Page 24 of Secrets of a Duke's Heart
“They are an insular group,” Clarissa agreed. “But aren’t you worried about being caught?”
“It’s crossed my mind a few times. I want to get out of this, but if I do, I lose a connection with the villagers. They could turn me in to save themselves.”
“You might have considered that before going down this path.” She sighed. “What’s done is done. I will keep your secret, of course. Now that they have their smuggler, the Waterguard will hopefully take their win and leave us alone.”
“I don’t have much hope of that. Leacham will have won his promotion at last, but as long as there are tariffs, there will be smuggling in Cornwall. Which means there will be Riders patrolling the shore.”
“They wouldn’t stop and search a viscount’s coach,” she said with more certainty than she felt.
“I have been banking on that idea for years,” he said ruefully. “I am searching for a way to get out of this with my dignity intact. I need a little while longer.”
“I shall help you evade the law in any way I can,” she promised. “You’ve done so much for the Penfirths. We owe you, even if the rest of my family doesn’t know how much.”
He tugged her into an embrace. “You’ve always been my favorite cousin, Clarissa. You deserved better than what you got on the marriage mart. I hope you and Montague can come to an agreement.”
“Never mind that,” she said briskly, pulling away after giving Nathaniel a quick squeeze. “It’s nice to know I have your approval, but I cannot marry a man I barely know. Especially when he keeps so many secrets.”
“He still hasn’t told you?” her cousin asked.
“Told me what?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head tiredly and scrubbed his face as if the weight of the world sat upon his shoulders. “I’m sure he has his reasons, though I think he’s being a fool.”
“I had better go and check on Miss Turner,” she said, keen to avoid further speculation. If Mr. Montague were a smuggler, then he might not be as wealthy as she had believed. Yet if he wasn’t, how had he made a match for Harriet with an earl?
Nothing was adding up.
“How is she?” Nathaniel interrupted her thoughts.
“Unharmed and in love with her scallywag. She insists she won’t marry Lucarran.”
“That will be a blow to Montague.” He patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Whose side will you take?”
“Hers, obviously. It’s her life. Her wedding. Not his.”
“You aren’t worried that she wants to throw over an earl for a lowborn smuggler?”
“Frankly, it sounds like the earl was willing to marry Miss Turner out of pity and avarice for her dowry, despite her low birth. Why should the title matter more than love?”
“I never thought you were a romantic.”
“I am, though. The only reason to marry is for true affection and respect. If one does not have those, all the money in the world won’t make up for it.” She ducked her chin to hide a wry smile and scuffed her slipper on the floor. “Or at least, that’s what I tell myself to salvage my pride after the way I was thrown over by Bertram.”
“I fear I have no choice in the matter. I never asked for a title. I was glad to have it at first. But now, ten years in and still struggling to get my feet under me financially…” He trailed off. “It’s past time I accepted reality and started looking for an heiress. Any heiress will do. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to make an introduction.”
“Alas, all my previous acquaintances have abandoned me to my lonely spinsterhood. Even if one had all the money in the world, I would not recommend her to my favorite cousin. You deserve a wife who lights up every time she looks at you, the way Harriet does when she’s talking about her French smuggler.”
“The way you perk up whenever you hear Montague’s name,” Nathaniel said softly.
“But he doesn’t react the same way when he hears mine.” Clarissa gave him a quick, sad smile and began walking away. This conversation was too heartfelt and too heavy. She couldn’t help but overhear her cousin’s parting question, however.
“Are you sure about that, or are you too afraid of getting hurt again to notice?”
CHAPTERELEVEN
Jude paced the library while Harriet stood straight and stubborn, hands clasped at her waist. He’d never seen that mulish expression on her face before.
After all the trouble he’d gone to in order to keep her ordeal under wraps, she wanted to marry her abductor.
