Page 99 of An Affair with a Notorious Heiress
She couldn’t help herself. She rolled her eyes at his compliment. It couldn’t deflect the truth. “Do you not hear the silence?” His approach had quieted the crowd, but she knew at any moment the mutterings would begin anew.
“It’s just as well. Their conversations are boring. I’ve nearly nodded off at least a half dozen times this evening listening as they waxed on about nothing of consequence.”
“Rex—”
“Let’s have our waltz. But first we must greet my parents.”
He extended his arm. She wrapped hers around it, relishing the sturdiness as he escorted her down the miles and miles of stairs that ended at a polished floor where surely at some point people would once again begin dancing. But at that moment they seemed content to merely watch the drama unfolding before them as she approached one of the most powerful and beloved couples in all of England. Even remembering the words relayed in the duchess’s handwritten note did little to assuage her worries that in the end she would be rebuffed.
Releasing her hold on Rex, she curtsied deeply. “Your Graces.”
“My dear,” the Duchess of Greystone said kindly, taking Tillie’s hand and squeezing her fingers. “We’re so glad you were able to attend after all. I can see your arrival has pleased my son, and that pleases us no end.”
“I appreciate the invitation.”
“You’d have received one sooner, but we’ve not hosted a ball in years.”
“If I still danced with anyone other than my wife,” the duke said, “rest assured you’d find yourself on my arm.”
“I’m honored. I can’t thank either of you enough for the kindness.”
“Posh. I never understood the appeal of not being kind. Now off with you, have your waltz.”
Rex again offered his arm, and she took it. As he led her across the floor, people moved aside, although she wasn’t quite certain their drifting back had anything to do with her, but rather the determination on his face. When they neared the balcony where the orchestra waited, he called up, “A waltz!”
The first strain had barely sounded when she found herself in his arms, held improperly close, as they glided over the floor.
“Why are you truly here?” he asked.
“As I said: to have a waltz before I leave.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Duke and Duchess of Lovingdon step onto the dance floor, followed by Drake Darling and his wife, then Gina and Lord Andrew. Then the Duke and Duchess of Greystone were dancing along the edge of the crowd.
“You told me your father was losing his eyesight,” she said quietly.
“He is. If you watch them closely enough, you’ll see she’s leading. That’s what love is, Tillie, making the most of a bad situation, doing what one must to ensure the other is happy. You want New York? You can have it. I’ll go there with you.”
She’d been on the verge of looking at his parents more intently but his words had her gaze coming back and crashing with his. “You mean to visit?”
“I mean to live. To raise horses and children with the woman I love.”
She shook her head. “But you’re heir to a dukedom. Your life is here.”
“The estates are here. My life is with you. I can manage them from New York. I could manage them from the North Pole if I had to.”
“You can’t give this up for me.” More people were waltzing around them now.
“Isn’t it our choice to make, Tillie? Whether we’re in each other’s lives, if we’re happier together than apart? The people standing at the edge of the ballroom, with their noses in the air and their snickers, what do they matter? I don’t care if they approve of us or not.”
Tears began burning her eyes. “You don’t understand what it will truly be like. It’ll be much worse than when you were a boy. Don’t ask me to stand by and watch as you become miserable.”
“I’m asking you to stand by me and make me happy.”
Then they were no longer waltzing. He’d gone down on one knee. “Marry me.”
The music had again halted; the couples had ceased dancing.
“You have gone mad.”
