“Miss Andrews—”
“Tillie.”
“Tillie. You misunderstand me. It is not Tabitha’s station in life that causes me concern, but the fact that she has kept this secret from me for quite some time.”
That somewhat mollified Tillie as she sat back down. “Every time she saw you, she thought it would be the last time. She sees no future with you as you are so far above her in rank. She has tried to distance herself from you because of this. Her intentions were true, Your Grace. She only wanted to help your mother as Mrs. McEwan requested, and to help further herself to the school she has so longed to attend.
“Her life has been a difficult one. Her stepmother has treated her as little more than a servant or shop help, despite the fact that her designs are what keeps it in business. She felt her time with you was a fairy tale, however one without a happily ever after. She did not tell you the truth because she thought, whether she told you or not, the ending would be the same, that you will each go your separate ways.”
“Why did she agree to come to the masquerade?”
“Because, Your Grace, she has fallen in love with you, although she has yet to admit it, even to herself.”
She would not tell Tabitha of the duke’s visit. With a bit of good fortune, she would be able to provide her friend with the opportunity to speak to him herself. She only hoped the duke realized how fortunate he would be to have a woman such as Tabitha.
* * *
Nicholas sat back in his chair, listening to his heart beat. She loved him? Would it really be possible, then, to make things work, despite the fact she had lied to him, despite the fact she was a milliner and he was a duke?
It was certainly a most unconventional situation. He could have had any woman of the ton he desired, and yet none had stirred his blood or tugged at his heart as this woman.
More than anything, he wanted Tabitha to become his. He hadn’t known her long, true, but he would be happy to spend the rest of his life learning more about her. He knew, however, that she disdained society, and should she become his, a duchess she would become. Could they live a life together as such a pair?
“Whatever you choose to do now,” said Tillie, “please do not break her heart, Your Grace.”
“Call me Nicholas,” he said, as he rose and exited the shop.
Chapter 15
“You cannot hide in the carriage all night, Tabitha,” Tillie said for the second time, becoming exasperated. They were outside the Fairchild house. The ball had begun nearly an hour ago, and Tabitha still could not work her nerve up to go in. She’d had to wait for Frances and Ellora to leave in the family chaise before she could begin getting dressed, and Tillie had taken special care in doing the beautiful curls in Tabitha’s hair. She had worked herself every hour of the night before and today to finish the new orders in time to attend the masquerade.
Not allowing Tabitha any more time to make a decision, Tillie sprang forward and pushed the golden-plumed mask onto her friend’s face.
“It’s time, Tabitha Blackmore,” she said, squeezing Tabitha’s hands. “Enter with a disguise, but leave as yourself, no matter what.”
“No matter what,” she agreed. She wanted to see Nicholas one last time, but she wanted to put the entire Tabitha Kenmore alias to rest for good as well.
Pushing the door open and allowing Jennings to help her down, Tabitha squared her shoulders and held her head high. Mask in place, she marched forward.
As she made her way up the huge marble steps, her breath grew shallow and her heartrate increased. She was doubting herself and it was nearly overwhelming. A few steps from the top, she stopped. Looking behind her, she was ready to turn and run back to the carriage before Tillie left. She moved to turn around when Alexander’s voice stopped her.
“Leaving so soon?”
She gulped and turned back toward him — he’d appeared at the top of the steps from out of nowhere.
“I am not sure I can do this,” she said, hesitating.
“You can do this,” Alexander said as he stepped down toward her and offered his hand. “You need to do this. He needs to see you. He has so much to tell you.”
What could Nicholas possibly have to tell her?
“I am tired of pretending to be somebody I am not with him,” she said, her voice cracking. She had fallen madly for the duke, but he had fallen for someone who didn’t exist.
“So be yourself.”
Alexander put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze.
“Easy for you to say,” she said miserably. “You’re a duke in training.”
He laughed, rich and low, and pushed her up a step.
“Your destiny awaits, Tabitha Blackmore.”
* * *
The ballroom of the Fairchild house was brimming with people, and Tabitha was certain that she would never find Nicholas in this crush of humanity.
She lingered briefly at the top of the steps before descending down into the madness and froze when she felt a sea of eyes turn toward her. Reminding herself to keep breathing, that no one knew who she was, she walked down each step deliberately so that she wouldn’t fall flat on her face.
“You can do this,” she whispered to herself for the ninth time.
At the bottom of the stairs, she took a glance around. The masks made it impossible to recognize anyone. If she had no idea who all these people were, how would she and Nicholas find one another?
She didn’t have time to wonder, as the crowd parted and let a tall figure with a black and gold mask pass through as though he were royalty. Well, he practically was. Nicholas looked resplendent in his black suit with gold accents. Looking down at her own gold dress, she realized what Lorna must have been doing when she chose it. They were perfectly matched, she and Nicholas, in so many ways.
But not in the way that mattered most, between the duke and the milliner, the daughter of a baronet.
The closer he got, the more heat pooled in her belly, the more her breath hitched in her chest. Beneath her mask, the warmth in her cheeks told her they were flushed as she became aware of every strong, masculine movement he made.
He came to a stop standing in front of her, and the rest of the room disappeared around them.
“You came.”
It was a declaration.
“I did,” she said. “You look resplendent.”
He laughed and turned his head. She caught a glimpse of his profile beneath his mask.
“You are a vision, Tabitha Blackmore.”
She warmed at the compliment but then her heart stopped beating in her chest.
Blackmore, not Kenmore.
She gripped the railing beside her to keep herself from falling over.
The entire charade — it was up. He knew.
The question was, what would he do now? What would her stepmother do with the knowledge? Would she be cast out before she could make it to Paris?
She opened her mouth to ask him those questions, but he grasped her hand and pulled her along behind him as he made his way out of the ballroom.
They cleared the crowd and headed straight back toward the kitchen. Once inside, the only person there was Mrs. McEwan, who smiled and ducked out once she saw the two of them. But Nicholas did not stop.
From the back of the kitchen, he found a servant’s staircase and he climbed two flights of steps without dropping her hand from his.
She wanted to ask him what he was doing and where he was taking her, but they were moving so fast it was all she could do to maintain her balance in her soft slippers. On the third floor, he pulled her across the plush carpeting of the hallway and toward a doorway at the far end. Pushing it open, he dragged Tabitha in behind him and shut and locked the door, spinning to face her.
“I — I’m…” she began but couldn’t continue. She felt tears welling up and she was in a near panic.
“I know everything,” he said gruffly. “I have talked to Alexander, Lorna, hell, even to Matilda Andrews. I know w
ho you are.”
Her throat closed up. This was it.
“I only have one question left,” he said as he pulled his mask off. Feeling silly with hers still on, she did the same and didn’t try to stop the tears that began to fall.
“I am very sorry,” she whispered, but he shook his head and walked forward.
“One question, Miss Blackmore,” he said as he scrubbed his hand down his face. “One … final … question.”
She sucked in a breath and let her mask fall to the floor. It was over. All of it. She’d only wished she had the chance to tell him how she felt before it crumbled.
“Will you marry me?”
No single question could have shocked her more or left her unmoored quite like that one. Her head snapped up, and she blinked and studied him a moment as he clasped her hands in his.
“Are you jesting?” She croaked. “I am not sure that I could bear it if you were. Please.”
He laughed as he gripped the back of her head and pulled her face close to his.
“I am not jesting,” he said. “Quite the opposite. I have done my research. I know your story and was waiting for you to tell me yourself. But I am awful at waiting and when I found what I have been searching for my entire life, I decided not to wait any longer. I love you. I want to marry you. I want you to be my duchess.”
“But what will people say…”
She was cut off by a quick, urgent kiss.
“I do not care what people will say,” he declared. “You are the daughter of a baronet. Of a good man from what I hear. Your mother was a baron’s daughter. You have worked hard and never abandoned your dreams in the face of what I heard were unspeakable hardships.”
“I am not duchess material,” she whispered through her tears. “I will never be duchess material. I do not know society, how to act or what to say.”
“You’re wrong, my accidental duchess,” he said just before pulling her in for a kiss. “You are everything I have ever looked for in a duchess. It matters not about society. We will have what we need in one another. And if society wants to talk, let them. Tell me you’ll marry me. My mother knows. My cousin knows. Your best friend knows. Lorna and Bernard know. Everyone is waiting for you to say yes. For me to tell them you said yes.”
Tabitha cried then. All of these secrets were finally releasing their hold on her. Between her tears, she nodded and allowed him to kiss her.
It was a sweet, gentle kiss at first. Probing. Searching. With promises of more to come.
But the longer they stayed in his room, the more the kiss grew in intensity. Her hands twined in his shirt, demanding more.
With deft fingers, skilled from working on fine stitching for so many years, she undid his jacket and shirt and dared to touch the warm skin of his broad, muscled chest, causing Nicholas’ breathing to grow jagged and rough.
“Be careful, my sweet,” he said. “I want to wait, but I am not a strong man when it comes to you.”
She was a woman on fire suddenly, and she wanted to feel that everything was real. She pulled his jacket off without breaking the kiss.
“I, however, do not want to wait,” she said, her breath coming fast. “I want to really feel you. Tonight. Right now.”
He groaned into her mouth and in an instant, she felt his hands on the back of her dress. He fumbled at the buttons there, and when they wouldn’t give, he ripped it open.
“As my duchess commands,” he ground out then pulled back, his forehead coming against hers, his breath on her lips.
As her beautiful gown pooled at her feet, Tabitha felt stripped bare and vulnerable suddenly, as though she could no longer hide who she really was. Nicholas reached toward her breasts and cupped her in his hands, looking at her as though she were a painting by a master. Her head fell back at the sensations of his hands upon her, and she dug her fingers into his hair.
“This is … this is exquisite,” she breathed. She gasped when he lifted her suddenly and put her on the bed, removing her stockings and leaving her fully exposed to the night air blowing in through the window. She heard the rustle of clothing and saw that he was in all his glory, standing proud and intimidating between them.
“Exquisite?” He said with a smile. “That was nothing. Just hold on, my duchess. It is only beginning.”
Before she had a chance to wonder what he was doing, he had covered her body with his own, and he trailed his fingers over her, beginning at her neck and moving lower still, until he found her center, caressing her in a way she never knew was possible. Her back arched as her body responded and she cried aloud.
Nicholas had her writhing as he mercilessly learned her body while at the same time teaching her the heights to which she was willing to climb for him.
The burning began and continued to rise until she feared she would come apart.
“Nicholas!” she cried.
“Shh, darling,” he whispered. “Let it take you. We’re only just beginning.”
At his insistence, she gave over to the sensations and simply shattered. Her nerves came apart and her body fell under the wave of bliss at Nicholas’ attentions. When she’d finally regained her breath, she looked up at him and saw him watching her.
“You are beautiful,” he said reverently as he crawled up over her body and caged her in with his elbows on both sides of her head. “Are you certain you want to keep going? As much as I would love to do this now, I am more than willing to wait until we’re married. But you must tell me now, as after this I will not be able to stop.”
Tabitha gave a laugh.
“I am nothing if not unconventional, Nicholas,” she said with a smile. “You should know that by now. I want this. I want you.”
He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and she felt him settle himself between her legs at her very opening.
“It will hurt at first, but I promise it will pass,” he said and she nodded.
He pushed forward and she gasped at the burning sting of him filling her. She held her breath and clung to his shoulders, trying to remember what he told her.
“Breathe, love,” he said.
She wasn’t sure she believed him, but she did what he said and just took slow, calming breaths. Soon, the sting turned to a delightful burn and she moved her hips to explore it further.
He groaned on top of her.
“Keep doing that, Tabitha, and this will be a very short first lesson.”
“I need,” she panted. “I need more.”
As though he were released from his tether, Nicholas rocked against her as he slid out then back in again.
“Then more you shall have.”
He moved his hips ruthlessly against her, driving in and out. Needing more contact, Tabitha wrapped her legs around his waist and crossed her ankles, angling herself to take him deeper.
She could tell that he was struggling to maintain control as his breathing was rough and uneven. While one hand cradled her face, the other reached between them and found the nub at the juncture of her sex and assaulted it with his thumb.
The sensation started again and before she knew it, Tabitha was mindless and couldn’t deny the urgency she felt as her body began that glorious crescendo a second time.
She didn’t fight it, instead letting Nicholas lead and carry her over the edge of the precipice again. She cried out, clutching and clawing at him as she convulsed around him.
He followed soon after, crying out her name and pushing himself hard into her as he climaxed right after her.
When their breathing slowed and the madness lifted, Tabitha opened her eyes to find Nicholas staring down at her, his eyes glowing.
“That was not my plan for bringing you to my bedroom,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I had planned to propose and then take you downstairs and announce our engagement to the party.”
“My stepmother will probably try to claw my eyes out on the spot,” she said with a bit of a shudder.
“The satisfaction of her reaction is all the more reason t
o share the joyous news sooner with her and her daughter,” he said, kissing Tabitha’s forehead, her nose, and her lips. “But first, Tabitha, you have not yet said the words in answer to my question.”
“Yes Nicholas,” she said laughing. “I love you so, and I will marry you.”
He sealed her promise with a kiss.
“I could not ask for anything more,” he said. “You’ve made me happier than any man has a right to be. I knew my proposal would be either incredibly right or incredibly wrong.”
“You ripped my costume,” she said, pointing to the pile of golden silk on his floor, and he cringed as he cast a glance at it.
“Lorna left a spare gown in my closet,” he said with a bit of a laugh. “I wondered why on earth she would do that, but now I see she probably guessed that my proposal would either go incredibly right or incredibly wrong.”
“Incredibly right,” Tabitha said, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him close. “Your proposal was incredibly right.”
* * *
They made their way through the corridor, hands held tightly together. Tabitha let go as they began to descend the stairs, and continued to the bottom as Nicholas did exactly as he had said he would, stopping in the middle of the staircase.
Tabitha watched him gesture to the musicians to stop playing, and everyone began turning to see what was amiss. He clapped his hands together and called their attention to him.
Tabitha tapped her foot anxiously as she waited for the storm to begin, for the looks and the judgments that would be sent her way. Lorna appeared at her side, giving her a quick wink and squeezing her arm in support.
“I know we are here for a masked ball, but I had other motives when I invited all of you here tonight,” he said, his voice booming. Tabitha felt like her heart would beat out of her chest as she came close to panicking. “I wanted to introduce my fiancée to you all, as she has just agreed to be my wife.”
Super Summer Set of Historical Shorts Page 80