Page 43 of The Duke's Scandal
“Enough, Victoria!” Lord Welton rounded on her, coming closer to her with his hand raised as if to strike her. Amos acted in an instant, grabbing the man’s arm and yanking him backwards, before pushing his arm up his back. Lord Welton cried out in pain whilst Lady Victoria covered her mouth with her hand, blinking back tears.
“Then it is true,” one of the gentlemen watching said, loudly enough for Amos to hear. “LordWeltonwas the one responsible for attacking Lady Clara.”
“I had to drive you away!” Lord Welton spat, his face contorted with both anger and pain as Amos finally released him, pushing him back so there was distance between them. “Lady Deborah ismine. I need her. I must have her, else my estate is ruined!”
Lady Deborah let out a sob. “Then it is all about my fortune?”
“When I found that agreement, it was the answer to my prayers,” Lord Welton hissed, as everyone around him took a step back, wanting now to distance themselves from him. “Youmustdo your duty, Deborah! You must marry me and – ”
“She willnevermarry you.” A voice that Amos had never heard before broke in, a gentleman with a greying beard and sharp, brown eyes coming to stand beside Lady Deborah, a comforting arm around her shoulders. “How could you do such a thing, Welton? Howdareyou treat not only my daughter but Lady Claraandthe Duke of Exeter with such disrespect and disregard? They are not playthings for you to do with just as you please, so you might gain your own ends! I tell you this now, she willnevermarry you. And given what has just been revealed, I think it is highly unlikely that you shall ever marry well at all.”
Relief swept through Amos, as if he had stepped out of the cold into the blazing sunshine. Looking around for Lady Isobella, he found his gaze centering on her, the ache in his heart forcing him towards her. There was no need for him to linger any more, no need for him to stay by Lord Welton and say anything further. The truth had been revealed, and now, slowly but surely, thetonwould hear of it. His reputation was restored, his name no longer maligned, and Lady Isobella was the cause of it all.
“Lady Isobella.” Catching her hand in his, he bowed over it. “How ever am I to thank you?”
When he lifted his head, she was smiling at him. “Your happiness and relief are all that I need, Your Grace.”
Amos did not release her hand. “I know that now may not be the best time to speak of certain… matters, Lady Isobella, but I cannot help myself.” Swallowing thickly, he looked down at their joined hands. “I went to speak to your brother recently.”
“You did?” The surprise in her voice made him lift his head. “For what reason?”
“Because I cannot stop thinking about you, Lady Isobella. My every moment is caught up with you,” he confessed, as she began to blink rapidly. “I wanted to make certain that I would have his consent should I seek to court you. However, whilst it was given, it was emphasized that the decision had to be yours and yours alone.”
Lady Isobella pressed her lips together and looked away. “I – I am not sure as to what I ought to say.”
Amos did not say anything further, wondering if he should say anything about what he had learned from her brother, but choosing not to do so. If she wished to express it, then that would be her decision.
“I am afraid.” Even in the hubbub of activity behind them, her voice was clear as if she were the only one speaking. “I want to trust you, Your Grace. I want to offer you my heart, but I am afraid.”
He nodded slowly. “Is there anything that I can say to make you trust me?”
Her eyes closed, and she pressed her lips flat for a few moments. “I have trusted in the past, Your Grace.”
“Exeter, please.”
That made her cheeks darken. “Exeter. I have trusted in the past and have had not one but three gentlemen break that trust. The latter broke my heart, and I swore I would never let myself trust again.”
“And now?” He waited, seeing her shoulders drop as she considered his words. “Even now, will you hold to that promise?”
Epilogue
Isobella did not know what to say. Her heart was roaring with both hope, anticipation, and fear, and yet, as much as she wanted to draw near to the Duke, the more her worries pulled her back.
“I swore I would be a spinster,” she said, eventually, the Duke’s thumb running backwards and forward over her hand. “I told myself that I have already endured too much pain and heartbreak to ever let myself have such hope again.”
The Duke leaned down just a little. “Do you mean to say, Isobella, that you have that hope all the same?”
Closing her eyes so that she could not see the fervency in his gaze, she nodded, her fears waging war against the swell of anticipation. “I have begun to feel things I never wanted to feel again,” she admitted, forcing the words out. “I have told myself that I am nothing but a fool, and still, such feelings endure.”
“I do not think you a fool.”
Her eyes opened.
“I think you the most wonderful young lady,” he swore,the fervency burning in his eyes beginning to swallow up her fears. “You have such an honest, kind heart, a goodness within you that has reached into my very soul and taken hold of me. When these rumors first came to my ears, it was only you I thought of. I was so very afraid that you would believe them and that you would turn from me.” He smiled, and Isobella’s heart lurched. “When you did not, the relief and the joy I felt were overpowering. Now, I confess to you that I think I am quite in love with you, Isobella. I want very much to court you – nay, to marry you, if you would have me! However, in understanding what you have suffered, if you choose to step back from this, then I swear I shall do nothing more. I will not pursue you, I will not beg you, I will not demand that you reconsider. Instead, I shall accept your decision and respect the distance you put between us.”
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Strangely enough, in saying such a thing to her, the Duke had revealed the truth of his heart to her. He cared about her enough to state that, even if she refused him, even if it would cause him pain, he would respect what she determined. Did that not speak of a genuine affection? Could she not let herself trust this one last time?
“I – I do not want distance.” A single tear fell to her cheek, and she dashed it away quickly. “The thought of being apart from you is injurious to me.”
“Then will you accept my courtship?” he asked, the hope in his voice sending sparks of light into his eyes. “If not, the offer of my hand? I am a Duke, after all, and I could fetch a Special License so we could marry tomorrow, if we wished!” Bending his head, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I want you to be able to trust in my love, Isobella. I swear to you, I will do anything you want, anything you need to prove to you that I will neverstep away from you. I am not like those other fellows, I swear it.”
Isobella considered him, her heart pulling free of the shadows of the past that bound it so tightly. The Duke was not like as Lord Brookmire, Lord Pollock, and Lord Hogarth had been, she could see that. Sheknewthat, for in the time they had spent together, had he not always been honest and open with her? This was what her heart had been trying to tell her for so long. She could see that now, could see just how much she had tried to ignore it, had tried to hide it and dismiss it.
But no longer.
Her heart leapt up, the pain swallowed up by the profession of his love. With a soft smile and tears in her eyes, she stepped closer to him. “Yes.”
“Yes?” The Duke’s eyebrows shot upwards, a broad smile spreading across his face. “Yes to courtship? To marriage? To the Special License?”
She laughed and, despite the crowd, put her arms around his neck and let him hold her tightly. What did it matter? They were to be married soon. “Yes to it all,” she whispered in his ear, a joy like nothing she had ever felt before flooding her. “Yes to courtship, yes to marriage, yes to the Special License if you wish it!” Leaning back, she looked into his eyes and smiled. “And yes, most of all, to love.”
