Page 49 of A Chance to Dance with the Duke
“No,” she said quietly. “It’s humiliating to know that everyone around us pities you for being a partner to me.”
His insides came apart at the pain in her eyes.
He leaned down close. “Then they are fools, each and every one of them.”
Her brows hitched slightly, and then…finally, the music came to an end. She sighed as she took a limping step backwards. He caught her before she could lose her balance.
He was starting to understand the signs now. He’d been watching her so closely for so long, he could see when she grew tired.
With a hand at her back, he led them to the veranda.
16
Meg supposed she should feel at least a twinge of satisfaction.
For the first time since she’d made her debut, she’d danced at a ball. And she hadn’t utterly humiliated herself.
They hadn’t been the epitome of grace, to be sure, but no one had landed face first on the ground.
Surely this was a cause for celebration. But as she followed Carver out onto the veranda, her chest was too tight with nerves. There was no room for celebration.
This was the time.
Her friends were right. There was no avoiding this marriage, but they might as well go into it with a clear understanding. So before he could say a word, she said, “I wish to apologize.”
It might have been a good start to the speech she’d memorized, if he hadn’t spoken at the same exact time. “I must confess.”
For a long moment they stood there staring at one another, registering one other’s words. And then, in a moment of absolute absurdity, they did it again.
“You wish to confess?”
“Why would you need to apologize?”
They shared another long stare, but this one was filled with two nervous laughs.
She gestured to him, even as he said, “Please, if I may…”
She nodded, and he cleared his throat. That sound made the nerves within her scream in warning.
He was going to back out. He was going to tell her he realized his mistake and wished to cry off. He was going to say?—
“I’m in love with you.”
She blinked. Her lips worked but no sound came out.
“I…you….” Surely, she was hearing things. “What?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “I’m in love with you. And I have been for…I don’t know how long. Since that first night when I asked you to dance, perhaps. I didn’t think you’d say yes, but it was the way you handled it all. Your bravery. Your pride. The fact that you looked straight into my eyes like I was your fellow man, and not…not a title.”
Her eyes were beginning to sting with unshed tears, and for the life of her she couldn’t say why. But her throat was tight when she finally said, “Are you being sincere?”
His brows arched, and she hurried on. “It’s just…you’re so kind. I realize that now. I think I knew that from the start. Before all the misunderstandings, I mean.” She wet her lips, and her gaze darted about the crowded veranda until he reached for her hands.
Then her heart stopped. The whole world seemed to stop as her gaze collided with his.
“You think I’m saying those words just to be kind,” he said.
The air of disbelief that surrounded his words was more heartening than anything else he might have said.
