My Fair Duchess
Page 26
That lock of hair still fell forward, though, and she suppressed a smirk at when she’d last pushed it back—after their mid-meadow romp, when they’d been lying together entirely naked, talking of their plans for the future.
Getting a sunburn she couldn’t seem to adequately explain to Clarkson.
“Good evening, Vievy,” Aunt Sophia said, rushing forward with both her arms out. “Thank you for inviting us to dinner; you know I love food.”
Genevieve blinked at her godmother’s statement, glancing back at Archie, whose eyebrow was raised. He shook his head in fond tolerance, and her heart swelled all over again at seeing him be so kind.
“Mr. Salisbury said you’d invited him as well, and I hope that wasn’t a mistake, because here he is,” Aunt Sophia said, gesturing to him behind her.
“No mistake, I promise,” Genevieve replied, to him as well as to her godmother. “No mistake,” she repeated, more softly.
“Allow me to escort you into the dining room,” Archie said, holding his arm out to both ladies. Genevieve stepped over to his right side, while her godmother took his left. She squeezed his forearm as they walked, breathing in his scent.
He was here. He was here, and he was hers forever.
They walked into the dining room, the formal table studded with candles, the silver glinting in the soft light. Sir William looked up at their entrance, his expression tightening as he saw Archie.
“What the dickens is he doing here?” he said. Sir William hadn’t renewed his offer, thank goodness, and he had agreed to accept a dowry for Evelyn. But they hadn’t, for obvious reasons, had any conversation beyond ironing out those details.
“That is an excellent question,” Genevieve replied. She waited as Archie seated her godmother. “That is one of the many reasons I wished to invite you for dinner.”
Archie came to stand beside her, and she took his hand in hers. All of the guests’ eyes were riveted to their clasped hands.
“Mr. Salisbury has done me the very great honor of agreeing to become my husband,” she said, glancing at each guest in turn. Noticing how everyone—save Sir William—looked exceptionally pleased. “I wanted to let you know first. We’ll be calling on Mr. Salisbury’s family tomorrow to let them know.” That would be much less comfortable than tonight, but it was necessary. She knew the value of family, and she wanted him to have the benefit of it, even if it just ended up that he was reconciled with his brother, and not his parents.
His brother’s letter had already done a lot of good toward mending the rift between the brothers—Genevieve hadn’t read it herself yet, but she’d watched Archie’s face as he did. By the end there were tears in his eyes, and she had every hope that he and the lesser Mr. Salisbury—in her eyes, at least—would be true family again.
His parents sounded as horrible as her father had been, albeit in an entirely opposite way—cherishing duty and propriety above anything else. Still, there would be times they would see each other, and she was determined that it not be the subject of gossip.
Their marriage would already cause gossip, but she was willing to endure that if it meant she got to have him.
“And the duchess has done me the great honor of agreeing to become my wife,” Archie added, looking down at her and smiling.
“Oh, wonderful!” Gran said, clapping her hands as a disgruntled Byron leaped off her lap and went scurrying for the corner. “I can see you will have a perfect life together,” she said, stressing the “see” part of her sentence and chuckling.
“We will,” Archie said in a low tone, a fierce promise meant for Genevieve’s ears alone. “We will.”
Announcement
Don’t miss the other delightful and sexy stories in
the Dukes Behaving Badly series
by Megan Frampton!
Why Do Dukes Fall in Love
One-Eyed Dukes Are Wild
Put Up Your Duke
The Duke’s Guide to Correct Behavior
Available Now from Avon Books!
and
No Groom at the Inn (novella)
When Good Earls Go Bad (novella)
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About the Author
MEGAN FRAMPTON writes historical romance under her own name and romantic women’s fiction under the name Megan Caldwell. She likes the color black, gin, dark-haired British men, and huge earrings, not in that order. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son. You can visit her website at www.meganframpton.com. She tweets as @meganf and is at Facebook.com/meganframptonbooks.
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By Megan Frampton
Dukes Behaving Badly
My Fair Duchess
Why Do Dukes Fall in Love?
One-Eyed Dukes Are Wild
No Groom at the Inn (novella)
Put Up Your Duke
When Good Earls Go Bad (novella)
The Duke’s Guide to Correct Behavior
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.
my fair duchess. Copyright © 2017 by Megan Frampton. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
EPub Edition MARCH 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-241280-5
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-241279-9
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HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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