Page 68 of Who Wants to Marry a Duke
“I have no intention of ruining her,” Thorn said, as if Olivia hadn’t spoken. “I mean to marry her.”
Olivia froze. Had he really just said that?
Meanwhile, her stepmother wasn’t pacified in the least by his offhand proposal. “Over my dead body,” she said, startling Olivia and Thorn both.
He narrowed his gaze on her stepmother. “Perhaps you and I should speak privately, Lady Norley.”
“Absolutely not,” Olivia put in. “Thelasttime you two spoke privately, Mama blackmailed you into making a lackluster offer for me.”
“You knew about the blackmail?” her stepmother squeaked.
“Not until recently,” Olivia said. “And that’s yet another matter you kept from me.”
“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Mama said.
“I’m sure you had noble intentions. Everyone seems to have noble intentions when they leave me out of things.”
At just that moment, Gwyn returned with servants bearing tea and coffee, a number of delicious-looking cakes, and toast and butter. While they were setting out the trays, Gwyn urged Olivia, Thorn, and Olivia’s stepmother to take a seat.
Olivia ate her toast while waiting for the servants to leave. Once they were gone, however, she told Thorn, “The only way I will even consider marrying you, Your Grace, is if you make me a genuine offer.”
Gwyn looked startled by the comment, but wisely didn’t try to be part of the conversation.
Thorn, who’d taken the seat opposite Olivia’s, flashed her a tender smile. “Thisisa genuine offer, sweeting. I truly wish for you to be my duchess.”
A million questions entered Olivia’s head. But first . . . “Mama, would you go out into the hall for a few minutes? His Grace and I need to have a private conversation.”
Mama glanced from Olivia to Thorn. “You’re not marrying him, not a man with his reputation. I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to Thornstock. And you, dearest, can do better.”
Olivia seriously doubted that, but that would require a longer explanation than she had time for. “Please, Mama. Let me speak to the duke alone.”
Gwyn stepped in at that moment, rising from the settee to hold her hand out to Mama. “Lady Norley, have you seen my brother’s beautiful gardens? It’s a lovely day outside, and I know you would enjoy touring them.”
Mama appeared apprehensive, but she rose at last and let Gwyn guide her out. They were barely out the door when Thorn changed seats so he could sit next to Olivia.
He took her hand. “Tell me what your objections are, sweeting, and I will try to address them.”
Her main objection was he didn’t love her and didn’t have any intention of changing that state of affairs. But she was too much a coward to say that, especially since she still wasn’t sure if she lovedhim. Besides, she had plenty of other objections to voice.
Steadying her gaze on him, she said, “You told me at your sister’s ball in London that you would never offer for me. So what changed your mind?”
“Everything is different now.”
She lowered her voice. “You mean, because you bedded me.”
“I mean, because I have come to know you. Once I realized you had no idea that your stepmother was blackmailing me, I was able to look at you more clearly, to see the lovely and principled woman I was so enamored of nine years ago.”
“‘Enamored of’! You weren’t enamored of me.”
He leaned closer. “Did you really think it was usual for me to kiss women I had just met? I assure you, it was not. But you and your interest in chemistry fascinated me. Why else do you think I got so angry once we were caught? I was sure you had conspired with your mother to entrap me, that you had somehow pulled the wool over my eyes.”
“Oh, for pity’s sake,” she muttered, and started to stand.
But he pulled her back down. “My point is, as far as I’m concerned, things have changed between us. Or we’ve merely taken off our blinders so we can see each other as we really are. Don’t you agree?”
“Perhaps.”
“And there are practical reasons for us to marry. However you feel about it, I have taken your innocence. Some anonymous person has already learned that you left Carymont and has informed your stepmother of that fact, so what’s to keep him from telling the rest of society? And if he followed your stepmother here, he’ll know you’re with me. Just a whisper of a possibility that you and I are alone together would ruin you.”
