Page 11 of Sincerely, the Duke
Edwina was pleased her honest account wrung another smile from him, and an easy gleam of amusement glimmered in the duke’s blue eyes.
“It’s refreshing to meet a lady who knows nothing about me,” he admitted. “I don’t remember that happening before.”
He moved closer and looked intently at her. “What did you think when you first read my proposal?”
She returned his smile and realized how much she liked him smiling at her and enjoying their conversation. “That I needed to find Auntie a bottle of smelling salts because she fainted.”
The duke laughed. “And after that and the shock began to abate?”
Edwina couldn’t answer as candidly as she would like. She didn’t want him to know that her very first thought was that miraculously all her prayers had been answered. Other things came barreling into her mind so close behindthat any one of them could have been first. “Was the proposal truth, lie, mistake, or prank?”
He nodded understanding.
Edwina clasped her hands together in front of her. “I’ve already learned quite a lot about you in our short time of talking,” she offered because they were in such an easy conversation for the first time since she arrived.
“That has me curious and requires an answer. What do you think you know about me now?”
Thankfully, caution snaked through her and kept her from immediately saying he was by far the handsomest man she had ever seen. She glanced around the many shelves of books and wondered if she should be completely honest or withhold some of what she’d garnered about him during the past few minutes. Perhaps it would be best if she only mentioned some of his traits.
Her shoulders lifted as if to give credence to her words. “You are argumentative, blunt, impatient, challenging, and more than once you’ve had me shuddering at your frustrated tone.”
One brow rose and his lips twitched a smile. “Is that all?”
“No, but some things I’m still debating and it’s best I not reveal them until I am sure.”
“A wise decision for you but it leaves me still curious.”
His gaze swept down her face in that easy glide that made her breath jump with stirring sensations she shouldn’t be feeling and didn’t know what to do about. “My father said curiosity is the sign of a healthy mind.”
He nodded slowly. “Maybe you would like to add strong, courageous, likable, and persuasive among the attributes you are still considering?”
She swallowed a little harder than she expected, even though his words made her want to smile again. There was no doubt he could be persuasive if he was so inclined.
Edwina studied on that as she looked around the room again and took a moment to enjoy the warmth, the smells, and the beauty of the filled library before her. A touch of sadness flickered through her. Her father would have loved to see so many books in one place and he would have tried to read every one of them.
Focusing her attention back to the duke, she answered, “Reckless would be the only other one I am sure of at the moment.”
His eyes narrowed and he leaned back. “How have I been reckless?”
“You picked my name from a list and you are alone with an unmarried lady.”
The duke chuckled softly and the sound drifted over her like a soothing breeze on a hot summer day. His eyes connected with hers in a way that had never happened before—as if she delighted him.
“Ah, yes,” he nodded. “Guilty on both charges. Would you want to know what I thought about you when I first saw you?”
Edwina’s stomach felt as if it were flipping somersaults. No, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but that didn’t matter because she could see the duke was going to tell her anyway.
“From my book room doorway, I had been listening to you and Palmer. I couldn’t believe you were taking my formidable butler to task. I thought you were nervy, capable, and the most mysterious young lady I had ever heard.”
She flinched at the wordmysterious. It was true. She had to be. There were things she couldn’t tell him.
“You intrigued me and still do. I am of an age and it is a time in my life that I need a wife, and for her to give me an heir. It appears you will be well able to do that.”
Edwina was suddenly filled with uncertainty as the very real ramifications of what she was doing flooded her. Having an heir would be the most difficult part of this arrangement between them, should it take place. She understood that having an heir would be of utmost importance to the duke or any man she married. Since first comprehending she was one of triplets, the thought of being with child and possibly having three babes at a time had always filled her with angst. She knew it was a fear she must find the strength to face when the time came.
That the duke hadn’t searched deep into her past to know the swirls of rumors about triplets and many of the superstitions that went with them couldn’t be considered her transgression. On the other hand, to be fair, perhaps she should tell him some things and let the petals fall where they may.
“I would do my best to have a son, but what you might not know about me is that my mother had three daughters. When I came to London for the Season, I hadn’t set my cap for a duke to whom having a son would be so important.”
