Page 41 of The Miracle of Love
“Because it is none of your business.”
“I had a suitor, did you know?”
He nodded. “I know almost everything there is to know about you. The Duke of Lockbridge was sniffing around you, isn’t it so?”
“Ugh, there you go again. You really are an animal, I am convinced of it. He wasn’t sniffing me, but he did express interest in me.” She looked up at him with big, sad eyes. “He dropped me so fast, my head is still in a spin over it. He won’t even acknowledge me now. The last time we happened to cross paths, he gave me the cut direct. He did it with such flair, all his friends congratulated him on how perfectly he’d pulled it off.”
“Bastard,” Deklan muttered. “Pardon my language, but the man is an utter arse. You are better off without him. Besides, he could not possibly love you.”
“I know,” she said, emitting a ragged breath. “How can anyone now?”
He hated to see the shadows of pain in her glorious eyes. “You misunderstand me, Grace. You are beautiful beyond belief. I kissed you within a few minutes of our first meeting and still ache to kiss you every time I see you. My point is, if he knew you for months and never made any untoward advances, then he obviously cared for your dowry more than he ever cared for you.”
“How do you know? Not all men behave as you do…or rather, misbehave as you do.”
“This is where you are wrong. Men are not civilized by nature. We see a pretty thing and want to claim it. We fight like dogs if someone comes along and tries to take it from us. You are that pretty thing and if I were not on assignment, I would be kissing you into Sunday at this very moment. I would not be kissing your dowry. I would be kissing you.”
“This is what the book suggests. Well, what the book makes clear. It is hard for me to admit Lockbridge was an oaf who intended to use me as a business proposition. I suppose he wanted to acquire a share of my father’s wealth or some bit of Montford land abutting his own. Hah! He had a rude awakening, didn’t he?”
“Consider yourself fortunate Lockbridge did not stand by you. He would have made you very unhappy. You had a lucky escape from a doomed marriage. Now I am decidedly eager to read that book.”
“I need to read it again, too. Especially the chapters about the warning signs of a doomed courtship. I’ve had no experience. It is very hard for me to tell what is real and what is not, especially when the beaus are glib and quite convincing in their flattery. Well, the matter is not urgent. No one will have me now, and perhaps not ever, because of the Montford name.”
“We’ve gotten off the topic of our escape again.”
She nodded. “Oh, yes. Sorry.”
“Decide on the clothes you want to bring along. Don’t bother with elegant slippers. Take only your sturdiest walking boots. I’ll send Willow, Faith, and Auggie up to you shortly to keep you company. I don’t want you alone at any time. Remember this, Grace. You are safest in a crowd. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
He strode to the door and paused by it. “Grace…”
“Yes?”
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“There was a girl once, but I hurt her badly because she wanted me to settle down and I was not ready to do it.”
“I see. I thought there had to be. You are too handsome not to have had someone…well, you could have had any woman you wanted. What happened to her?”
“I don’t know.”
“But wasn’t she someone special to you? How could you not know? You make it a point to know everything.”
“Yes, everything about my assignments. But I did not want to complicate my life. She wasn’t an assignment. She wanted a commitment and all I wanted to do was run.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see what happens once we find the crown and you are out of danger.”
“Deklan…”
His hand tightened on the door’s knob. “Yes, Grace?”
“Will you forget me when this assignment is over?”
Chapter Seven
