Ellen pressed her lips tight together. My brother’s dead. The words swam through her thoughts, never pausing long enough for her to properly catch hold of them. Her brother…dead. Everything he’d done to Gwen, and to herself, was unforgivable, but he was still her brother. He was still… She still loved him. At part of her did. A very small part.
The front door opened and closed with the arrival of the doctor for Chakrabarti, while footsteps rattled the ceiling overhead. The ball had resumed. The guests were absolutely riveted by the story of the misunderstood duke who’d saved his fiancée’s baby sister from the clutches of their crazed brother.
‘…really don’t think she should be disturbed.’
The Runner entered the library, notebook in hand. Verity and Maggie charged in after him.
‘Do you really have to do this now?’ demanded Maggie.
‘…running out of champagne.’ Lady Faye hurried in the library, two temporary kitchen servants tailing her.
‘…asking to see you.’ A gentleman dressed as a pierrot tried to cut Calum off as he too strode through the door.
‘…such red hair,’ murmured Owen, watching Sophy with wonder.
Through the crowd, Ellen watched the duke. Her breathing slowed even as her heartbeat quickened. His shoulders were beginning to fill out again and his cheeks weren’t looking so hollow. All the food and attention of the last few weeks were doing him so good.
She felt both calm and exhilarated. Was that even possible? She loved him with every fibre of her being. It wasn’t a schoolroom love as she’d felt for Gwen’s father; it was love cultivated and matured with understanding and trust. What a fool she’d been refusing his marriage proposal in her desperation to keep from letting her brother control her life. Refusing Calum because of Geoffrey was just as bad as accepting Calum because of Geoffrey. She just hadn’t realised that before today. Ironic, almost, now that Geoffrey was dead.
She swallowed, fighting back tears.
From this moment on she was going to start making her own choices. And they would be choices based purely on her own thoughts and feelings and conscience, regardless of what anyone else thought.
And her first choice… She smiled as Calum ran a hand thought his hair. It was already growing back. She’d have to cut it again for him soon—or Chakrabarti would. She rose to her feet, Gwen still clutched to her chest. ‘Will you marry me, Calum Callaghan?’
Nobody heard her speak. Nobody looked her way. Nobody paid her the slightest ounce of attention. Nobody except for Calum. He met her gaze across the crowded room, his month opening in surprise, and then he was at her side, pulling her and Gwen into his arms, bowing his head and burying his face into her shoulder.
‘Do ye mean it, lass?’ he asked, his voice muffled. ‘Don’t ask if ye’re not completely sure, because if we get married I’m never going to stop loving ye. Not for a second. Not for all of time. It’ll be ye and me and Gwen forever.’
She pulled back so she could see his face. His eyes were wide and there was a vulnerability in his gaze, as though he really were wearing his heart on his sleeve. She was going to have to take good care of his heart. It had been beaten and broken too many times before.
She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed him, claiming his mouth with her own. ‘Marry me.’
Thanks for reading The Unworthy Duke. I hope you enjoyed it.
Sign up to our newsletter romance.com.au/newsletter/ and find out about new releases, must-read series and ebook deals at romance.com.au.
Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.
Share your reading experience on:
Facebook
Instagram
romance.com.au
ISBN: 9781867218425
Title: THE UNWORTHY DUKE
Copyright © 2021 by Charlotte Anne
All rights reserved. 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, 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 publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13/201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
Published by
Escape
An imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 47 001 180 918), a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited (ABN 36 009 913 517)
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth St
SYDNEY NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA
® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.romance.com.au
The Unworthy Duke Page 25