Page 110 of A Duke Changes Everything
The old woman’s brows shot up like two silver doves taking flight.
“Miss Thorne is well known within the village, and well liked, Your Grace.”
“She’ll be a duchess, Lady Claxton, and while I suspect she has a better notion of how to go about being one than I know how to be a duke, I want a promise from you that she will be accepted. Warmly.”
“Others will think what they please.”
Now it was Nick’s time to narrow an eye. The noblewoman knew very well that others in Barrowmere society looked to her to lead the way.
Lady Claxton tapped her cane on the floor and sighed. “Very well. For my part, and my granddaughter’s, we shall welcome Miss Tho—” She stopped herself before continuing on. “Your duchess into our circle. Shall we start with a dinner at Claxton Hall next week?”
“Thank you.” Nick meant the words. Speaking them seemed to salve over a bundle of worries inside him.
They shook hands as Nick departed, and the old lady hung on for so long that Nick offered her a smile.
“You do know what you’re about, Tremayne? London society will be more of a challenge than Barrowmere.”
“I’m always up for a challenge, Lady Claxton.” Letting go of even the portion of disdain he’d held for aristocrats like Lady Claxton, who’d been cronies of his father, felt extraordinary. Liberating. An echo of that moment he’d finally stepped out of that damnable tower.
The blackened husk of the structure came into view as the carriage drew into Enderley’s drive. Nick drew in a sharp breath, expecting the usual wave of revulsion. But it didn’t come.
All he truly felt was anticipation, an eagerness to see Mina.
Memories of what he’d endured in the tower didn’t matter. They were just a pile of stones. Like the house and the stables and every structure on the estate.
She mattered. Only Mina and the life he wanted to build with her.
He bounded up the steps, burst through the front door, and headed straight for her office. Then he heard her voice and his heartbeat sped. The sound of conversation floated out from the sitting room where she’d tended his wounds.
Inside the room, he found her approaching the threshold with Mrs. Shepard, the lady he’d met at the vicarage. The one who’d harangued him about attending a country dance.
“Mrs. Shepard came to discuss details for the Christmas dance,” Mina told him.
He liked that her breath quickened at the sight of him, just as his heart had begun racing the minute he spotted her.
“I do hope to see you there, Your Grace.” The older woman skimmed her gaze over his bandaged face, a heartwarming look of concern shadowing her eyes.
“When is it, again?” Nick’s chief memory of that day at the vicarage was of Mina, sitting in the corner, watching his every move. He’d spent most of the hours trying not to turn and gaze back at her.
“The Sunday before Christmas, Your Grace.”
“What do you think, Miss Thorne?” Nick turned to Mina, and his skin instantly warmed. Would it be this distracting to be near her when they were wed? “Will the ballroom be finished by then?”
“Our ballroom?” She let out a little gasp that made his pulse jump and his groin tighten.
“Yes, our ballroom.” He did like the sound of that.
“I believe so.” Mina glanced at Mrs. Shepard and then back at him, lips parted, dimples flashing as she broke into a smile. “Would the village planning committee like for us to host the dance here at Enderley, Mrs. Shepard?”
“Why, yes,” the older woman sputtered. “Yes, of course.”
Nick waited impatiently while Mina saw Mrs. Shepard out. This desperate anxiousness was new. He was a man who’d spent years relishing his solitude, pretending loneliness never touched him.
Mina made him see that he hadn’t loved being alone so much as he’d feared allowing anyone close. Now he craved her after five minutes of separation. How had he ever imagined they could live apart?
The sweetest bit was knowing that even when they were apart, she’d return.
When Mina stepped into the sitting room, he swept her into his arms and kissed her.
