Page 56 of Devoted to the Spanish Duke
Lisandro nodded toward Maria as he retook his seat. She beamed at him. “And now, Don de Elizondo, I wish to discuss the matter of requesting Maria’s hand in marriage.”
The smile disappeared from Antonio’s face. “I beg your pardon?”
Maria maintained her own smile. Lisandro might have caught Antonio unawares, but that didn’t mean he was going to back down.
“I asked for your daughter’s hand in marriage. For her to become the Duchess of Tolosa. What better way to finally put the feud to rest than by uniting our two families?” replied Lisandro.
Antonio’s gaze fell on Maria. “But what about Don Delgado Grandes? I thought you were set on marrying him.”
Never. That was all your idea. I don’t even like the man.
“Since the two of you couldn’t come to terms on the betrothal and dowry, I don’t think it likely that he is still interested in marrying me. Besides . . . I have been away from home for many weeks in the company of another man. You cannot offer full assurances to the count that I am still pure,” she said.
Her mother gasped. Diego punched the table. But, to his credit, Lisandro didn’t bat an eyelid.
While Antonio’s face remained expressionless, Maria noted that his right hand was fisted so tight that the knuckles were all white. Violence was not out of the question.
“Is this what you want, Maria? I am sure Don de Aguirre would never call your honor into question if you declined his offer,” replied the duke, his voice dark with menace.
“Yes, it is what I want. I have already accepted his proposal,” she replied.
Maria lifted her hand from under the table and slipped on the emerald betrothal ring. “When I first saw Lisandro in London, I thought he was the villain who had kidnapped me. I did as you would expect from a dutiful daughter and struck him solidly in the face. It took time for me to come to trust him, but I did. And then I fell in love. Papá, this will be more of a marriage than anything I could have ever had with Don Delgado. I ask for your blessing.”
Antonio glanced across at Lisandro. “Did she really hit you?”
Lisandro nodded. “Yes, and she made my nose bleed. My friends had to drag her away before she could strike me a second time.”
“Good. Then you know that my daughter has a temper and won’t be caged. She will demand of you an equal partnership in your union,” replied Antonio.
“I have already agreed to that condition.”
The Duke of Villabona sat, slowly shaking his head. “What a strange day. So many changes—some for the bad, but many for the good. Yes. You may marry my daughter.”
With a loud whoop, Maria leapt to her feet and into Lisandro’s embrace. It didn’t matter that her parents and brother were still seated close by. She set her lips to his and gave him the kiss her heart demanded.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Castle Tolosa
Two weeks later
“I swear I caught your father wiping a tear away during the service,” said Lisandro.
He set two glasses of champagne down on a nearby table, then climbed into the oversized wooden bathtub to join her. Straddling him, Maria reached out and passed one of the saucer-shaped coupes to him before collecting her own.
Their glasses clinked together.
“He was quite emotional during the church service. It is not every day that a man gives his only daughter away in marriage,” she replied.
The night before the wedding, Maria and Antonio had spent some quiet time together in his study. It had been her last evening as both an Elizondo and as a resident of Castle Villabona. Her father had gifted her several pieces of family jewelry, along with a letter.
The letter was one he had written, with the intention of sending it to the cathedral in Bilbao begging the kidnappers to spare Maria’s life. She had barely read two paragraphs of it before breaking down. Every word spoke of a father’s love—something that would never change, no matter where she was or by which name, she went.
Lisandro brushed a kiss on Maria’s décolletage. “I must confess, I like your father. He is a good man. Which, considering that I was raised to hate him, is quite a transformation of opinion.”
“I know for a fact he thinks you are rather special too. Both he and Diego hold you in high regard,” she replied.
When the time was right, they would host their first family gathering at Castle Tolosa. All the Elizondo side of the family would be invited, along with the dowager Duchess of Tolosa.
