Why Dukes Say I Do
Page 29
“I’ll take myself off as well,” Archer said, rising to follow Perdita from the room. “Good night, Your Graces.” He offered a slight bow before he left the room.
Alone now with Trevor, Isabella turned to snuggle up in his arms. “I wonder if Perdita knows he’s in love with her,” she said idly. “I don’t know how I never noticed it before now. But I suppose I never felt the state myself, so I had no way of recognizing it.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Trevor asked, holding her back from him so that he could look into her eyes.
“I don’t know,” Isabella said playfully. “What do you think it means?”
“Do not tease me, woman,” Trevor said with a mock growl. “Are you in love with me, or are you not?”
“I cannot be the first one to admit such a thing,” she said primly. “After all, it is hardly seemly for a lady to confess her love to a gentleman before he has done so to her.”
“You and your rules,” he said, kissing her soundly. “Very well, I love you. In fact, if the truth be known, I adore you and have done since you first mistook me for a common laborer weeks ago in Nettledean.”
She kissed him back for a long while before she said, “Did you really adore me way back then? I was rather horrid to you, if memory serves.”
“You are horrid to me now,” he said against her mouth. “Refusing to admit you love me. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a thing.”
Isabella sighed and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. “All right,” she said, stroking his chest. “I love you. Happy now?”
His response was silent but heartfelt.
Epilogue
The next afternoon, Isabella, Perdita, and Georgina, who had been away in Bath when Isabella first returned to London, sat comfortably ensconced in Isabella’s sitting room over the tea tray, catching up with one another and going over the details of Isabella’s ordeal first in Yorkshire and then in London.
“What became of the baby Mrs. Savery used to frighten you?” Georgina asked. “Poor wee mite.”
“She’s being cared for by the sister of one of the kitchen maids who just had a baby of her own,” Isabella said with a smile. “Timms thought of her almost as soon as he heard about the child. He has a soft heart.”
“That’s quite true,” Perdita agreed. “And a hard one when it comes to Mrs. Savery’s sort. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as angry as he was when he learned what she’d done to you, Isa.”
“What I find hard to believe is how one woman was able to create such a furor,” Georgina said with a shake of her blond curls. “Even if she was being assisted by some unknown mastermind from afar.”
“She did manage to make my life quite difficult for a few weeks there,” Isabella agreed. “But I suppose the degree of assistance she received rather depends upon who it was helping her. And unfortunately, we still don’t know who that was.”
Perdita poured each of them another cup of tea and added another biscuit to her plate. “Whoever it is behind the whole operation, I wish he would decide once and for all to be finished with the business. I have little choice but to look over my shoulder constantly.”
“I agree,” Georgina said firmly. Reaching into her reticule, she retrieved a folded bit of foolscap and handed it to Isabella. “I received this just this morning. And I do not think that your Mrs. Savery could possibly have smuggled the notice out of Coldbath Fields Prison.”
“‘I know what you did last season,’” Isabella read from the note. “I had so hoped that all this would be over now. Especially because I have not received another note.”
“Do not fret, dearest,” Perdita said, squeezing her sister’s hand. “Georgie and I will be quite all right. I’ll be in Yorkshire with you and Trevor after all. And with Mrs. Savery out of the picture, and all the rest of the servants examined with a fine-tooth comb, there is little chance that he’ll get to me. And Georgie plans to remove to Bath, where all will be well.”
“Do you mean to tell your new employer about the threats, Georgie?” Isabella asked their friend as she blew on her too-hot tea.
“Good lord, no!” Georgina said with an unrepentant grin. “I need this position and I do not mean to give Lady Throckmorton reason to dismiss me even before I start.”
“I do wish you would accept Trevor’s offer to have you come live with us,” Isabella said with a frown. “I’m quite sure my sisters-in-law would adore you!”
“You are too good, Isabella,” the widow replied, “but I could not possibly impose upon your charity like that. Besides which, I have already accepted the position with Lady Throckmorton. She and I were quite close when we were following the drum together and I think looking after her as she sets tongues wagging in Bath will be quite amusing for me.”
“You’ve simply got too much pride for your own good, Georgie,” Perdita said with a grin. “Not that we can blame you. Also, I should think it will be a trial after a while to spend too much time in company with the lovebirds.”
“I resent that!” Isabella said with a blush. “We are not a trial. We are simply blissfully happy, and if you cannot manage to endure it for the next few weeks then perhaps you should stay in London.”
“Oh, don’t be so sensitive. I was merely teasing you a little.” Perdita said with a laugh. “Besides, you promised me that I should be able to attend a sheepshearing at the very least!”
A soft knock on the door preceded Trevor, who said from the doorway, “I hope I’m not disturbing you ladies, but I have a bit of news for Isabella.”
“Come in, darling,” Isabella said with a bland expression. “Perdita was just telling me how much she’s looking forward to seeing the splendors of Yorkshire. She has a particular fondness for sheep, I believe.”
“Oh, we’ve plenty of those, Duchess,” Trevor said to his sister-in-law before lowering himself into a wing chair beside Isabella’s.
“So, what is this news?” Isabella asked. She was curious since he’d only been headed for White’s when he’d left the mansion earlier in the day.
“Well, I have it on good authority that a certain Sir Lionel Thistleback has just left for the first packet bound for the Americas.”
“No!” Isabella said with a gasp. “What happened to him? And who made it happen, so that I can thank them properly?”
“He’s as nasty a man as I’ve ever met,” Georgina said with a shudder. “If he’d been in the military he’d have been court-martialed and hanged long ago.”
“Well, I am quite content to have him on the other side of the world,” Trevor said with feeling. “Apparently he was found to be blackmailing a certain cabinet minister’s wife over her gambling debts. Little did he know, however, that the minister knew all about the debts and had agreed to pay them without complaint. When he learned of the scheme, he told Thistleback he was too dishonorable to duel with and threatened Thistleback with imprisonment if he didn’t leave for America immediately.”
“And Thistleback simply left?” Isabella asked with astonishment. “I can hardly believe it!”
“Well, he did take a little persuading from what I hear,” Trevor said. “He was escorted to the docks with just the clothes on his back, forced to drink laudanum, then deposited on the ship into a locked cabin lest he try to escape. I do not think he will have a very happy crossing.”
“Good riddance,” Perdita said. “After what he tried to do to you, Isabella, I hope he never comes back.”
“Thank you for telling me, my dear,” Isabella told Trevor, leaning over to kiss him quickly on the cheek. But he turned and kissed her in earnest, much to the mock disgust of Perdita and Georgina.
“What did I tell you, Georgie?” Isabella heard her sister complain to their friend. “Lovebirds. I don’t know how I shall manage to keep from becoming ill every day while I am in Yorkshire with them.”
“Oh, I think they’re sweet,” Isabella heard Georgina croon.
“Do you think we’re sweet?” Trevor aske
d, pulling back a little from Isabella to look into her eyes.
“I don’t think we’re sweet,” she said, gathering him closer so that she could whisper into his ear. “I know we are, because we are in love.”
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“Manda Collins writes sexy and smart historical romance, with a big dash of fun. Romance readers will adore How to Dance with a Duke!”
—Vanessa Kelly, named one of Booklist’s “New Stars of Historical Romance”
“Regency lovers have a new author to add to their dance cards! Manda Collins heats up the ballroom and writes romance to melt even the frostiest duke’s heart. With sparkling Regency wit, a dash of mystery, and just the right amount of steam, How to Dance with a Duke is an enchanting debut, sure to sweep readers off their feet!”
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About the Author
Manda Collins spent her teen years wishing she’d been born a couple of centuries earlier, preferably in the English countryside. Time travel being what it is, she resigned herself to life with electricity and indoor plumbing, and read lots of books. When she’s not writing, she’s helping other people use books, as an academic librarian.
Visit her website at: www.mandacollins.com
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WHY DUKES SAY I DO
Copyright © 2013 by Manda Collins.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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eISBN: 9781466815360
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2013
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.