he left a sennight ago and told you to marry Quinn. Jillian, he’s gone. He’s made his feelings clear.” Gibraltar drew himself up. “I am not going to fling my daughter at some inconsiderate bastard who’s too much a fool to see what kind of treasure he’d be getting. I will not gift my Jillian to a man who can’t appreciate how rare a woman she is. What kind of father would I be to chase a man down and throw my daughter after him?”
Elizabeth sniffed, blinking back a tear. “You brought him because you knew she loved him,” she cooed. “Oh, Gibraltar! Even though I didn’t think he was right for her, you saw through it all. You knew what Jillian wanted.”
Gibraltar’s pleasure at his wife’s adoration quickly evaporated when Jillian’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“I never knew you knew how I felt, Da,” Jillian said in a small voice.
“Of course I did. Just as I know how you feel now. But you have to face the facts. He left, Jillian—”
“I know he left! Must you all keep reminding me?”
“Yes, if you persist in trying to fritter your life away. I gave him the chance, and he was too much a fool to take it. You must move on with your life, lass.”
“He didn’t think he was good enough for me,” Jillian murmured.
“Is that what he said?” Elizabeth asked quickly.
Jillian blew a tendril of hair from her face. “Sort of. He said that I couldn’t possibly understand what would happen if he married me. And he’s right. Whatever terrible thing he thinks it is, I can’t even begin to guess. He acts like there’s some dreadful secret about him, and Mama, I can’t convince him otherwise. I can’t even begin to imagine what horrible thing he thinks is wrong with him. Grimm Roderick is the best man I’ve ever known, except for you, Da.” Jillian smiled weakly at her father before crossing to the window to stare out at the blackened lawn.
Gibraltar’s eyes narrowed and he gazed thoughtfully at Elizabeth, who had raised her eyebrows in surprise.
She still doesn’t know. Tell her, Elizabeth mouthed, shooting a glance at her daughter’s stiff back.
That he’s a Berserker? Gibraltar mouthed back, disbelieving. He must tell her himself.
He can’t. He’s not here!
He refuses. And I won’t fix it for him. If he can’t bring himself to trust her, she shouldn’t marry him. He’s obviously not man enough for my Jillian.
Our Jillian.
He shrugged. Crossing the study, he cupped Jillian’s shoulders with comforting hands. “I’m sorry, Jillian. I truly am. I thought maybe he’d changed over the years. But he hasn’t. Still, it doesn’t alter that fact that you must wed. I’d like it to be Quinn.”
She stiffened and hissed softly. “I am not marrying anyone.”