Page 82 of The Miracle of Love
“I have no idea what you are offering or why you are offering me anything at all.” She turned away and struggled with the lacings of her gown. “The horrible thing about it is I do love you. You are right. My heart is bursting with love for you. I can hardly think or breathe, I love you so much. And truth be told, I am on the verge of giving in and accepting you because having crumbs of you is better than having nothing of you at all.”
She stopped struggling when he put his hands on her body and started to untie them for her. “Hold still, you’ve got them all knotted.”
“Just like my heart.”
“Oh, Grace…do not put yourself through this. I am not going to leave you once this assignment is through.”
“Well, you are not going to marry me either.”
“Yes, I will.”
She shook her head as she turned to him. “Deklan, I am only nineteen. I am not of age to marry without my father’s consent. Do you think he gives a care for my happiness? He will demand his freedom and more in exchange for it. He will not hesitate to use me as his bargaining chip. So let us not even have this conversation. Even if you were truly willing–”
“Damn it, Grace. Of course, I am.”
“Says the leopard desperate to climb back in his tree. Even if you were, what do you think the chances are of my father ever agreeing?”
Chapter Thirteen
The next fewdays passed uneventfully and it was now the morning of Christmas Eve. Deklan knew his cousins must have reached London and handed the crown over to the Duke of Wooton by now. Not only handed it over to him, but negotiations were likely underway to return the crown to its rightful place.
For all he knew, the foreign agents had already been called off and told to return home. Even if not yet, those orders would be imminent. Grace was safely out of sight in Brighton while frantic political maneuvering was going on elsewhere.
Where was Grace?
He went in search of her and found her reading in the library. That he had any books in the house was a fortunate circumstance. Dahlia had thoughtfully supplied some to fill his empty shelves. “Ah, there you are.”
She glanced up from her cozy nook and set her book aside. “You’re back. I did not hear you return.”
He had done a quick turn about the area to make certain all was quiet, something he did often throughout the day, not only to scout the streets, but also to get out of the house.
He was not good at staying in one place too long, even with someone as tempting as Grace to keep him close. Well, she would always keep him close. It was his restless nature and the confinement of four walls that had him tense and prowling.
Waiting for danger to happen only made things worse. “The Bramsons are throwing a party tonight,” he said of their neighbors. “I encountered their son off on an early morning errand and he invited us.”
She looked at him with a mix of hope and surprise in her expression. “Did you accept the invitation?”
“No, of course not. I politely declined. Too much of a risk to have you seen yet. Not only from those foreign agents.”
“I know,” she said, obviously disappointed. “I’m in as much danger being recognized by society acquaintances. I may be able to tolerate their ridicule most times out of the year, but not at Christmas. This is a time of charity and good cheer.”
“What does it say of those who would show you none? It speaks worse of them than of you.”
“I do not even want to think what they’ll say when they find out I have been traveling with you. Unmarried and in close quarters.”
“Grace, all this will pass.”
“The foreign agents, yes. But the scorn of society? That will take another decade. Even then, it will require some other shocking scandal to knock it out of everyone’s memory.”
He put his hands on either side of her chair and leaned close. “And scandal always does come along. That is the beauty of a man’s low brain, always getting him into trouble whether he is a butcher, baker, duke or prime minister.”
She smiled, but there was not much mirth in it.
He could not blame her. She had also been trapped inside for days, and although it was a lovely house, one could only stare at the walls for so long before growing bored enough to climb them.
He had gone out a few times to run some errands in addition to regularly searching the area, but Grace had not even been allowed to stick her head out the window.
He gave her cheek a light caress. “Only a few more weeks, then it will all be over.”
