Harriet couldn’t stop the grin spreading across her face. “I told him not to go up against a boxer. They are agile.”
His gaze met hers. “Agile, hm?”
She nodded, her gaze once again moving to the door. “Is my father here?” Harriet asked, not certain why she whispered.
He paused in uncoiling her bindings. “He is.” A slight hesitation. “If you don’t want to see him, I can—”
She shook her head.
It was time to face her father.
She wriggled her arms. “Hurry.”
Leeds made quick work of the bindings. “As a seaman, I’d thought he’d be at least more adept at tying knots.”
“I don’t think he was trying too hard,” Harriet said as she rose to her feet, stretching out her limbs.
“Harriet?” a soft voice came, and her head lifted to meet the rueful gaze of her father. Her pulse leaped.
They stared at each other, neither speaking. A moment passed. Two. Three. Until Harriet couldn’t take it any longer.
“Rohan decided to meddle and—”
“I’m sorry—”
They both fell silent again.
Her father was the first to speak again, clearing his throat. “Are you well?”
Harriet stood straight. “I am well.”
He scratched his head. “I know it doesn’t mean much now, and I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, but Harriet, I am truly regretful, and hopelessly sorry for the way I dealt with this situation, with your betrothal. I should have informed you. You are my only daughter, after all.”
Emotion clogged in Harriet’s throat. She didn’t quite know how to respond. She’d imagined all sorts of scenes that might happen when she faced her father, but none of them prepared her for the remorse that wove through his apology.
That was all she really ever wanted: an apology. To know she mattered. That she hadn’t been cast aside.
Harriet hesitated. She wasn’t ready to join her father for dinner. Or pretend that he hadn’t done what he’d done. She...
A hand settled on the small of her back. Firm. Reassuring.
Leeds.
Her husband, the man of her dreams.
She nodded to herself. She couldn’t pretend nothing happened, but she could do one thing. Wasreadyto do one thing. “I accept your apology, Papa.”
This I can do.
His shoulders sagged in relief, his gaze taking in the rope on the floor for the first time. “That bastard tied you up? Should I drag him back here and beat his—”
“No need, no need,” Harriet interrupted, trailing off when two pairs of eyes settled on her. How to explain? Rohan had gone mad?
“Rohan is meddlesome when it comes to family, and he considers me family, so he once more meddled. I don’t know if Papa recalls the time when our driver drove us to the countryside...”
Her father cleared his throat. “So that was him?”
Harriet nodded.
