Page 43 of Love, the Duke
“No, it can’t.” She nodded once and lifted her shoulders. “So, now that is settled and we have that business about marriage finished, I will bid you goodbye.”
Settled? Finished?
Most ladies would have accepted his proposal immediately and other issues be damned. But not his beautiful, headstrong Ophelia.
And it was probably best for him not to try to explain to her what he was feeling about marrying her. That she had somehow been destined for him long before her brother wrote to him proposing marriage, or the first time he’d met her. It was difficult to understand and would be even harder for him to express the instinct that he knew to be true. He’d been waiting for her. No one else would do.
A more practical approach would be far better for her.
“My wanting to marry you has nothing to do with your brother at all. One of the reasons I didn’t make it to see him was because I had plans to visit my aunt. She had arranged for me to meet three different ladies in hopes I’d agree to marry one of them. I’ll be thirty-one in a matter of weeks. I need a wife and you’re the one I want.”
She blew out an audible breath. “I am a simple vicar’s daughter. You are a duke.”
“You are a member of Society by birth as am I,” he argued. “And I can assure you that your father was better than mine.”
“That aside, I know nothing about being a duchess.”
His breath hitched. Did that mean she was receptive to the idea? “You don’t need to. You can learn the same way I had to learn about being a duke. You didn’t know anything about sneaking around in houses looking for athief either, but you have done a very fine job learning how to do that.”
She screwed up her face as if wondering if she should thank him for the compliment or rail against him for the slight. “I read a book that has been somewhat helpful.”
How could he forget that? “Ophelia, what I am offering you is an arranged marriage of sorts.”
That obviously piqued her interest. She looked at him closely to determine what he was trying to explain. “What kind of an arrangement?”
He grinned. “You mean other than a marriage of me conveniently saving you from Newgate?”
Ophelia pursed her lips and then frowned. “I’ll have you know I haven’t come close to getting caught.”
“Except by me,” he said with a hint of devilment in his tone and shining in his eyes. “So far. How long do you think your luck on that will last? I’m offering a marriage that will benefit you and me. I have been wanting to marry for a long time.” She didn’t need to know how long. “You will give me an heir to continue the title. I will do more to help you search for the chalice.”
Her brows and lashes lifted in concern. “There were over a dozen young ladies at the Duke of Wyatthaven’s ball and close to that number at the card party. Every one of them was almost begging to give you an heir.”
“I know.” He gave her another amused grin. “But I’m not asking them. I’m asking you.”
A small flicker of emotion flashed in her blue eyes. “I don’t know why I’m the one you want to marry when you’re constantly annoyed with me and don’t even like me.”
He stepped closer to her as he slowly shook his head. “Oh, no, Ophelia. That is where you are wrong. I more than like you. I desire you and find myself constantlythinking about you and your enchantingly bold ways. There is a powerful attraction between us and has been from the first. Will you admit that?”
“Yes,” she answered in an unhurried voice. “I’m not sure I understand it since we have a difficult time seeing eye to eye on something that is very important to me.”
He wasn’t sure he understood it either, but he had no doubt it was real. And right now, he couldn’t help but have a pang of remorse that he’d rejected Winston’s suggestion. If he’d accepted, Ophelia would already be his. He wondered if maybe Winston had somehow foreseen his sister and Hurst were meant to be together.
“Desiring each other is quite important in a marriage, Ophelia. After our kisses, I think it’s quite clear we see eye to eye on that.”
He watched her breathing kick up. So did his.
“In any case, I think you are being hasty, Your Grace. Marriage is sacred and for life. It shouldn’t be taken lightly and certainly not simply just for the thrills of wanting a few kisses.”
Only a few? Never.
She really didn’t know what magic, wonder, and contentment awaited her in the marriage bed. That made thoughts of showing her even more exciting.
“I’m not taking anything lightly,” he admitted honestly.
“Why don’t you continue to help me as you have with your cousin and the book? I think, perhaps, you see marrying me as some sort of grand redemption because of your past misdeeds.”
Ophelia was right. He was full of misdeeds. With a father like his there was no choice but to sometimes do the wrong thing. Hurst wasn’t looking for any kind of liberation from them. Not concerning his father or even forthe promise he’d made when he was a boy. There were many things Hurst would change in his past if he could, but he didn’t think about them anymore.
