Page 107 of The Duke's Rules Of Engagement
He glanced disdainfully down at her hand on his sleeve, and she let him go. She gestured to Mr. Pellegrini. “Your Grace,” she said, “this is Mr. Pellegrini. He is a client of mine, and he has just told me the wonderful news of his engagement.”
“Congratulations,” the duke muttered.
Jo continued, “Mr. Pellegrini, may I present the Duke of Crestmont.”
Mr. Pellegrini bowed with a flourish. “I am pleased to meet you, Your Grace. If you are considering becoming a client of this fine lady, I assure you, you will not be displeased. Mrs. Porter is the best matchmaker in London—no, in the whole of the United Kingdom, if not the whole of this enormous Earth upon which we reside!”
Matthew stared at Jo. “That’s quite an endorsement,” he said in a flat voice.
“And I offer it with no reservation,” Mr. Pellegrini gushed.
Jo barely heard him. She was staring at Matthew, unable to look away.
After an awkward moment of silence, Mr. Pellegrini pressed his hat upon his head, and with a final goodbye, took his leave, promising to send Jo the date and time of the wedding.
When he was gone, Matthew stepped inside, removed his hat and set it on the entry table, then closed the door behind him—still without taking his eyes off Jo.
Jo inched backward, but she didn’t break her gaze away, either. She hadn’t been sure she’d ever see him again, and just looking at him felt like a marvelous gift, one that she could soak in and hang onto forever.
They stood there for long moments, until Matthew broke the silence. “Jo.”
“Yes?” she asked in a rasp.
“I…” He swallowed hard, looked away, then resolutely looked back at her. After a long pause, he said, “I missed you.”
She could see the effort it took for him to say that. His fear of offering her these words of vulnerability radiated out from him in the tension around his eyes and mouth. But she wouldn’t ruin it. She’d take his vulnerable side and cradle it in her hands like the delicate offering it was. She’d teach him that he didn’t need to fortify those rigid walls in her presence. He was safe with her. He always would be.
“I missed you, too,” she said. “So very much.”
He let out a slow, long breath. “I was wrong. All those things I said to you. I didn’t mean them.”
“Iwas wrong,” she said. “I knew what I did was wrong, and I feel horrid about it, and I am so sorry for it.”
He nodded somberly.
“But,” she continued, “truth be told, I had forgotten all about my deception. When you reminded me of what I’d done to manipulate the match between you and Harriet—well, it was even worse, because it had completely slipped my mind.”
His brows drew together in confusion. “How is that possible? How could you forget about deceiving me? How could you forget how such a deception would destroy me?”
“It’s possible because I drowned one sin with another—one I felt was far more terrible.”
Renewed fear entered his eyes, and he asked hoarsely, “What else have you done?”
She finally looked away from him, her gaze moving down toward his midriff that blurred behind her misty eyes. “I fell in love. With the most inappropriate person in London. The very person I was attempting to match with someone else.” Slowly, she looked up into his face. “You.”
The silence felt like it dragged on forever. Finally he said, “How is that a sin?”
“You were supposed to marry Harriet. Youwantedto marry Harriet. Loving you was a selfish act, but as much as I tried to stop it, I couldn’t. It just kept growing and growing until…” She shook her head. “Until I was certain I couldn’t bear to watch you marry her.”
“Jo.”
She looked up.
“I never wanted to marry Harriet.”
“But—”
“I was expected to marry someone like Harriet. I believed it was mydutyto marry someone like Harriet. It was something I was forcing myself to do because almost everything I’ve ever known told me it was the only correct way for me to marry. It was not something I wanted.”
