Page 60 of Stolen By the Rogue
Her gaze darted to the box, then back to his face. “I thought . . .”
“You thought I was going to find a buyer for it and keep the proceeds for myself. Or even sell it and pay Harry back the money I owe him. Wrong on both counts.I thoughtyou trusted me. Am I mistaken?”
* * *
George was finding that the way out from under a life of crime and lies was harder than he had expected it would be, and more painful. He now had a clearer understanding of what the boy who cried wolf must have felt like in the ancient fable. But this wasn’t the time for him to nurse his injured pride. “Jane, I am not here to tell you any lies. That is in the past. I promised to be truthful to you, and I intend to keep that vow until the day I die.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you, but I did,” she replied.
George stepped closer, brushing a hand over her cheek and catching one of her tears with his thumb. He could understand Jane’s reluctance to trust him, but if they were to have a future, it was something they would have to work on. “This was my fault. I’m not used to being impetuous, and I didn’t think it through.”
She nodded. “Thinking things through is not something that normally goes with sudden impulses. So why did you keep the ring?”
In the wee hours of the morning, an idea had come to George, and it wouldn’t let him rest. For the first time in his life, he was going to put someone else ahead of his own selfish needs.
George was relieved when Jane didn’t pull away as he leaned in and kissed her.
Thank God.
“Jane, my love, you have already thought to offer me your heart, and that is beyond wonderful. What I am now demanding is your complete trust.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Demanding?”
“Yes, because if there is one thing which you have taught me, it’s that there cannot be love without trust. Do you love me?”
“Of course, I love you.”
George took hold of Jane’s hand, then went down on bended knee. His aching and tired limbs protested, but he ignored them. “Then you must trust me when I say that I love you, Jane Scott. You are my future—my whole life. I didn’t want the ring on the inventory list because it should belong to you, no matter what.”
Jane gently smiled at him. “My love, you should know me well enough by now to know that all I ever want is what is yours to freely give. And that is your heart.”
He was more than willing to give Jane his love. She could have his entire future. “Will you do me the greatest honor and become my wife?”
She bent and kissed his lips with such tenderness that George thought his heart might burst.
“Yes, I will marry you.”
And with that simple reply, he opened the box and slipped the sapphire ring on Jane’s finger.
She held her hand out for a moment and inspected the ring. “It is rather gorgeous. But we should put it on the list of our claim. That way I will always know that it is truly mine.”
George got to his feet and took his fiancée into his arms. “Agreed. We begin our married life on an honest footing. Start as we mean to go on,” he said.
“Just promise me that when this is all said and done, you will take me to the British Museum so we can share a private moment of victory over those who mocked me when I told them that Jane Whorwood’s treasure was real.”
George chuckled. “I couldn’t think of anything better than sticking it to each and every one of those naysayers. What unimaginative fool doesn’t believe in the tale of a king’s secret mistress, love letters written in a hidden code, and a chest of jewels buried in the garden of a rundown London house?”
Epilogue
It was a wonderful celebration. George even managed to smile whenever one of the many judges gathered in his family’s ballroom for the wedding breakfast offered him their congratulations.
Jane found it both amusing and a huge relief. Her new husband was no longer living under the threat of the hangman’s noose. His life of villainy was over and a new one as an honest man had begun.
The legal case to establish ownership of the treasure had been a surprisingly short one. Despite the Prince of Wales making known his great displeasure at the ruling, there were well-established legal precedents when it came to the subject of finders keepers.
The sapphire ring that glittered on Jane’s finger was now matched with a gold wedding band. The antique jewel was worth a pretty penny, but to Jane the simple symbol of her status as George’s wife was more priceless.
As the Duke of Monsale and George made their way over to where she stood, Jane considered her new husband. Monsale might well be the one with the title and a disgusting amount of riches, but George’s stride now held such power that even his friend couldn’t compete.
