Page 132 of His Grace, the Duke
“We werenothingbefore you,” Tom pressed, cupping her face and turning it towards him. “Rose, my darling love, look at me.”
She blinked up at him, her long, dark lashes wet with her tears.
“We were nothing at all,” he repeated. “Three second sons, utterly adrift. God, I was so lost to my own selfish misery, I was seriously considering marriage to Blanche Oswald.”
“Hell on earth,” Burke grunted.
“I was utterly alone,” he went on. “Sailing the far sides of the world, dreaming of a love I couldn’t speak of with mere mortal words. Drowning in a sea of broken hopes, desperate for someone to see me and love me for all that I am.”
She sniffled, raising a gloved hand to cup his face. “Tom...”
He tipped his chin to kiss her palm. “I won’t lie to you and say it was our first look in the billiards room that sealed my fate.”
“I know,” she murmured. “Sometimes love takes time to take root and grow.”
He shook his head with a smile. “It was the second. The next morning by the stairs. Do you remember?”
She nodded, eyes wide.
“You turned around, and the air was sucked from my lungs. That blue dress... your face framed in beautiful dark curls...” He brushed his finger along her jaw. “I’m pretty sure I would have carved out my heart then and there had you asked for it.”
She sniffed, leaning forward to rest her brow against his jaw.
“For me it was watching you punch that lout in the alley,” Burke murmured. “I watched you swing that left hook, and I was gone.”
Rosalie made a strangled sound of laughter and sob.
“I have never felt hope like this before,” Tom went on, placing his hand over their entwined fingers. “I will not let either of you despair. Whatever happened with James, we can fix it.”
“I told him I loved him... and he left,” she whispered. “He left me naked on the floor, my love unrequited.”
Behind her, Burke tensed.
“James is lost and confused,” Tom soothed. “He carries a weight none of us can truly understand. If he gives in to this... to us... he will feel responsible for all of us every dayfor the rest of his life. Our reputations, our futures, our very lives, they will be his burden to shoulder. It is a lot to ask of any man. What we seek to have together is...”
“Uncommon,” Burke finished for him.
“It’s more than that,” Tom replied, glancing over Rosalie to meet Burke’s eye. “To live together, the four of us in one house, sharing one woman... not to mention whatweshare—”
“Don’t even say it.” Burke dropped Rosalie’s hand to touch Tom’s face. “This is not a sin.”
Tom closed his eyes at the touch. “I know,” he whispered, opening his eyes again. “It’s so much more than a sin, Burke. It’sillegal. We could be pilloried before all of Mayfair. Stripped of our titles and positions, our families ruined, our lives haunted by the shame evermore. Hell, Burke, we could be hanged for it.”
“Please don’t say such things,” Rosalie cried, wrapping her arms around him. “I can’t bear it. Why is this world so unspeakably cruel?”
“It needs to be said,” Tom replied, still looking at Burke. “We all need to understand the risks... as well as the rewards. James will be taking the greatest risk of all of us. He is the highest in rank; he has the furthest to fall.”
“We would be discreet,” Burke muttered. “No one need know.”
Tom raised a brow. “Like kissing me in front of Hart was discreet?”
A muscle twitched in Burke’s jaw. “He won’t talk.” He said it as a statement, but Tom heard the silent question.
“No... he won’t,” Tom admitted. “But slips like that cannot happen again, even in front of those we trust. This is not merely about protecting our own reputations. Thetonwill drag Jamesdown faster than we can blink if he is linked to us in any way other than friendship.”
Burke gave a curt nod.
“None of this matters,” Rosalie murmured. “If he will not have me... if I cannot win his trust... if I cannot earn his love—”
