Page 61 of The Miracle of Love
Grace had been going on about his heart when all along these feelings of love started with the brain. But he understood the deep connection that could develop between two hearts.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye and noticed Grace had now donned one of her plain gowns, a woolen one the color of dark chocolate. The girl could wear a burlap sack and still look stunning.
He read on, sailing through the first chapter on the man’s two brains since Grace had lectured him on it enough that he was familiar with its elements. Low brain was the sexual brain, the unthinking, need-to-mate brain. Blessed saints! Had he not exhibited every possible low brain urge to mate with Grace just now?
Body on fire, organs in spasms. Thetailof his snake tattoo ready and willing to perform its happy dance inside of her?
He rubbed a hand across the nape of his neck and groaned.
Grace cast him a worried look.
“I’m fine,” he lied. “Just realized I forgot something.”
“What did you forget?”
“It isn’t important.” He returned to the book and pretended to read. It took him a moment to calm before he could actually resume reading next about the male’s high brain. This was the selective brain, the one that would lead him to choose his right partner.
Grace.
Who else would it ever be for him?
The five senses came next, and he took a little time reading those chapters because he wanted to think about how this inexperienced innocent had managed to devastate each and every one of his finely honed senses.
Grace came to sit beside him at the table once Suzie had finished assisting her and left to return to her duties. “Where have you gotten to?”
“I’ve just finished the chapters on the five senses.”
She leaned closer to read along with him, sending him into spasms again with the warm, fruity scent of her skin. “I think the most important thing I learned about using the senses,” she said, unaware of her effect on him, “is not to lie to myself about what they reveal.”
“What do you mean, Grace?”
“Well, sometimes we want a thing so badly, we ignore the warning signs. You know, the dangerous rocks ahead. Do not sail in these waters. Yet, we sail ahead and crash straight into them only to leave our heart in splinters. I think this often happens with young women because we are pushed toward making a match from an early age. We are given lessons on charm, grace, etiquette, and then tossed onto the marriage mart after having been sheltered all our lives and having no idea what to expect. We are told to keep smiling until we land a duke or other suitable title.”
She cast him a wistful glance and continued. “We put on a cheerful face and I suppose the bachelors do the same. But what is real and what is feigned? Lockbridge did not think twice before jilting me, but did I see the warning signs in our earlier encounters? Toward others, he was all the things one expects in a duke, pompous, arrogant. Haughty. Did I make note of those qualities and put them down as danger signals? No, I did not.”
“And he hurt you,” Deklan said, aching for her because that cur had truly smashed her against the rocks with his disdain.
“I was embarrassed, confused. Caught unprepared, although I should have been ready for the worst having seen his treatment of those beneath his station. He was all sweetness and charm to me until then.”
“It isn’t your fault, Grace. How were you to know? It was impossible for you to see the real man when he hid so much of his true nature from you. He was your first beau and waging a campaign to win your heart.”
“Had I read this book, I might have been better prepared. How would you have responded toward me after my family’s downfall if you were Lockbridge, Deklan?”
He arched an eyebrow. “If I were courting you when your family scandal exploded onto the front pages of every newspaper in London?”
She winced. “It does sound awful, doesn’t it? Perhaps I should not be so hard on him. After all, he is a duke and no doubt also pushed by his family to make an advantageous match. He is probably still mopping his brow and giving thanks for his lucky escape.”
“Perhaps. But what would I have done? It would depend on how deeply I cared for you. Had I wanted to marry you, I might have put a halt to our courtship until I gathered all the facts. Yet, whatever my decision about marriage, I would never have ridiculed you in front of my friends. If you were innocent and as much a victim of your family’s wrongdoing as anyone else, I would have stood by you and been a friend to you for as long as you needed me.”
“And earned the scorn of your own friends?”
“If anyone of them turned their back on me, then he was never a true friend of mine. But as for me, I would have helped you because it is the right thing to do. I would not care what thetongossips think. Offering to find a place for you and your family, perhaps helping to pay for it, is what I would have done. When the dust cleared and I knew you were not involved in any of your family’s wrongdoing, it is likely I would have married you.”
“Even if it made you a social outcast forever?” In the next moment, she laughed and shook her head. “Silly me. You would not care a whit for what anyone else thinks.”
“To be fair, I am not a duke and do not have an ancient title to uphold. Therefore, I am at liberty to do as I please.” He raked a hand through his hair and studied her. “Not that duty to his title excuses Lockbridge’s behavior toward you in any way. Unfortunately, you learned a hard lesson, that holding a title does not make one noble in character.”
“It is one I will never forget.”
