Page 103 of The Art of Sinning
His sweet words rang in her ears. That was all she’d ever wanted. For Jeremy to need her. If he couldn’t love her, she could live with at least being needed. It was enough for now.
“So we’re agreed?” Jeremy entwined his fingers with hers, then lifted her hand to press a kiss against her bare skin. “You’ll marry me?”
The tenderness of the gesture sent a delightful shiver echoing down her spine. “I suppose. Though I did give my answer under duress.”
“That explains why you screamed at the end.”
“Jeremy!” she chided in mock outrage. “You’re the most wicked man I know.”
“I’m the most wicked manIknow.” He grinned. “And you like that about me. Admit it.”
“Sometimes.” She shot him a coy look. “Under certain circumstances.”
“The ones where you scream?” he teased.
She merely arched an eyebrow, eliciting a laugh from him.
“Wait up!” a voice hailed them.
Yvette froze. Edwin. Heavenly day. She tried to pull her hand from Jeremy’s but he wouldn’t allow it, gripping it tightly as if it were his own personal treasure.
The moment Edwin reached them, his gaze arrowed in on their joined hands. “So the offer has been accepted, I take it.”
Jeremy’s whole body seemed to tense, as if he still wasn’t entirely sure of her.
She squeezed his hand. “Yes. It has been accepted.”
Edwin broke into a rare smile and clapped Jeremy on the back. “It’s about damned time.” He walked with them back to the house, chattering about wedding plans in a manner most uncharacteristic of her cynical brother.
After that, everything moved at a dizzying pace. Edwin wanted to celebrate, and the household had to be informed. Her maid went into raptures over the prospect of a wedding, but when Damber was told, he seemed remarkably unsurprised.
Had he guessed what she and his master had been doing behind his back? If so, he thankfully kept it to himself, merely offering them his heartiest good wishes for their future.
For her, the most encouraging reaction to the whirlwind of congratulations and teasing and winking suggestions was Jeremy’s. He didn’t act like a man trapped into wedding the woman he’d deflowered. He looked happier than she’d ever seen him. Perhaps he did care as deeply for her as his words had implied. Perhaps a marriage between them really could work.
But she had no more time to dwell on it once Jeremy pointed out that she might as well go with them to London in the morning. As he put it, since a wedding had to be planned, it made more sense for her to decamp to the Blakeborough town house than to try to manage it from Stoke Towers.
He was right, which sent her into a flurry of preparations for travel. There was no time to waste! There was packing to be done and arrangements to be made with the staff and a million and one things that had to be handled before she could leave.
By the next morning, when Jeremy handed her into Edwin’s traveling carriage, she was exhausted. Fortunately, the coach was roomy and comfortable, and the trip to London wouldn’t be long, especially with both her brother and her fiancé in good moods.
Fiancé.A secret smile crossed her lips as she took in Jeremy’s finely tailored coat of oxblood wool with gold buttons and satin-trimmed lapels. She had a fiancé, and quite a handsome, well-dressed one at that.
As the coach lumbered down the drive, with Jeremy’s rig taking up the rear, driven by Damber, Edwin glanced at Jeremy. “So what’s in that enormous box in your curricle? I know it wasn’t the portrait, since that’s still sitting in my drawing room. Though I don’t suppose there’s any need forthatto be finished now, eh, Yvette?” He winked at her, startling her. Edwin never winked.
Jeremy cast her a knowing glance. “It’s something I worked on when I wasn’t painting the portrait. I fear it’s nothing that would interest you, but your sister might find it intriguing.”
“I doubt it,” Edwin said bluntly. “She doesn’t like your darker pictures.” He caught himself. “No offense, old chap.”
Her fiancé merely laughed. “None taken.”
When Jeremy then winked at her, she had to suppress a snort. Good Lord, who knew that getting married would start a veritable onslaught of winking among all in her sphere?
“So what’s the subject of this other painting?” Edwin asked.
Oh, dear. Time to get him offthattopic. “Heavens, Edwin, do allow the man to havesomesecrets.” She smoothed her skirts. “And speaking of secrets, now that I’m engaged to be married, I see no reason why I can’t go with you and Jeremy to meet Miss Moreton.”
That did the trick. Edwin scowled. “You’re not going.”
