Page 42 of Love, the Duke
CHAPTER12
MAN’S PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APPREHENDING A THIEF
SIR BENTLY ASHTON ULLINGSWICK
Avoid danger at all costs.
Hurst caught himself, as well as Ophelia, off guard. They were both speechless, staring at each other in astonishment.
He hadn’t planned to say, “Marry me.” Hadn’t even thought about the possibility of proposing to her today or any day, but the moment the words left his mouth unbidden, he knew he meant them. They felt right. She felt right for him. He’d known it the first night they’d met, the way he was attracted to her even though he shouldn’t have been. The way he was still attracted to her even though he shouldn’t be. However, from the expression on her face, he wasn’t sure she was as convinced as him that they were meant to be together and should marry.
He pushed aside his instinct to pull her close, smell the scent of her fresh-washed hair, nuzzle the warmth at the curve of her neck, and kiss the slight swell of breasts showing so pillowy soft from above the neckline of her velvet spencer. She wouldn’t be convinced they should marry because of enticing kisses and sweet words. Nor because he’d felt she was the one for him almost the moment he saw her. Ophelia needed a reason and a plan.
When he’d held her in his arms and kissed her, damnation, he hadn’t wanted to stop, hadn’t wanted to let go of her. She was where she belonged. With him. Of all the women he’d been with or could have been with, he had no doubt she was the one lady for him.
Ophelia suddenly took a cautious step back and looked behind her and around the garden as if to make certain no one was listening or watching. “What did you say?”
“Marry me,” he said again without any reservation. Hurst didn’t mind repeating it. He felt as sure of it as he ever had about anything in his life. There was so much more than his desire for her. She was strong, loyal, and filled with more determination than a young lady should have. He admired her courageous spirit and certainly wanted his sons to have her attributes.
“We should go inside, and I’ll make my offer official by asking your mother’s permission for your hand in marriage.”
“Wait.” Her voice remained confident and steady. “You are talking too fast, Your Grace.” She straightened her shoulders and moistened her lips. There was a determined set to her expression and validity in her eyes. “I know it’s what the church believes, but I didn’t think you would be catering to their strict views. Just because I allowed you to kiss me, and I kissed you in return, doesn’t mean you have to ask me to marry you. No one will ever be the wiser about what just happened between us. Especially if we act normal and forget it happened ourselves.”
Forget how she felt as if she belonged in his arms? Belonged to him as his wife? That would never happen.
Hurst smiled. Her response was so clear, rational, and charming he wanted to pull her and kiss her again. Her innocence and absence of guile or pretense were easy toadd to the many things he enjoyed about her and made him want her all the more.
“You think I’m asking you to be my wife to keep there from being damage to your reputation?”
“Of course, but have no worries, Your Grace. Unlike some and even most people in the church and Society, I don’t believe I am ruined for another man or for life. It was a kiss, not a—a union between us. That would be cause for concern that we couldn’t possibly overcome, but I am not compromised. You don’t have to be concerned about my reputation or my stability in handling this situation.”
Situation?
She never ceased to amaze him. Her tenacious spirit had been evident from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, and he was still drawn to it like a beast to beauty.
“That’s not why I want to marry you.”
Ophelia gave him a quizzical look and folded her arms across her chest in a proud stance. “Please don’t tell me that, at last, you have an attack of conscience and feel you must offer for my hand as a belated way of honoring your promise to my brother. You’re too late for that.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d spoken to him in such an impertinent way. He had come to expect it and oddly looked forward to their spirited, spritely exchanges.
“Indeed, I am too late, and no, I don’t feel I have to do anything to atone for that.” But in hindsight, he wished he’d gone to see Winston instead of keeping his promise to his aunt and tending to the blights that had ravaged his lands when he returned to London. He had no doubt that the current relationship between him and Ophelia wouldn’t be so complicated if he’d made different decisions. His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you are still upsetwith me because I didn’t agree to marry you when your brother asked me to and feel you can’t trust me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She puffed a loud breath and glanced around the garden again as if needing time to gather her thoughts. “I didn’t even know he was going to impose on you and ask. If I had known, I would have had him not do it and he wouldn’t have. Winston would have never done anything I asked him not to. He considered it his place to care for me after Papa died, and he did. There were those who offered for my hand, but I wasn’t interested. He never tried persuading me to settle on anyone even when there was a gentleman who would have helped our station in life.”
So, she had other offers of marriage. That wasn’t surprising. “So then, did Winston only decide to tell you he contacted me after I refused to offer?” That seemed a little cruel.
“No, of course not.”
Her eyes seemed to bore directly into his, and for a moment he was sure he saw a glistening at the corners. “I’m sorry if asking about this upsets you.”
Ophelia seemed to swallow hard again and took in a deep silent breath. “It never upsets me to talk about my brother. He was the kindest man I’ve ever known. He never told me anything about contacting you. I don’t believe he ever would have. I found a copy of the letter he sent to you and your reply when we were searching among his things for the chalice. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have ever known.”
“I’m glad that’s not the reason you often seem to find yourself dismayed with me.”
“What unsettles me about you is that you were too busy with your own life and you let your good friend down and never went to see him when you knew he was ill.”
“That is a regret I’ll always carry with me, but it can’t be undone.”
