Page 43 of The Scarlet Lady's Duke of Desire
“Forgive me, I believe I have been overcome by shock,” Melody exclaimed, fluttering her free hand before her face. She certainly felt hot all over and not at all in a good way.
Squeezing her gloved hand, Mr Colton jumped up from his one knee and urged her hurriedly over to the nearest couch.
“No, forgive me, I did come in here over-excited to share my proposal with you,” Mr Colton insisted though there was a shadow of hurt in his gaze. Melody’s stomach clenched with sympathy for the man. After all, he had never been anything but kind to her.
“Then…then you do wish to marryme?” Melody asked, gulping past the lump in her throat. The gentleman’s expression then suggested that he found her response utterly peculiar.
“You can be in no doubt, Miss Thornton,” he said assuredly, holding both her hands between them as they sat side by side on the couch. “Nothing would make me happier.”
Melody opened her mouth before shutting it again, unsure as to what she had been about to say.
It turned out she need have said nothing at all.
“I know that we do not know each other over well yet but there shall be plenty of time for that,” Mr Colton explained, squeezing her fingers delicately. “Our fathers are already such good friends, and we shall be too. If that is what you wish, our marriage need be nothing but a lifelong friendship. If something else should come of it in time, then we shall both be happy, I am sure.”
Melody’s chest tightened. There was such sincerity and kindness in the man’s words that they brought tears to her eyes.
Not for the first time she realised just how good of a man Mr Colton was. It was clear from his speaking that he did mean to push anything upon her. Not like the duke, who had tried to push her into causing trouble and had advanced upon her in most inappropriate ways.
Just thinking of those ways made her heart skip a beat. Her skin tingled as she remembered how his fingers had felt upon her flesh. She closed her eyes and for one second allowed herself to imagine a life with the likes of The Duke of Haston, a life filled with passion and lust and wild adventure, causing trouble wherever they went. Never knowing what might come next.
Then she thought of a life with Mr Colton, a quiet and safe life with a gentle promise of friendship, an unspoken promise that all would always be well between them no matter what she chose between them.
And deep down she knew that only one of those options was truly viable.
The Duke of Haston had made no promises, he had given her only questions and conflict, and for all she knew he might have been in Lady Florence’s bed, as she sat there hand in hand with Mr Colton.
That last thought made her feel quite sick indeed and before she really knew what she was saying, she said, “Yes, Andrew, I will marry you.”
“Oh! Jenkins, fetch the sparkling wine!”
The exclamation came from her mother who burst through the door like a cork coming free of its wax holding in a bottle.
Before she knew what was happening, Melody had been pulled up into her mother’s arms and was being squeezed so tightly she thought her eyes might pop out. “I always knew you would find a good marriage in the end!”
The way her mother said it suggested that she had not really dared to hope for such a thing though it was clear she was elated that she had.
Would the duke have been a good match for me?Melody couldn’t help but wonder. Her imagination wandered only a moment, allowing her to see what might have come had she rejected Mr Colton. Yet the thoughts were quickly shrouded in darkness and uncertainty.
No, she had had enough of that in her life already. Now was the time for certainty. And as Mr Colton rose to his feet to join in the celebration, he was solid before her, he was constant and safe, and he would love her as a friend if that was what she needed of him. She was quite sure of that.
Chapter 23
When James’s aunt visited again, he felt himself drawing close to wit’s end. Upon hearing of her arrival, he had come to wish that he had more business outside his residence, maybe then he would miss her visits entirely.
But deep down he knew she would find a way to corner him. She always did.
"Are you a complete fool?" His aunt asked him not moments after stepping into his library. She stood leaning on her walking cane and James guessed it was one of her 'bad' days in which she would say she had been so stressed by everything that it had left her unsteady on her feet. Yet, he knew from personal experience that were anything terrible to happen, she would be the first one running for the door.
"I am unsure as to what you mean," James stated, shrugging his shoulders, and returning to marking off no longer needed information on the pages in front of him. The checklist Dennis had brought him was almost complete and it wasn't even midday.
"Not only were you seen visiting the Thornton house several days ago but since then your man, Mr Dennis, has been seen making inquiries on your behalf," his aunt explained. "What fascination do you have with a Mr Colton?"
James gritted his teeth. His aunt's spies were everywhere, like a spider web of connections that never appeared to break.
"It is no concern of yours, Aunt," James assured her but when he glanced up, he could tell by the look on her face that she was having none of it.
She gripped the head of her cane until her knuckles turned white and James was unsure how she didn't hurt her fingers with all the rings she was wearing.
