“If you did, you’d not have helped her.”
Justin didn’t deny it. “Helped her what? Protect her heart? Phillip, you didn’t give her a choice. You haven’t made an offer.”
Phillip looked around the room, not seeing anything. “She’s not given me a choice either. I don’t want to be like you.”
“Like me?”
“Charlotte. She could own me.”
“She could hurt you,” Justin amended. “Aye, Moira hurt me. But at least I let her close. I doubt if you’ve ever done that. What is it, Phillip? Have you been alone for so long, you can’t take a risk?”
“Would you risk it?”
His question made Justin pause. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I won’t know until I meet someone who makes me feel the way Moira once did. But Charlotte’s no Moira. You know that.”
He did know that.
“I’ve been an idiot.”
A smile sprang to his brother’s face. “Aye.”
But he spoke to the air because Phillip was already on his way out the door, where he paused long enough to say, “Handle that MacKenna business, will you?”
He didn’t wait for an answer.
He had been an idiot. It was pride that made him so. Pride that had caused problems between them in the beginning when he should have been thanking God he hadn’t married her sister. And pride that was almost going to cost him Charlotte.
He loved her.
There it was. No more hesitation. He should have said the words last night. He prayed he wasn’t too late.
Monarch was only too happy to loan clothing, money, and have Homer saddled and ready. He even knew which coach Charlotte had taken. Within the hour, Phillip was on his way.
Charlotte refused to cry although she was tempted several times. She tried to focus on anything but Phillip. Sitting in the middle of a row on the roof of an overcrowded coach, she struggled to muster the enthusiasm and sense of adventure that had led her to cross an ocean and meet her future head-on.
Instead, she was exhausted. It would be a long time before she would recover her spirits after this. She wasn’t one to fall in love easily and, next time, she vowed, she’d be more guarded with her heart.
Her seat on the coach was situated with her back to the coachman and guard. The dust from the horses made the man beside her sneeze repeatedly. On her other side, two women chattered about very personal problems that were a bit embarrassing to overhear.
Charlotte would be very happy when this trip was over. Maybe then, in the privacy of her guest room at Michael and Isabel’s, she’d have a good, hard weeping session—one that would last a month.
The coach had just rounded a sharp bend in the road when it suddenly came to a screeching halt. The passengers fell all over the top of each other.
It took a moment for Charlotte to right herself. Their driver was furious. “What are you doing standing out in the road, man? I could have crashed into you.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” a familiar voice said.
Phillip.
Charlotte didn’t dare to turn to see him. She ducked down, wanting to become invisible and yet secretly thrilled. He’d come.
“I’m the Duke of Colster, and you have a passenger who is needed by authority of the Crown,” Phillip said. He tossed a coin purse to the driver, who caught it with one hand.
He opened purse and said happily, “Your Grace, you can search them all, but please make it quick.”
“I shall,” Phillip answered. But he didn’t move forward. Instead, he stayed on the ground and said in a loud, strong voice, “Charlotte Cameron, I love you.”
Charlotte swallowed her breath, and then bolted to her feet. She faced him.
“I shall always love you,” he admitted. “And if you come down from the coach, I shall carry you off to the closest village and marry you posthaste…if you will have me as not a duke, but as a man.”
Tears filled her eyes. She stood, feeling windblown and jostled and so much in love it had to radiate from her.
He saw her and smiled. “I love you, Charlotte. I love you.”
The two biddies that had been sitting beside her gave her a shove. One said in her brogue, “Well, go down to him, missy. If you don’t, one of us will.”
All the passengers laughed. Charlotte joined them, laughing with happiness through the tears.
Phillip came for her. He leaped up the ladder and offered her his hand. “Will you marry me, Charlotte?”
“Yes.” The word burst out of her, and being said once had to be repeated. “Yes, yes, yes. And I’ll even take you for better and worse.”
The passengers started cheering as she climbed down the ladder with him. He swept her up into strong arms with a kiss that stole her very breath.
With a crack of the whip the coach was on its way, leaving a trail of dust.
“You came,” she said when she could speak at last.
He held her close. “Charlotte, I knew I loved you, and yet, I—” He paused as if words failed him.
“I know,” she said. “I understand. I had those same fears and yet, I felt worse without you. Please, let us never let go of the other.”
And she realized that it was true. All her fears and doubts had been laid to rest. At last, she understood. Love was what gave life meaning. It was what her mother had searched for, what Miranda had run for, and what she’d found.
She prayed Constance would be as fortunate.
“Come, love,” Phillip said. “Let’s find us a parson without fanfare, titles, or nonsense.”
And that was just perfect with her.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful for the assistance and insight of Glennis Pleasants and her son Brandon, who have been blessed to live with twins. I also appreciate Catherine Solari, who offered a number of great resources for my research.
About the Author
CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question “Why do people fall in love?” The question remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness. She lives in beautiful Virginia with children, horses, dogs, and cats. Fans can contact Cathy at www.booktalk.com/cmaxwell or PO Box 1135, Powhatan, VA 23139.
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Romances by
Cathy Maxwell
IN THE BED OF A DUKE
THE PRICE OF INDISCRETION
TEMPTATION OF A PROPER GOVERNESS
THE SEDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH LADY
ADVENTURES OF A SCOTTISH HEIRESS
THE LADY IS TEMPTED
THE WEDDING WAGER
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT
A SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE
MARRIED IN HASTE
BECAUSE OF YOU
WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE
FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN
YOU AND NO OTHER
TREASURED VOWS
ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
IN THE BED OF A DUKE. Copyright © 2006 by Cathy Maxwell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition July 2006 ISBN 9780061745089
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Romances by Cathy Maxwell
Copyright
About the Publisher
In the Bed of a Duke Page 23