To Love a Duchess
Page 29
She smiled softly. “Are you married, Adam?”
“You know I’m not.”
“Are you spoken for?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then you can give me what I most value,” she said. “You.”
He closed his eyes and reached for her.
“This isn’t wise,” he said, just before kissing her.
Long moments later she said, “Oh, Adam, it’s the wisest, most intelligent decision either of us has ever made.”
He had to kiss her again after that.
He didn’t know when he started saying the words, but they seemed to flow from him without conscious thought.
“I love you,” he said as he kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you,” he repeated when he trailed kisses from one cheek to the other with a stop at her lips. “I love you. I love you. I love you. Tha gaol agam ort.”
He enfolded her in his arms and rocked with her, the moment punctuated by silence and a sense of awe. This beautiful woman with her strong heart loved him. He must have done something right in his life to deserve her.
When he said as much to Suzanne, she only kissed him again.
He led her back to the sofa, moved her hat and gloves, and sat beside her. Only then did he notice she’d removed the ancestral ring that had been hers by right of marriage to the Duke of Marsley.
“I don’t have any heirlooms,” he said, picking up her hand.
The mourning ring was still in place, but he knew it represented Georgie, not her husband.
“I don’t need any heirlooms.”
“I haven’t a title to offer you.”
“There’s only one I want, Adam.”
He smiled, the first time since he’d entered this room. His life had not been what he’d expected. Circumstances and situations had challenged him and nearly destroyed him at times. Yet here watching him with a smile on her lips and joy in her beautiful eyes was the reward for every difficulty he’d ever faced and every dark night.
“Then be my wife, Suzanne. We’ll be foolish together.”
There was a slight noise at the door. He glanced at it, then back at Suzanne. No doubt Mrs. Ross was standing there with her ear to the door, ensuring herself of their propriety. Perhaps she had reason to be suspicious of the two of them alone.
If they were anywhere else more private, he might have given her grounds to be horrified.
“Come and see the house I’ve found,” she said, standing. “It’s just large enough, but not too large. Mrs. Thigpen says it’s infinitely manageable and Grace is thrilled with the kitchen.”
She held out her hand for him.
A new position. A new home. More importantly, a new life with a woman he loved and admired. Granted, that meant Hackney would be his father-in-law, but he could manage.
Standing, he pulled her to him. The house could wait for a few moments. Long enough for another dozen kisses at the very least.
Author’s Note
Mrs. Armbruster’s Institute and Foundling Hospital was located in Spitalfields, an area of London where many philanthropic ventures began. For example, the American philanthropist George Peabody began a foundation on Commercial Street in 1864 to improve the living conditions of the working poor.
St. Pancras Workhouse existed and is now St. Pancras Hospital. Unfortunately, the poor hygiene in the infant ward was so appalling that many babies died during their stay or after returning from foster care. Charles Dickens wrote about such parish treatment in Oliver Twist.
In the Victorian era it was possible to easily purchase cocaine, laudanum, opium, and arsenic. In the 1860s the publication of information about London’s East End opium dens inspired various organizations to begin campaigns against the importation of opium. In 1868 the Pharmacy Act limited the sale of dangerous drugs to those registered to dispense them. However, few people ever spoke up about the addictive powers of those drugs during the nineteenth century.
Manipora was loosely based on the Massacre of Cawnpore (1857) now known as Kanpur.
Being a spy was not considered a gentlemanly occupation in the nineteenth century and was relegated to the middle classes, often former military men. Although the Secret Service Bureau wasn’t formed until 1903, I imagined the frustration of military men, especially after the Crimean War and the Sepoy Rebellion.
In 1855 the Board of Ordnance had been dissolved and all duties transferred to the War Office. Both the Secretary of State for War and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army held equal responsibilities. Prince George, Second Duke of Cambridge, took on the job of Commander-in-Chief in 1856. Unfortunately, he was heavily resistant to any kinds of reform.
When you were stopped at the top, you developed other ways to get things done. In this case, I envisioned a loose grouping of men—the Silent Service—who worked for the empire with the tacit approval of men who would probably not support them if their actions ever became public.
The Schomberg House was divided into three sections in 1769. The three units were, at various times, homes for artists, a high-class bordello, a haberdashery, a fashionable textile store, a bookshop, and a gambling den. All three units were purchased by the British government in 1859 for use by the War Office, but were largely demolished in 1956. Only the facades remain.
To Wed an Heiress
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About the Author
KAREN RANNEY wanted to be a writer from the time she was five years old and filled her Big Chief tablet with stories. People in stories did amazing things and she was too shy to do anything amazing. Years spent in Japan, Paris, and Italy, however, not only fueled her imagination, but proved she wasn’t that shy after all.
Now a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, she prefers to keep her adventures between the covers of her books. Karen lives in San Antonio, Texas, and loves to hear from her readers at karen@karenranney.com.
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By Karen Ranney
To Love a Duchess
The Texan Duke
The English Duke
The Scottish Duke
An American in Scotland
Scotsman of My Dreams
In Your Wildest Scottish Dreams
The Return to Clan Sinclair
The Virgin of Clan Sinclair
The Witch of Clan Sinclair
The Devil of Clan Sinclair
The Lass Wore Black
A Scandalous Scot
A Borrowed Scot
A Highland Duchess
Sold to a Laird
A Scottish Love
A Scotsman in Love
The Devil Wears Tartan
The Scottish Companion
Autumn in Scotland
An Unlikely Governess
Till Next We Meet
So In Love
To Love a Scottish Lord
The Irresistible MacRae
When the Laird Returns
One Man’s Love
After the Kiss
My True Love
My Beloved
Upon a Wicked Time
My Wicked Fantasy
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.
to love a duchess. Copyright © 2018 by Karen Ranney LLC. 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-s
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First Avon Books mass market printing: August 2018
First Avon Books hardcover printing: July 2018
Digital Edition AUGUST 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-284105-6
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-284104-9
Cover design by Patricia Barrow
Cover illustration by Patrick Kang
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