Page 102 of Dare to Love a Duke
“Leave now,” Tom said, his voice brutally flat. “Or else you and I shall meet each other at dawn.”
“He’s a very good shot,” Lord Blakemere added sunnily from the back of the crowd.
Tom stared at the Duke of Brookhurst with the patience of an executioner. He took a step toward the duke. Brookhurst recoiled. Tom kept moving forward, and the duke scurried backward.
“Hugh,” he said, his voice a rasp, “come with me at once.”
A pause followed. Tom’s sister looked back and forth between her beau and the young man’s father, her eyes round with apprehension.
“I’m staying with Lady Maeve,” Lord Stacey answered flatly.
If Lucia didn’t hate the Duke of Brookhurst, she might have summoned pity for him as he registered his son’s betrayal. His face crumpled.
The crowd parted and with a guttural sound, the duke scuttled away and sped through the door. The moment he was gone, Lady Maeve rushed to Lord Stacey, and they embraced tightly.
One of the older men approached Tom, his hand extended. “Apologies, Your Grace. I believed Brookhurst’s slander, which discredits me.” He turned to Lucia and gave a small bow. “I pray you accept my sincerest regret.”
“Scuse accettate.” She made herself nod with the air of a tolerant goddess. “‘Apology accepted.’”
Before Tom, no nobleman had ever offered her a gesture of respect, but the crowd of aristocrats followed the man’s lead and also bowed.
Surely I’m dreaming.
“I hope this clears up any and all misunderstandings,” Tom answered.
“Without doubt,” the other man said readily. “And I shall personally ensure that word disseminates, exonerating you and Miss Marini of any illicit behavior.”
“Much appreciated,” Lucia said with as much regal hauteur she could muster.
“Now that’s settled...”
Tom drew in a shaky breath as he faced her. Deliberately, his gaze on hers, he lowered himself down, until he knelt on one knee.
Lucia had never once fainted in her life. Not after enduring punishing hunger or intense physical pain. Yet now she grew light-headed.
“Miss Marini,” Tom said, his voice thick as he took her hand. “Lucia,” he added in a low, urgent whisper for her alone. “I love you. Will you be my wife?”
She could not have heard right. It was impossible. And yet he looked at her with such heated reverence—there could be no doubt.
Lady Maeve gasped, and there were mutters of both pleasure and outrage from the onlookers.
“...a commoner...” “...foreignextraction...”
Before Lucia could even begin to consider how she might answer, the duchess cleared her throat.
“Miss Marini,” she said in a frosty tone. “A word. Alone.”
Tom tensed beneath Lucia’s hand, and she felt her own body go taut in readiness. Mamma used to glare at any lad who looked too long in Lucia’s direction. Surely the mother of a supremely eligible, highly sought bachelor might growl in warning at a woman who might be predatory.
After all that had transpired today, the hazards Lucia had faced, a quiet chat with Tom’s mother shouldn’t frighten her.Shouldn’t,but did.
“Of course,” Lucia said with far more serenity than she felt. She gave Tom a fabricated reassuring smile. “There’s a small chamber just down the hall.”
Her head high despite her anxiety, Lucia walked toward the room that had once held intoxicated guests. Now a trio of girls sat on a sofa and read a book aloud.
“Scusate, care,” Lucia said to the girls. “May we have some privacy?”
The children stared at the duchess with awe as they got to their feet and filed out.
