Page 69 of Daisy and the Duke
He didn’t wait for her to recover. “On the balcony that night,” he said, “I intended to ask you what you wanted me to do, after telling you about the whole mess with the diamond mines. I needed to know your mind, so I could offer you marriage, or—”
“You never mentioned marriage before, not even after we…” She stopped, suddenly shy.
“I was wrong,” he said bluntly. “I was worried that I’d lost my financial independence, and only a strategic marriage would save me. And you had talked about how much you were needed at the Grange, how it was your home. And I didn’t understand till too late how you were being used there, and how you took it upon yourself to hold the place together while your stepmother was squandering the fortune that wasn’t even hers.”
“So now you can make a strategic marriage,” she said, feeling devastated. “To me. For I’m an heiress, and titled again.” Was that all that mattered?
“What? No, Daisy. That’s not it at all. Did I not tell you? The diamond mine is real! I mean, it is producing real diamonds, and I have nothing to fear about losing all my money to repay that loan. I am wealthy on my own now. Daisy,” he said, taking her hands in his, “I’m not asking you to save Lyondale with your inheritance. I want you to marry me because I love you.”
She found her voice. “Love?”
“Yes. It’s not required for a marriage, from what I can see, but I would prefer it in mine. And I think I could eventually persuade you to love me as well.”
“Oh, Tristan. It’s too late for that.”
He looked stricken. “Too late?”
“I already fell in love with you. Ages ago.” Daisy couldn’t stop from smiling as she said it.
“Oh,” he said, his relief obvious. “Then you should definitely marry me.”
“Is that…proper?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Considering all the things I want to do with you, yes. Marriage would be a proper and very necessary step.”
Daisy’s cheeks burned at the intimation. “Tristan,” she whispered. “You can’tsaythings like that.”
“You’ll be surprised by the things I’ll say when we’re alone, love.” Tristan held her closer, enjoying her reaction. “Remember, I’m only a lord through an accident of succession. Whereas you’re a born lady and a baroness and the talk of the shire. And your family name is just as good as mine, for those who care about such things. You belong with me. And Lyondale needs a family in it.”
“A family?”
“Naturally. Everyone should come. Elaine, Jacob. Bring the chickens. I don’t care. Just so I have you.”
Daisy smiled at the image. She paused, then said, “Yes.”
His arm tightened around her, as though he wasn’t quite sure what she said. “What?”
“Yes. I’d be delighted to marry you. Following a proper courtship, that is. And following an actual proposal.” She frowned, thinking. “I think everything may have got a bit jumbled up, although I did enjoy some parts very much.”
“Then let’s address the first matter. I can court you?”
She nodded decisively. “Yes.”
He gave her a delighted smile. “Excellent. Now, can I kiss you, to seal the bargain?”
“Out here?”
“No one’s watching,” he said, his voice teasing and challenging.
She tilted her head up. “Then do it, before I change my mind.”
At the touch of his lips on hers, Daisy knew she would never change her mind about Tristan Brooks, the very surprising Duke of Lyon. She did love him, and she grew dizzy at the thought of marrying him, so she could be with him every day.
When the kiss ended, she heard voices, and turned to seeeveryonewatching: maids and footmen and the majordomo and Poppy and Mrs. Bloomfield and the Weatherbys and Mr. Kemble, whose pleased smile she could see even from this distance.
But she was too happy to be embarrassed. Instead, she put her arms around Tristan and whispered, “We’ve been caught. You are thoroughly compromised, and you’re stuck with me now.”
He just grinned and said, “Good. That was what I hoped for.” He put his arm around her and led her back inside. “Come, love. We have plans to make.”
