Page 59 of Taming of the Rake
“Oh, Regina,” he murmured, pulling her to him and holding her close. “My dear, I’m so sorry you endured that. I’m sorry no one was there to defend you.”
“Powell was there,” she said, clinging to the front of his shirt and drawing succor from his nearness. “But he was only a servant and there wasn’t much he could do. Randolph’s accident came as a blessing. It set me free … not just from being under his thumb, but from my previous gullibility. You see, I had loved him, and he’d told me he felt the same … and if that was how love felt, I wanted no part of it.”
“Randolph didn’t love you. He liked the idea of controlling you.”
“I came to see that, but I was still so afraid. My heart led me to trust Randolph, and he hurt me. Thus, my heart could not be trusted. What if I let myself think I had fallen in love again, only to find myself in the clutches of another man like him? I couldn’t survive it.”
David stroked her hair and pressed his lips to her temple. “I understand. It’s all right.”
She leaned back to look into his eyes. “It’s not all right. I was afraid of intimacy, but you showed me how wonderful it could be. You have made me happier these few months than I have been my entire life. I am still afraid, but I am done allowing fear to rule my life. I want to know all the joy and love Randolph deprived me of. I want that with you. So … if you wouldn’t mind terribly, I would love for you to ask me again to marry you.”
He smiled, then went off the side of the sofa to one knee, taking one of her hands in both of his. “Regina … will you marry me?”
Returning his smile, she lifted their joined hands to her lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “Yes.”
He stood and pulled her up with him, arms circling her waist. “Thank you for giving me a chance to propose again … the right way.”
“With such a lovely gesture, how could any woman say no?”
“My God, it worked!”
Regina started at the sudden intrusion of another man’s voice, and turned in David’s arms to find someone standing in the doorway. He was tall and slender, with a tumble of glossy brown hair falling into eyes that sparkled with mischief.
“It did,” David replied, one arm still around her as he waved the other man in. “Come, meet my fiancée.”
Regina tensed as the man entered the room, followed by three others. There was a woman with lightly-bronzed skin complemented by inky black hair and large, lovely eyes. Then came a second man who stood slightly shorter than the first, his hair dark like David’s, his eyes a soft and kind brown. On his arm came a brown-haired woman with the slight protrusion of a pregnant belly showing at the front of her gown. It was so minor as to be almost unrecognizable, but when she placed her hand upon it in an unconscious gesture, Regina saw clearly she was in the early stages of pregnancy.
David guided her forward to greet them. “Regina, these are my friends—Dominick Burke and his wife, Calliope, and Hugh Radcliffe and his wife, Evelyn.”
“How do you do?” she murmured.
David’s lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “Nick and Hugh are former gentleman courtesans. Both have recently wed their former clients. So, you and these ladies have much in common.”
Evelyn blushed and took hold of Regina’s arm to pry her away from David. “Forgive him, I’m certain he couldn’t resist the urge to shock you. It is true, however.”
Calliope appeared on her other side, looping one arm through Evelyn’s as they left the men to return to the sofa. They seated her between them, and Calliope patted her hand.
“The three of us are unique among the other ladies of society—oh, well I suppose I should say the four of us. Mustn’t forget about Lucinda. She is Aubrey’s wife, and I know she’ll be elated to meet you.”
Regina furrowed her brow. “And, this Aubrey … he is also …”
“A former courtesan, yes,” Evelyn filled in. “Goodness, now that David is marrying you, there will be so few of them left. He’s done well in his choice of bride. I can tell that already.”
“Shemustbe special if she could bring our dear David to his knees,” Calliope added with a laugh.
“Funny,” Dominick called out from where he stood with the other two men. “People often say the same thing about you, goddess.”
Calliope raised her chin and gave her husband a look filled with hidden secrets and innuendo. “This is true.”
“I’m so sorry to overwhelm you this way,” Evelyn said, drawing Regina’s attention away from the couple making eyes at one another in a most inappropriate fashion. “But Hugh insisted we must accompany David to Lancashire so he and Dominick could assist with his lovely gesture.”
“So romantic,” Calliope sighed, her lips parting in a riveting smile. “I am so glad for you. Dominick and I are only recently wed, but I’ve begun getting to know the other men and their wives, and can tell you … you’ve never had better friends.”
“I like to think of us as more of a family than mere friends,” Evelyn said. “And now that you and David are getting married, you’ll be a part of it.”
Regina felt her eyes brimming with tears, and she cursed her delicate nerves. She had been on edge for weeks, thinking it had to do with her uncertainty over David. But now that things were settled, she wondered if it was her condition making her so prone to tears. Calliope went into her reticule to offer a handkerchief, while Evelyn patted her hand and cooed over her like a mother hen.
As Regina dabbed at her cheeks, David caught her eye from where he stood with his friends, who were jostling him and pounding his back while offering their congratulations. He looked at her and smiled, seeming unconcerned about the tears she shed. He had to know what had brought on such an emotional response. In the span of a few months, their arrangement had filled so many of the empty places in her life. It had offered her love, and the child she longed for. Their marriage would give her a mother and sisters-in-law. It would give her the friends she’d been forced to go without for so long.
