“And I know I am a mad, mad bastard to ask it of you, when you could wed an earl and be a countess and be wealthy and titled. Mark my words, wewillbe rich. And my vow is this: you will not be a countess, but I will treat you like a queen the whole of your life. I will love you as though we invented love. And I will understand if the life I offer is not the one you wish to lead, and I will leave you with gratitude, and deep regret, and with my heart. For I will not give it to another. You will not see me again.”
She brushed her hand across her eyes. “Lorcan... never seeing you again... is the very worst thing I can imagine. Yes. Yes, I wantyou. All I want is you. I want to be your wife. And I cannot imagine a greater honor than to marry you.”
He closed his eyes briefly and his head dropped to his chest. His shoulders rose and fell in a great sigh.
“Oh, luv. We are going to be so happy.”
To belong forever to the person who had introduced her to herself. Wholovedher for herself. Who was oranges, black coffee, whiskey, and sex personified. To be given this fierce, precious man to tend for the rest of her days. She’d endure all ofit again—the broken heart and window escape, all of it—if it led to him.
He gathered her gently in his arms, which was where she belonged, after all. They had felt like her true home from the moment she’d leaped into them.
He kissed her like a man who knew he’d won the wager of a lifetime.
Epilogue
Dear Lord Athelboro,
I should like to thank you for the profound honor you conferred upon me with your offer of matrimony, and for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness with which you presented it.
I have taken as my guide the honesty and forthrightness reflected in your letter to write this one, and I hope you will not find my directness untoward: I am unable to accept your offer, for by the time you read these words, I will be a married woman.
I wish for you the same extraordinary good fortune with which I have been blessed, and I hope you find a life’s companion who brings to you the same joy which now characterizes my every day. I have come to believe that we all deserve it, at any age.
Yours sincerely,
Daphne St. Leger
Daphne read this aloud to Lorcan before she sent it via a messenger Lorcan had hired.
He remained motionless for a second or twoafter she’d finished, so proud of her elegant way with words, and absolutely captivated by that last sentence. For it was merely true, and this was a miracle to them both.
“You should tell him he was outbid by a rogue,” Lorcan teased.
She laughed.
Lorcan quickly obtained a marriage license and they were wed in her local church two days after she’d returned home, without fuss, fanfare, or her father in attendance.
In part because Daphne had chosen to spend the night at the local inn with Lorcan before she married him rather than keep apart for one night, or remain under the roof with her father.
She could not deny the sting of his absence. He had been invited, of course. Nevertheless, she felt for the first time in her life so light she thought she might drift away like a champagne bubble, and clearheaded, and free. And safe. Finally, at last, safe. She understood she had never fully felt this way in her life.
For Lorcan took immediate charge.
“My wife is not and will never again be a solution to any of your financial troubles,” he told Daphne’s gathered family evenly. “And I am not a bank. I will settle upon you, Lord Worth, an allowance to be managed by my Man of Affairs, and any and all purchases or investments you wish to make will require permission first. I will pay your debt, but only the one time. I will not have Daphne concerned about your welfare.” He paused. “Because she loves you.”
The words were nearly accusatory. Implicit in them, and both men knew it, were the words, “and you hardly deserve it.”
Daphne might forgive her father. Lorcan might forever struggle to, however.
Daphne and her father locked eyes. Hers were sympathetic, and tentatively warm. But resolute. She would not countermand her husband.
The earl swallowed, then turned away. For perhaps the first time, a flush of shame washed his cheeks.
“I’m not a child.” Her father was seething. But he knew he had no standing.
Lorcan found it strange how closely the Earl of Worth resembled his beloved wife. His features were perhaps more chiseled. His eyes a bit darker. But the soul which peered out of them was more complicated, and less warm. Understandably, he’d not been treated to any of his vaunted charm yet.
“No, you’re not a child,” Lorcan said patiently. “You’re a grown man who ought to have taken care of his family. But you have demonstrated that you cannot be trusted with money, and harm has come to your family, and someone I cherish, as a result. Honor and a title and an estate are about all that’s left of your legacy. If you do not wish to destroy your family name forever, you will cooperate.”