“Everyone in Society speaks of how talented you are,” he corrected swiftly. “You are very highly spoken of.”
To his surprise, her expression did not soften in the slightest. In fact, her eyes narrowed and she speared him with a glare that could have wilted flowers.
“Ah, I see my dear grandson and his wife motioning to me,” Lady Stanton said with a wicked smile. “I should join them.”
“No-” Felicity began, grabbing for Lady Stanton’s arm.
The older woman dodged her quite deftly. “No, no I need no assistance. You should not end your conversation with Lord Windsworth simply because of me. I will speak to you later.”
Then Lady Stanton was off into the crowd, leaving Felicity staring after her, her mouth partly agape. Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. This was not going according to plan at all. His intentions had been very proper. To speak to Lord Stoneworth first, then find the right time to approach Felicity.
She spun on him, her full lips pulled into a tight, thin line. “I did not realize you had been invited here today, Your Grace.”
He started at her forward statement. “I will admit to you that I was not.”
Her eyes narrowed even further. “Aha! I knew it. I knew my father would not invite you of all people into our home. What do you want? Why did you come here?”
Gabriel fought the urge to step away from her quiet accusations. He had never stepped down in a fight before, he certainly wasn’t about to start with this woman who carried half his weight, if that.
“I only wished to speak to you, Felicity.”
She stepped closer. “I gave you no leave to refer to me by my first name. I gave you no leave to refer to me at all.”
“Your anger toward me is not justified,” he said, watching her blue eyes darken with every word. He found himself wondering what color they would become if he dared to kiss her. The thought brought him up short. Those kinds of thoughts could only bring him dangerously close to being his father’s son in every way.
“Not justified?” she hissed. “You have come into my home uninvited.”
“I came here to speak to your father, nothing more,” Gabriel insisted. “And to make amends.”
She stopped speaking for a moment and caught her breath with a harsh sound. Her throat worked as she swallowed. “You have nothing to make amends to.”
“We both know that isn’t true.” Gabriel said softly.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I want you to leave. Please-” She caught her breath again, but this time it was more like a sob. Gabriel’s heart lurched. He had never intended to make her cry.
And if she did, it would only serve to draw attention to them. That kind of notice was exactly what he was trying to avoid. He reached out and caught her hand, placing it in the crook of his elbow before she could protest.
She tugged, but he held fast. “What are you doing?”
He pulled her toward the terrace doors. “I’m taking you to get some air before half the ton starts listening to our conversation.”
That seemed to appease her because she no longer struggled while he took her outside and closed the doors behind them gently. The warm summer air stirred her hair as he moved them away from the doors.
She yanked her hand from his. “Please go away.”
He flinched at the broken tone of her voice. “I cannot and you know why.”
She shook her head. “No.”
Gabriel clenched his fists. No woman should fight so hard against a man’s attempts to save her, make amends to her. Yet Felicity Ellis was fighting him like a cornered wild animal. And there was only one way to deal with that situation.
Strike directly. Strike fast.
“Five years ago my brother ruined you by taking your innocence.”
She turned away from him with another sob. “No!”
He fought the urge to comfort her and pressed on. “Instead of offering for you honorably, my father and brother refused responsibility, all but daring your father to reveal the truth by calling my brother out. They ignored all demands for reparation. For justice from your father.”
“Stop.” She turned on him and though Gabriel could see the sparkle of tears in her eyes and on her cheeks, she was not openly weeping. Her chin jutted up and her shoulders flexed back with pride.
Wounded pride, but pride nonetheless. He couldn’t help but respect her for that.
“Don’t say any more,” she pleaded, clenching firsts at her sides. “Just leave it be. It is so far in the past and I have all but forgotten it.”
“That is a lie,” he said softly. “Everything about your face tells me you have not forgotten a moment of the pain and humiliation my family put your through. And the fact that you have not married, despite your popularity, despite your beauty, tells me my brother’s actions have damaged you. That is the only reason I am here today, Felicity.”
She flinched again at the use of her first name, but Gabriel ignored that. She would have to get used to it once they were wed.
“Why are you here?” she asked with a humorless laugh. “To rub my nose in my past follies? To remind me of what a stupid, ignorant girl I was? Your mission has been accomplished, Your Grace. You can go with a lightened heart. I know exactly what I am.”
He shook his head. “No! That isn’t why I’m here at all. My family name has been devastated by my father and brother’s actions. Their disregard for everyone but themselves has given me a title that no one respects. I am trying my hardest to make amends for those things. I want to start with you.”
“Make amends?” she repeated, arching one auburn brow in disbelief. “How in the world do you intend to do that with me?”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. This was not proper, but it was still what he had come for. He might as well put his cards on the table.
“You and I should marry.”
Chapter Three
In a moment, she would wake up. This would all be a nightmare and she would go on with her life as if it had never happened. Except when Felicity pinched herself… hard… nothing changed. She remained standing on the terrace, staring up into the cool, green eyes of Gabriel Morrison.
And he was still waiting for an answer to the one statement she had never expected him to say.
“Marry you?” she repeated and the words sounded even stranger when she heard them in her own voice.
“Yes,” he said softly. His tone was surprisingly gentle. Not anything like his brother’s. Jonathon had been many things, but gentle had not been amongst them.
“You must be mad,” she whispered, her voice harsh and raw. “Or this is your idea of some kind of cruel joke.”
She began to turn away, but he reached out to catch her arm. A shocking blast of unexpected heat raced through her at the touch. He must have felt it, too, because his lips parted in surprise and their eyes met briefly. She expected him to pull back, but he didn’t, instead his strong hand curled around her forearm and held her steady.
“I am not toying with you,” he insisted, his tone just as sharp as hers had been. “I am nothing like my father, nothing like my brother.”
Felicity struggled for breath, but she couldn’t seem to manage to draw enough. Not when she was so close to this man. Not when he was touching her in such a possessive way. Staring at her with such pleading in his eyes.
“What is going on here?”
Felicity yanked away from Gabriel and turned on the voice that had interrupted her troubling thoughts. Her father stood by the terrace doorway, staring at them with a dark, angry glare. Before he said another word or took a step, Felicity knew he recognized her companion.
And judging from the way Gabriel straightened his spine and turned to her father with a deferent bow, he realized it, too.
Her father yanked the door shut and took three long steps toward them. Though he wasn’t as tall as Gabriel Morrison, the anger in his eyes would have been enough to make much larger men cower. But Gabri
el didn’t. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t do anything to protect himself in case her father struck. He just stood there. Waiting. A look of resignation on his face.
As if he believed he deserved whatever he was going to get.
Felicity wrinkled her brow with confusion.
“What the hell are you doing here?” her father asked, low and dangerous. “I bloody well know you weren’t invited.”
Felicity flinched. She’d never known her father to curse in front of her. Even the day she tearfully admitted giving up her innocence, he had not spoken harshly or cruelly.
Gabriel dipped his head. “My most sincere apologies, Lord Stoneworth. I assure you that I would not have made entry to your home uninvited except that I didn’t think you would speak to me if I sent word first.”
“You are correct in that assessment.” Her father stepped forward again yet Gabriel still stood his ground. Felicity gasped as her father clenched fists around the other man’s jacket and gave him a shake. She had never seen him filled with such fury before.
Fury that was all her fault. The entire situation was her fault. Because she had surrendered control to Gabriel’s brother, all these consequences were hers to live.
Felicity stepped forward to intervene if she had to. The Duke was much bigger and much younger than her father. He could certainly put the older man on his back, injure him if he chose to do so. Except… he wasn’t. Felicity came to a stop, staring at Gabriel as he simply allowed the threats of violence inherent to her father’s brutal grip and flashing eyes. The Duke made no attempt to defend himself.
“Why are you, of all men, alone with your hands my daughter? Wasn’t what your brother did enough?” her father continued.
Gabriel winced again. “I should not be, my lord. And if you need to demand satisfaction for my utter lack of propriety, I am prepared to make reparations. In fact, that is why I am here. Not to cause your family,” he shot her a pleading glance. “Or Lady Felicity, more grief, I assure you.”
Her father gave an incredulous snort, though his fingers relaxed from Gabriel’s jacket. He stepped back with folded arms and stared as Gabriel smoothed his mangled lapels. “Felicity, go inside.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t about to leave him alone with someone from the Windsworth line. Despite the new Duke’s attempts at propriety and politeness, she didn’t trust him. She couldn’t afford to, especially after his ridiculous offer of marriage that still rang in her ears.
“No, Father.”
Gabriel cast her a side glance and his eyes lit up in surprise. As if he hadn’t expected her to be so bold as to deny her father’s order. Blood burned hot in her cheeks at that expression. He knew what she had done in the past. Probably he thought her nothing more than an empty headed chit with easy virtue. Her chin lifted in defiance as she looked away.
Her father turned on her. “Felicity, what I am about to say is not something for your ears.”
She reached up and placed a hand on his arm and found herself trembling. “This is because of what I-” the blush burned hotter. “-did. I want to stay.”
“My lord,” Gabriel interrupted. “I only ask that you hear what I’ve come to say. If, after I have finished, your mind is not changed, I will completely understand and you may do your worst to me. But I beg only a few moments of your time to hear my statement and my offer.”
Felicity’s father held her gaze for a long moment. She expected him to refuse and tell Gabriel to get out, but his expression didn’t reflect that. He almost looked… broken. Like he had after his confrontation with Jonathon Morrison and his father five long years before. Like he was out of choices.
He sighed before he turned his gaze on Gabriel. There was a wealth of mistrust in his eyes, but to her surprise, he nodded once. “Very well, Your Grace. I will hear you. But not on the terrace. Come inside where we may have privacy. I do not wish the entire party to be privy to whatever you want to say.”
“Of course,” Gabriel said with a respectful tilt of his head.
Felicity’s eyes widened as her father took her hand and led them back inside. What? Was he really going to listen to this man and his ridiculous notions? Well, Gabriel Morrison would be in for an unpleasant shock if he dared to make his impertinent offer for her hand in her father’s earshot. And she could not wait to see his face after he did.
#
Gabriel took a deep breath as Lord Stoneworth shut the door to his private office and motioned for him to sit. He did so, facing the settee where Felicity and her father sat together. Both of them were cold, their expressions leaving little of their thoughts about him to the imagination. But he expected that. It was part of what he would have to overcome thanks to his father and brother.
“My lord,” he began. “You have probably surmised that I know of the… incident that occurred between your daughter and my brother a few years ago.”
Lord Stoneworth stiffened and Felicity’s face darkened with a blush that made her bright eyes stand out in even starker relief. They were so uncommonly blue, so filled with life and emotion. He stared for a fraction of a second too long before he forced himself to continue.
“And I am also aware of how badly that situation was handled at the time. Now that I have inherited the Duchy, I am doing my best to make reparations for the damage my family has done in many quarters. Starting with your daughter.”
Stoneworth arched a brow and his expression remained incredulous, though there was a faint light of interest in his stare. “You are trying to make amends for their behavior?”
He nodded. “Yes. And it is-it is very difficult, sir. I’m sure you know that yours is not the only family my father and brother betrayed. Their drinking, the excessive gambling, the broken bargains… they are well-known in Society. I realize it could take me years to regain even a fraction of the respect our name once inspired, but I am driven to try.”
Stoneworth’s face relaxed, but Felicity’s demeanor had not changed. She remained sitting bone straight, her arms folded like a shield across her chest, her eyes narrowed. Would he ever crack that icy demeanor and see the real woman inside?
Gabriel started. Did he want to see the real woman? That wasn’t what he’d come for today. He had to offer for Felicity because of what had been done to her in the past. When he arrived, he’d considered it a sacrifice he had to make to regain some honor and respect.
Now, looking at her, he didn’t feel like it was such a sacrifice anymore. There was something about this woman…
“Your Grace?”
He shook off his musings to pay attention to Felicity’s father. The other man was glaring at him. Clearly he hadn’t missed Gabriel’s blatant perusal of his daughter. Damn, but that was bad form. It only served to prove he was his father’s son.
And he was beginning to wonder if he truly was that. His strong reactions to the young woman his brother had ruined were unexpected. Unwelcomed. He could only hope they wouldn’t prove to be undeniable, as well.
“Do continue,” Lord Stoneworth pressed. “I am fascinated by where all this is leading. Tell me, did you come here to offer my daughter some kind of financial settlement for what your brother took from her?”
Gabriel worked hard to keep his expression blank. Though the world knew about his family’s shames, Society as a whole was not fully aware of their financial troubles. His father had done a very good job keeping that fact utterly private, mostly by cheating merchants and offering ungentlemanly reasons for why he refused to pay debts rather than the truth.
“No, a financial settlement will not be enough, I don’t think,” he said, casting a glance at Felicity. He had to hand it to her. Despite the humiliating topic, she was holding up well. Her face flamed nearly as red as her hair, but she kept that proud tilt to her chin. The fire in her eyes drew him in inexplicably.
“Then what do you suggest?” her father asked.
It was Felicity who answered, thrusting her shoulders back with a bark of humorless laughter. “On
the terrace, he offered to marry me. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous in your life?”
Gabriel bit back frustration at her interruption and locked gazes with Lord Stoneworth. He was ready for the man to come flying out of his seat and pound him. Instead, her father tilted his head, searching Gabriel’s eyes for… something. Perhaps it was honesty, perhaps it was honor… Gabriel could only hope he found both there. If he could garner her father’s support, it would be much easier to break down Felicity’s barriers to this union.
“Are you serious in this offer?” her father asked quietly.
Gabriel nodded. “I am, sir. When I saw that your daughter was still unattached, despite her talent and her beauty and her…” he cleared his throat. “…er, charm, I knew that what my brother did must have had some effect on her chances in the marriage mart. If we formed a union, I would make up for what my brother did, as well as align myself with your family.”
“You wish to have the benefit of our respect in Society?” The older man sneered.
“I would be lying if I said no. And I am not like my father and brother.” He shot Felicity another glance. “I do not lie.”
Felicity surged to her feet and turned on her father. “Tell him this is out of the question.”
Stoneworth looked up at her with a brief sadness in his eyes. Something born from such love that Gabriel turned away from it. He’d certainly never seen that expression from his own father. There had only been resentment. Cold dismissal. Anger and pain.
“Felicity, we should speak about this privately,” her father said softly.
Hope sprung in Gabriel’s chest. If her father did not automatically dismiss his offer out of hand, he had a chance.
“Privately?” Felicity repeated and the hope fled at her shocked and horrified tone. “What is there to discuss? Do you really expect me to entertain an offer of marriage from… from…” She cast a quick glance in his direction. “This man?”
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