Scandalous Love
Page 39
What if she really loved him? By now, he was wondering if his eager imagination had been playing tricks on him, if he had heard a declaration only because he wanted to.
Her rooms were empty. Vast disappointment claimed him. And then he heard a movement in the doorway behind him, and he turned to find her standing there.
“Hadrian,” she whispered breathlessly.
His glance slid over her while the way she said his name, and the way her eyes brightened at the sight of him, made his heart yearn dangerously. He struggled for composure when he wanted to demand forthright if he had indeed heard what he thought he had heard yesterday in the coach. “Good morning, Madam. I was beginning to grow alarmed; you have slept an entire day away.”
“I have?” she asked, still breathless. “And you were worried?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly she smiled and held out her fist. He saw that she clutched a scrap of paper. Then she opened her hand and he saw that it was not a scrap of balled-up paper she held, but a small card—the card he had inserted in the gift he had intended to give her a week ago.
They stared at each other.
“Hadrian,” she cried, “what does it mean? What does your present mean?”
He hesitated. “It means I behaved like a jackass and I am sorry.”
Hope flared. Joy welled. “You are sorry about Holland?” she whispered.
He blinked. “Holland?” It just did not occur to him that she would know the name of his ex-mistress. “Holland who?”
Nicole stiffened. The joy started to dissipate. “Holland Dubois.”
An inkling flooded him. He took her hand. “Nicole, what does Holland have to do with this? And how in God’s name did you even learn of her?”
Nicole made no move to pull free. “I thought you were sorry you had gone to her. But I can see I was wrong. Wrong again, and foolish again.”
“Wait!” He did not release her. “What in hell are you babbling about?”
“I cannot share you, Hadrian,” she said simply. “I will not.” Suddenly she straightened as a fierce determination filled her. “Oh, how stupid I have been! Why did I not think to fight for what is mine before?”
Hadrian could only stare at her. Then a smile tugged at his mouth as the beginnings of comprehension came to him. “And just what is it you are going to fight for? And whom are you going to do battle with now?”
“I am going to fight for you,” she stated, her eyes blazing. “And I am going to fight Holland. And it is too late for you to change your mind, for I have made up mine. I no longer want a divorce.”
“I see,” he said, wondering if he looked as absurdly pleased as he felt. “And what about what I want?”
She eyed him. “I shall fling your own words back at you. What you want is no concern of mine.”
“Indeed?” He laughed. “Why do I think you are lying?”
She blinked at him. “I do not understand your attitude, Hadrian, but perhaps I should make myself clear.”
“Please do,” he said, immensely happy. He had never been happier.
“I do not want a divorce. But I will not share you. I know I cannot physically restrain you from visiting that woman, but I can prevent her from entertaining you.”
He chuckled. “Dear, you most certainly can restrain me physically, and you already have, but pray tell, what do you have in mind for poor Holland?”
“Forget any feelings you may have for her, Hadrian,” Nicole said, scowling. “She will no longer see you, not once I call on her again.”
He groaned. “Now I begin to understand! Let me guess! You saw her while I was in London!”
“I was not the only one,” Nicole said sharply.
“You are jealous! Admit it!”
“Did you know that I have a drop of American Indian blood running in my veins?”
The Duke smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I cannot say I am very surprised.”
“What are you doing?” Nicole cried as he caressed her back.
“I am holding my wife. My very dear wife.”
That threw her. She froze, trembling. “Did you mean it? What you wrote on the card?”
“Yes, I did. Nicole, please do not take your crop to poor Holland’s face as you did to mine. I hate to tell you this, dear, but you have been sadly misled.”
She clutched his shirtfront. “I have?”
“You have. Holland Dubois is not my mistress.”
“She isn’t?”
“Not anymore. Our relationship was terminated when I was last in London.”
“It was?”
“It was.”
Nicole was flooded with relief, dazed with joy. She clung to her husband. “You mean, you did not even have a er—sweet parting?”
“I have all the sweetness I need here, dear.”
She felt faint, but he held her up firmly. “Oh dear,” she whispered. “And to think I was going to carve up her beautiful face with a kitchen knife.”
Hadrian groaned.
“Oh, how could I have acted so precipitously and run away?!” Nicole moaned.
“I have no idea,” the Duke said, cradling her face in his hands. “But something tells me it won’t be the last precipitous thing you do.” He silenced Nicole’s protest with a long, lingering, intimate kiss. “But I shall be here to rescue you, darling, have no fear.”
“Darling?” she whispered, dazed. “Why do you keep calling me dear? Why do you now call me darling?”
“Because your jealousy pleases me,” the Duke said very tenderly.
His gaze was softer than it had been the day before in the carriage and Nicole melted. “Oh Hadrian,” she sighed. “When you look at me that way…”
“Yes?” he prodded.
“I can barely think,” she murmured. “In truth, I can barely stand.”
“Can you think long enough to tell me what you told me yesterday?”
“What did I tell you yesterday?” she squeaked nervously.
“I don’t want to play games anymore Nicole,” he said very seriously. Then he added, “Darling.”
She groaned. “It wasn’t a dream, was it? Yesterday, the way you held me, as if you cared.”
“I do care.”
She clutched him tightly or she would have dropped right to the floor. “And I do love you, Hadrian. But you already knew that, didn’t you? Because I told you yesterday.”
“I began to suspect it was true only a few minutes ago,” he said, deliriously happy. “When you began to threaten poor Holland.”
“She is not so poor! She is the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen!”
“She is not the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen,” the Duke said.
Nicole was nearly reeling in joy. “Can you forgive me for running away? For embarrassing you again? Oh, I shall never forgive myself for humiliating you once more! I promise I shall never do anything so rash again!”
“Please, do not promise, I know now to expect the unexpected from you. As long as you love me, Nicole, nothing else matters.”
“Oh Hadrian,” Nicole said, gripping his shoulders. “This is too good to be true. I am afraid if I pinch myself I shall find out I have been dreaming!”
He laughed again and pinched her cheek for her. “There. You see? You are awake, you are not dreaming. You are my duchess,” his voice lowered, “and I love you.”
Nicole fell into his arms eagerly. She had waited forever to hear those words. And he was right. Her husband, the Duke, was right. Nothing mattered, not anymore, not when they loved each other, and not when they had finally laid old misunderstandings to rest.
Sometimes, she realized happily, dreams really do come true.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A dreamweaver who entices and enchants, a masterful creator of unforgettable characters and incomparable romance, BRENDA JOYCE works magic—from the spellbinding passion of Splendor to the searing sensual power of the bestselling Beyond Scandal.
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Praise for
BRENDA JOYCE
“A hot contender for the historical romance crown.”
Toronto Star
“Joyce delivers a powerful story, rife with compelling characters and steamy sensuality.”
Los Angeles Daily News
“She keeps the reader on an emotional seesaw…Her characters are fresh and wickedly sympathetic.”
Publishers Weekly
and
SCANDALOUS LOVE
“A page-turner…Bewitching and poignant, Scandalous Love is the essence of romance.”
Affaire de Coeur
“Brenda Joyce brings a woman’s romantic fantasies to life. Emotional, poignant, and highly sensual, Scandalous Love is potent passion at its ultimate…[It] will certainly make a romance reader’s heart sing with happiness.”
Romantic Times
Other Books by Brenda Joyce
VIOLET FIRE
CAPTIVE
BEYOND SCANDAL
THE GAME
AFTER INNOCENCE
PROMISE OF THE ROSE
SECRETS
THE FIRES OF PARADISE
FIRESTORM
INNOCENT FIRE
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, in entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1992 by Brenda Joyce Senior
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-123525-2
ISBN-10: 0-06-123525-3
SCANDALOUS LOVE. Copyright © 1992 by Brenda Joyce Senior. 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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EPub Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-220967-2
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