Page 29 of Secrets of a Duke's Heart
“Why not?” He caught her wrists and pressed them into the pillow on either side of her head. “I see no reason why we must hide. We shall be married as soon as the matter of Harriet’s wedding is squared away. I will have a word with her rogue. If this is truly what she wants, then I will find a way to break the agreement with Lord Lucarran. That will give me enough time to secure Prinny’s permission to marry you. I am certain I can apply for a special license. A week from now, you’ll be my duchess.”
He let his weight press her into the mattress, savoring the feeling of her body beneath his.
“Wait. Permission? Duchess? What?”
She sat up, blinking at him in astonishment.
“I thought you’d be pleased.”
“Pleased to discover you’ve been lying to me all this time?”
“Lying?” He hadn’t lied. He just hadn’t said it outright. “You’re a clever woman, Clarissa. You had all the clues. I cannot believe you didn’t put them together. I swear I thought you knew.”
“I may be clever, but I’m not clairvoyant! How was I supposed to know you were a duke? One does not simply encounter dukes in disguise at random villages in Cornwall. This is a disaster!”
She threw back the bedspread and dressed hastily, tripping in her attempt to pull on her stockings. She plopped into the chair and got them tied.
“I thought you were a gentleman of means. Not aduke.A duke is…”
“What, Clara?” Jude had managed to get his trousers on. He needed clothes. He wanted armor, but fabric would have to do. It was better than nothing.
“A calamity,” she finished. “I cannot be a duchess. Do you understand how much certain snobbish ladies of that set despised me by the time I had my final Season? I was too plain, too inelegant, and too smart for my own good. These women would be my peers.”
“Ignore them.”
She shot him a fulminating glare. “And when Bertram or his wife decide to inform thetonthat I was stupid enough to lay with him before we had a marriage contract in place? What then?”
“Ignore them harder.”
Her wordless response of pure frustration coincided with a sharp tug on her lacings.
“Easy for you to say, Jude. But even if I could stomach putting myself in such a predicament, I will not marry a man who isn’t truthful with me about the most important aspects of his life. A duke,” she muttered as she slipped out the door, careful not to slam it despite her emotional state. “I never would have thought Mr. Montague could be a duke.”
Jude buried his face in his hands. He’d cocked this up completely, and he had no idea how to win her back.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Clarissa stormed downstairs to find her cousin.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.
“Tell you what?”
A feral sound tore out of her throat. Men. They were all in cahoots.
“Your friend is no ordinary gentleman. He is a duke!”
“He finally got around to telling you the truth.” Nathaniel smirked. She wanted to smack it off his face. “Monty doesn’t like to use his title when he’s traveling. Or at any time outside of official business with the crown. He felt it was prudent to keep his identity a secret here, especially once Harriet was kidnapped. To protect her reputation, you understand.”
Clarissa pinched her temples. She couldn’t stop moving. Her entire body felt like a beehive, buzzing with anxious energy that had no outlet.
What Nathaniel said did make a certain amount of sense. She could see it. But she still didn’t understand why he had waited until his second proposal to tell her the truth. Her head was spinning to think she had received not one, buttwoproposals from a duke.
Hadn’t she been a stalwart helper from the very beginning? From the moment he’d burst into Nathaniel’s study she was ready to aid him in his quest to find his missing niece. She had been steadfast in her efforts, even to the point of risking her own reputation to help him.
Her thighs still ached from taking him like a thorough wanton, and she had enjoyed every second of their lovemaking, too—until he ruined it. One minute she’d been thinking about quaint country estates, landed gentry at most, but then he’d upended her wildest dreams by casually mentioning a title and vast estate.
Not just any title, either. The highest in the land outside of royalty.
