Her skin was warm against his and her hand was a perfect fit in his. He did not want to let go, and could stay here with her until his very last day on this earth.
“That is where you are mistaken, Maria. You are an extraordinary woman. You work to provide for your sisters and your father, to give them a better life. Not many people would do that for their families,” the duke said.
“I promised my mother they would have everything they needed. I only wish to make her proud of me,” Maria said quietly.
“I assure you she is proud of you, Maria.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“May I ask a question, Maria?” the duke asked.
“Of course.”
“Why did you leave the estate? And why did you not inform me?” the duke asked and glanced at her, her eyes sparkling in the light of the fire.
“There were a few reasons, Your Grace.”
“Was one of them because of me? Did I make you uncomfortable?” he asked.
“The attention you gave me was tempting, but I did not wish to be one of those women who left the estate in tears, with their hearts in tatters. That was all I thought I would ever be to you, Your Grace. I could not stand the thought of being discarded by you. And I could not bear the thought of being around you while feeling this way.”
“And which way is that?”
“Your Grace—”
“Perhaps I should say this to you, Maria,” the duke cleared his throat. “I may not have noticed you for two years, but it was only because I was an ignorant man who attempted to convince myself that love did not exist in order to make myself feel better about my behavior. I tried to justify my behavior, but there is no justification for what I did to those women. It was wrong of me and I realize it now.”
“That is very big of you, Your Grace.”
“When I spoke with you and came to know you under that starry sky, you showed me that I could open up to someone. It was terrifying, I must admit, but also comforting,” the duke said and squeezed her hand tightly. “When you left, it felt as though I had been punched in the gut and left for dead.”
“You were in the middle of the road,” Maria pointed out.
“Both literally and metaphorically speaking,” he muttered, which made her smile briefly. “The hole inside my heart, which had been there for most of my life, was momentarily filled by you, and when you left, that hole grew again. I had to find you. I had to tell you all the things I wished to say. Maria, what I am trying to say is that you complete my world and fill the hole in my soul that I had accepted would be there my entire life. I did not know any person would have the ability to make me feel this way, or feel at all. You understand me, and I came here to tell you this in person, because you deserved to hear it.”
Maria lowered her gaze, but the duke tilted her chin upward, and their eyes locked. “Maria, I am in love with you. Truly, deeply, and utterly.”
The sparkle in Maria’s eyes faded, and her bright eyes darkened suddenly. She pulled her hand back and shuffled away from him.
“Your Grace, as much as I wish to believe this, what is stopping you from treating me any differently from those other women? How am I to know that your words are true, and that you are truly in love with me, and not merely seeking my intimacy for a single night before sending me home in a pool of tears in your coach?”
“I understand how you—”
“You understand nothing,” she scoffed. “I knew of everything that you did at the estate.”
“Maria—”
“Do you wish to know the true reason why I left?”
“Why?”
“Every time I saw another woman leave the estate, with you treating her as though she did not matter at all, a part of me died every single time. I was envious, because I loved you. I loved you silently and secretly. I have not told anyone else this and now it does not even matter. You are a rake, Elias Birks, and that will never change!” she exclaimed.
He scrambled to his feet as Maria rushed out the front door and followed her. He stood in the doorway of the cottage and watched as she angrily paced around the front garden, clenching her jaw in anger and frustration.
“Maria,” he called out to her.
She stopped pacing and turned to him, her hands on her hips. “What?”
“The way you said my name, it truly resonated with me,” the duke said with a slight smile on his lips.
“Your charm is certainly not going to win me over, Your Grace,” she retorted.
“And what if I told you that I have changed?”
Maria scoffed loudly and crossed her arms.
“Do you remember the young woman who wore the light green dress, with the long copper locks?” the duke asked.
“The one who stormed out angrily and almost knocked over the poor coachman who offered her a hand?” she asked with a tone of disapproval.
“Your memory is astounding,” the duke said.
“I am very observant,” Maria shrugged.
“That’s one of the things I love about you, Maria.”
Maria shifted her weight and said, “Why did you ask me about the copper-haired woman?”
“She was the last one.”
“The last one?”
“Indeed. I have not brought any other woman back to the estate since that day,” the duke told her sincerely. “I have no desire to, because there is only one woman I wish to spend my time with.”
Maria’s brow furrowed. “That was the day before we spoke in the parlor.”
“Indeed it was. I have not had any interest in any other woman since that day, and I have not brought anyone to the estate since then. My loyalty towards you, even if you were not aware of it, has always been there,” the duke said and slowly approached her.
Maria’s brow furrowed in concern as he took an unsteady step and she walked towards him. “Your Grace should sit down and rest.”
“I am fine,” the duke insisted and took her hands in his.
Much to her surprise, and his own, he knelt down before her and gazed up at her.
“Your Grace, please get up from the grass,” she whispered, glancing around her.
“I must do this, if you will allow me,” he asked, his eyes silently pleading with her to agree.
“Very well,” she agreed, and his heart soared.
“Maria Trew, I truly love you, and I beg you, as I am knelt here on the grass, to give me the chance to prove to you that my words, as well as my heart, are true. I have not met anyone like you, and you changed my world, my perspective on life, as well as the way I wish to be. I wish to be better, to become the man you deserve. I wish to change for the better, for myself, as I despised the man I had become due to the bitterness of a situation which was beyond my control. I am willing to spend the rest of my life treating you the way you deserve to be treated, respecting you, loving you and never disappointing you. Ever,” the duke proclaimed. “If you will allow me, of course. You are under no obligation to agree. It is solely your choice, and I cannot expect you to do something simply because I ask.”
Maria glanced down at him and inhaled slowly. Much to his surprise, Maria knelt down in front of him and said, “Your Grace. I am not of noble lineage. I have no money. My father has no money. He has a simple cottage, two horses, and we do not own any lands. My father is a physician and I used to be a maid. What could I possibly offer you?”
“It does not matter to me how wealthy your family is, or whether you own land or not. I am only interested in who you are as a person, and you have much more to offer than even the daughter of the wealthiest and noblest of men,” the duke told her, squeezing her hands. “You possess something they can only dream of, and that is integrity, intelligence, and a kind and wonderful heart.”
Maria’s eyes softened. “My father told me that it is possible for people to change, but they must do so of their own accord,” Maria said. “I will give you a chance, Your Grace, as my heart would never forgive me if I did not.”
A bright smile formed on the duke’s lips as the words he had longed to hear were finally spoken by the woman he loved, and would continue to love for as long as there was air in his lungs. He brought his hand up to her face and brushed her cheek, the softness of her skin everything he had imagined it would be.
The duke leaned in closer, feeling Maria’s warm breath on his face, and gently pressed his lips against hers in a sweet kiss which he had dreamt about since the moment he noticed her in his study.
It was a day he would never be able to forget, as it was then when he realized that nobility did not matter. If two people were destined to be together, not even the strongest forces on earth could keep them apart.
Her lips were sweet against his, and the kiss lingered even after their lips had parted. It was an ethereal moment as they both knelt on the grass in front of Maria’s family home, under the stars and the light of the glorious moon which bathed them in a silver glow, filled with love and a promise of the future.
The End
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