Page 82 of When the Marquess Was Mine
“Tom provoked him about me,” she said in a low voice.
He caught a stray wisp of her golden hair around his finger. “He didn’t quite trust that your betrothal was over. He spoke, very loudly, about how he thought engaged men ought to behave—not that Tom would know, being mortally terrified of all things related to marriage—and Sterling gave him a black eye for his trouble.”
Her lips parted and she looked stricken. Rob was tired of discussing his brother and her former fiancé. “I told you Tom is an idiot.”
“And this will only give him another reason to despise me.” She put her face in her hands.
“Georgiana.” Oh Christ. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. Rob dropped the reins and put his hands on her shoulders. “Tom deserved what he got,” he assured her. “Ialmost hit him! He got himself punched because he was piqued at me for saying—” In the nick of time he stopped short of saying he’d told his brother he meant to marry her. He ought to propose before telling anyone else.
She looked up at him, her eyes wet. “This is the most incredible farce,” she said, her lips quivering. “We’re worse than Drury Lane.” With enormous relief, Rob realized she was laughing.
“I know it shouldn’t be amusing,” she went on, her voice beginning to break. “But it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of!” And she burst into laughter, so hard she leaned into him and clutched his coat. Rob gathered her close and laughed with her.
“I wish Tom didn’t distrust me so,” she said when she’d calmed down. She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief Rob fished out of his pocket. “He has every right to, though. I did lie to everyone.”
“That’s not why Tom is so suspicious.” Rob grinned. “He thought you’d done it to snag yourself a marquess.”
“What rubbish!” she said witheringly. “I didn’t evenlikeyou—” She stopped short, her face pink.
“No, and yet you saved my life,” he said.
Georgiana went still. “I had to,” she said softly. “I saw my father die.” A spasm flitted across her face. “I couldn’t bear to seeanyoneelse suffer that—”
“No,” he cut her off, pulling her tightly to him. “It was an act of matchless grace and kindness.”
“Even the lies?” Her voice was muffled against his coat, but he heard the waver.
Rob smiled. “Especially the lies. Those were the best part.”
Her shoulders shook in a reluctant laugh. She stepped back and dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief again.
“Thankfully Papa wasn’t beaten,” she said, staring across the misty grass. “It was an inflammation of his lungs. He coughed up so much blood, and every breath made him convulse...”
“My God. I’m sorry,” said Rob swiftly. She’d been a young child. “How dreadful.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be there. He’d fallen ill a few days earlier, and seemed in no danger until that last day. My mother sent me to bed but I sneaked back in... It washorrible. I couldn’t wish that on anyone, not even someone I hated. No one deserves that fate, to choke on their own blood and die in lonely misery.” She inhaled a ragged breath. “So I panicked and told an enormous lie, because speaking the truth felt like the greater sin at that moment.”
He put his lips to her temple, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Her hair smelled of orange water, and for a moment he wished the sun would never rise.
When she lifted her head, he brushed his thumb over her cheek, dashing away the tracks of moisture. “I hope I would have the nerve to do the same,” he told her. “Because I’m dashed happy you lied to Kitty, and lied to me, and gave Tom what-for when he tried to spoil it all with the truth—”
She gave a shaky laugh. “First this ride, now telling me lying was the right thing to do... You’re a terrible influence!”
“No one will ever tell you otherwise, my lady,” he said with a wink. “Does being a bad influence ruin your opinion of me?”
She lowered her gaze but he saw her pleased smile. “No.”
The horses had wandered a few yards away to snatch a bite of grass. There was still no sign of Tom or anyone else. The sky was a pale pink now, warning of the impending dawn, when he would have to take her home and they would once more be bound by the rules of propriety. For this stolen moment, though, he had her to himself, and he reveled in it.
Arm in arm, they strolled along the Serpentine. The water was still and smooth, reflecting the sky above as it bloomed with shades of pink and gold. Georgiana’s head rested against his shoulder. “This is mad, you know. Mad—but wonderful.”
“It’s the best time to ride all-out.”
She smiled. “You remembered.”
Rob’s arm tightened around her. He remembered everything she’d said to him, every smile she gave him, every shocked glance that turned to impish delight. He wanted to be with her until there were so many memories his head couldn’t hold them all.
“I wish we could do it again,” she added wistfully.
