Her father let out a curse. “I don’t like you, Devlin.” The earl had made no secret of the truth all these years—he hated Damian, even as he didn’t know him. All because he’d been trained to detest the Renshaws for having attained that weapon that once belonged to them. Yet there was an easing of the tension in his bulky frame.
“Surely you are not considering allowing her to wed him?” Aidan cried out.
“Leave us,” their father ordered. Mother and sons lingered a moment with mutinous sets to their mouths and then together strode angrily from the room. They closed the door hard in their wake.
Through it, Damian continued to work his hand over Theodosia’s and then carefully, he held the sword out toward her father. Damian may as well have handed over the kingdom for his care. With almost reverent hands, her father took it silently and then he gave a nod.
Her lips twitched. Of course, a man who’d revered that Gladius since his own early days should un-hesitantly turn his daughter over to the care of a man who’d given over that precious item. Damian fished around the front pocket of his jacket. “I love you.” He withdrew a small bouquet of rumpled thistles.
Her heart warmed and she touched her fingers to her lips. This same man who’d first sneered at the legend behind the Theodosia now paid honor to the tales with each word, each offering. “The moment you entered my office, you failed to steal your legendary sword.” He paused. “Instead you stole my heart. Marry me.”
Emotion squeezed at her heart and another tear slid down her cheek. He was the other half of her soul she’d not known had been missing. Theodosia managed a jerky nod.
“My love for thee.” That gruff whisper that had first terrified her in his office less than a week ago now warmed her.
She leaned up on tiptoe and with their lips but a hairsbreadth apart, whispered, “For eternity it will bind us.”
Epilogue
Summer 1810
The Manor of Elstree
Hertfordshire, England
Standing in the White Parlor, bathed in the sun’s rays, Theodosia peeled back the curtains and stared outside her family’s Hertfordshire properties, desperately searching.
Joy, nervousness, and fear warred in her breast. “Where is he?” she whispered to herself. What if Damian had been proven wrong? What if—?
Her husband settled his hands on her shoulders and gave a slight squeeze. “He will be here, Theo,” he promised, his breath fanned against her ear. She leaned into his caress, the commanding strength he exuded drove back the fear that had been with her since the day they’d learned her brother, Lucas, was, in fact, living.
Fear that the sources her husband had hired to search for Lucas’ whereabouts had proven incorrect. Fear, that they’d found an altogether different man languishing in Spain.
“He will be here,” Damian pledged, pressing a lingering kiss against her temple.
In the six months that she had been wed to Damian, she’d oft feared that nothing would bring all her family together with her husband.
While the Earl and Countess of Lavery had come to see Damian as part of them, Richard and Aidan had looked upon Theodosia’s husband, first, with a cool disdain, and then that tangible animosity had receded…to an icy politeness.
In the crystal windowpane, with the collection of guests present, the day proved how wrong those fears had been. Her parents sat perched, side by side on the sofa, their hands clasped tight. Hovering behind Theodosia, their tall frames erect and unbending, Aidan and Richard stood shoulder to shoulder.
Her throat worked. Yes, she’d despaired of her husband ever knowing peace with her brothers.
The floorboards groaned and she turned. Damian’s arms fell to his sides, just as Richard came over.
“Thank you,” Richard said hoarsely, for the tenth time since Theodosia and Damian had stepped inside the room. He clasped his brother-in-law’s hand and gave a firm shake.
Her husband returned that gesture. “Please, there is no need—”
“There is every need,” Richard interrupted hoarsely. “You found my brother and, for that, I can never repay you.”
“I do not expect, nor want any payment,” Damian said, in his gravelly tones. “You are family.”
A sheen of tears blurred her vision as Richard grabbed Damian in a quick hug, slapping him on the back. Mayhap there would forever exist resentment within some of the Raynes and Renshaws…but there was a new peace and love. With each day that passed, the bond joining their families grew. As though embarrassed by his show of emotion, Richard immediately released his brother-in-law.
The rumble of carriage wheels filtered up to the parlor window and, with a gasp, Theodosia pressed her forehead to the window. “He is here,” she breathed. With her husband at her side, Theodosia bolted from the room. Her family’s cries and footsteps echoed behind them as they raced down the corridors.
Heart pounding loudly in her ears, she rushed into the soaring foyer just as the butler drew the door open. The smooth soles of her slippers skidded along the marble floor and she shot her arms out to steady herself. Damian immediately caught her around the waist, keeping her upright.
“He is here,” she whispered, making for the door. Her beloved brother. Her one time protector. The friend she’d despaired of ever again seeing had returned. Because of her husband.
Abandoning her place in the foyer, she squeezed past Aidan and Richard, and stumbled outside. Theodosia suddenly stopped.
Several footmen rushed forward reached inside the carriage, and helped her brother out.
Rail thin, his hair long, and his face covered with a beard, Lucas bore little trace of the smiling man who’d gone off to fight Boney’s forces. He eyed the collection of assembled guests with bloodshot eyes. Those eyes had aged in the time since he’d been gone.
A tear slid down her cheek.
But he was home.
Grabbing her husband’s hand, she rushed forward to greet her brother.
The curse had, at last, been broken.
The End
Coming October 25, 2016 by Montlake Publishing: “The Rogue’s Wager”, Book One in Christi Caldwell’s brand new Sinful Brides series!
The Sinful Brides features ravishing tales of London’s gaming hell rogues—and the women who love them.
The Rogue’s Wager
London, 1821
Lord Robert Dennington, the Marquess of Westfield, has long reveled in the freedom afforded him as the ducal heir. He knows he must someday do right by the Somerset line, but he’s in no hurry to give up his carefree existence.
Helena Banbury is a bookkeeper in a gentleman’s gambling club, adept at analyzing numbers and accounts but helpless for lack of influence. She’s never belonged among the nobility on the gaming hell floors, but neither does she feel completely herself among the men who run the Hell and Sin Club, despite the fact that they are family. The once-illiterate girl from the streets wants more than the gilded walls her protective cage can offer.
When Robert mistakenly enters her chambers one night, Helena is forced out of her predictable life and thrust into the glittering world of Society. Will the charms of the marquess prove more perilous than any danger she ever knew on the streets?
The Rogue’s Wager
Other Books by Christi Caldwell
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Book 10 in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
They see a brokenhearted widow.
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Years ago, Miles Brookfield, the Marquess of Guilford, made a frivolous vow he never thought would come to fruition—he promised to marry his mother’s goddaughter if he was unwed by the age of thirty. Now, to his dismay, he’s faced with honoring that pledge. But when he encounters the beautiful and intriguing Lady Philippa, Miles knows his true path in life. It�
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An Unlikely Pairing
What begins as a chance encounter between Cedric and Genevieve becomes something more. As they continue to meet, passions stir. But with Genevieve’s hope for true love, she fears Cedric will be unable to give up his wayward lifestyle. After all, Cedric has spent years protecting his heart, and keeping everyone out. Slowly, she chips away at all the walls he’s built, but when he falters, Genevieve can’t offer him redemption. Now, it’s up to Cedric to prove to Genevieve that the love of a man is far more powerful than the lure of a rake.
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A rogue
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A widow
Eight years earlier, faced with no other choice, Mrs. Eleanor Collins, fled London and the only man she ever loved, Marcus, Viscount Wessex. She has now returned to serve as a companion for her elderly aunt with a daughter in tow. Even though they’re next door neighbors, there is little reason for her to move in the same circles as Marcus, just in case, she vows to avoid him, for he reminds her of all she lost when she left.
Reunited
As their paths continue to cross, Marcus finds his desire for Eleanor just as strong, but he learned long ago she’s not to be trusted. He will offer her a place in his bed, but not anything more. Only, Eleanor has no interest in this new, roguish man. The more time they spend together, the protective wall they’ve constructed to keep the other out, begin to break. With all the betrayals and secrets between them, Marcus has to open his heart again. And Eleanor must decide if it’s ever safe to trust a rogue.
“To Wed His Christmas Lady”
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She’s longing to be loved:
Lady Cara Falcot has only served one purpose to her loathsome father—to increase his power through a marriage to the future Duke of Billingsley. As such, she’s built protective walls about her heart, and presents an icy facade to the world around her. Journeying home from her finishing school for the Christmas holidays, Cara’s carriage is stranded during a winter storm. She’s forced to tarry at a ramshackle inn, where she immediately antagonizes another patron—William.
He’s avoiding his duty in favor of one last adventure:
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A Christmas snowstorm ushers in the spirit of the season:
At the holiday time, these two people who despise each other due to first perceptions are offered renewed beginnings and fresh starts. As this gruff stranger breaks down the walls she’s built about herself, Cara has to determine whether she can truly open her heart to trusting that any man is capable of good and that she herself is capable of love. And William has to set aside all previous thoughts he’s carried of the polished ladies like Cara, to be the man to show her that love.
“The Heart of a Scoundrel”
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Miss Phoebe Barrett knows precisely the shame she’s been born to. Because her father is a shocking letch she’s learned to form her own opinions on a person’s worth. After a chance meeting with the Marquess of Rutland, she is captivated by the mysterious man. He, too, is a victim of society’s scorn, but the more encounters she has with Edmund, the more she knows there is powerful depth and emotion to the jaded marquess.
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All she wants is security:
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Book 4 in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
For ten years, Lady Daisy Meadows has been in love with Auric, the Duke of Crawford. Ever since his gallant rescue years earlier, Daisy knew she was destined to be his Duchess. Unfortunately, Auric sees her as his best friend’s sister and nothing more. But perhaps, if she can manage to find the fabled heart of a duke pendant, she will win over the heart of her duke.
Auric, the Duke of Crawford enjoys Daisy’s company. The last thing he is interested in however, is pursuing a romance with a woman he’s known since she was in leading strings. This season, Daisy is turning up in the oddest places and he cannot help but notice that she is no longer a girl. But Auric wouldn’t do something as foolhardy as to fall in love with Daisy. He couldn’t. Not with the guilt he carries over his past sins… Not when he has no right to her heart…But perhaps, just perhaps, she can forgive the past and trust that he’d forever cherish her heart—but will she let him?
“The Love of a Rogue”
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Lady Imogen Moore hasn’t had an easy time of it since she made her Come Out. With her betrothed, a powerful duke breaking it off to wed her sister, she’s become the tons favorite piece of gossip. Never again wanting to experience the pain of a broken heart, she’s resolved to mak
e a match with a polite, respectable gentleman. The last thing she wants is another reckless rogue.
Lord Alex Edgerton has a problem. His brother, tired of Alex’s carousing has charged him with chaperoning their remaining, unwed sister about ton events. Shopping? No, thank you. Attending the theatre? He’d rather be at Forbidden Pleasures with a scantily clad beauty upon his lap. The task of chaperone becomes even more of a bother when his sister drags along her dearest friend, Lady Imogen to social functions. The last thing he wants in his life is a young, innocent English miss.
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“More Than a Duke”
Book 2 in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
Polite Society doesn’t take Lady Anne Adamson seriously. However, Anne isn’t just another pretty young miss. When she discovers her father betrayed her mother’s love and her family descended into poverty, Anne comes up with a plan to marry a respectable, powerful, and honorable gentleman—a man nothing like her philandering father.
Armed with the heart of a duke pendant, fabled to land the wearer a duke’s heart, she decides to enlist the aid of the notorious Harry, 6th Earl of Stanhope. A scoundrel with a scandalous past, he is the last gentleman she’d ever wed…however, his reputation marks him the perfect man to school her in the art of seduction so she might ensnare the illustrious Duke of Crawford.
Harry, the Earl of Stanhope is a jaded, cynical rogue who lives for his own pleasures. Having been thrown over by the only woman he ever loved so she could wed a duke, he’s not at all surprised when Lady Anne approaches him with her scheme to capture another duke’s affection. He’s come to appreciate that all women are in fact greedy, title-grasping, self-indulgent creatures. And with Anne’s history of grating on his every last nerve, she is the last woman he’d ever agree to school in the art of seduction. Only his friendship with the lady’s sister compels him to help.
Only For His Lady (The Theodosia Sword Book 1) Page 10