The Duke’s Improper Bride

by Paula, Rebecca

  “He’ll scream if you touch him,” Daniel said. “It took hours to get him to sleep.”

  Isaac didn’t want trouble. What he wanted was to kiss his wife and apologize for making an arse of himself. He wanted to plead with her to let him make it up to her every day for the rest of their lives. But when he turned to face her, he was met with a scowl.

  She wrinkled her nose at him and picked at the side hem of her dress before whispering, “Your Grace,” and dipping into a curtsey. Her eyes narrowed, and those dark sapphire eyes of hers, so often full of life and light, were only full of steel and anger.

  Isaac fought back the admiration that bloomed within him at his warrior. If he smiled, he didn’t doubt she would pull the pistol on him again. And maybe he deserved it.

  No, not maybe. He most certainly did.

  Goddamn it. So, there would be a lot of begging, and possibly a puppy or two, and new dresses. Anything his wife desired. Anything, if she came back to him.

  Isaac swallowed his pride, extending his hand to the man standing behind Nora, the man she had bravely freed herself. “Pleased to meet you, Daniel.”

  “Your Grace.”

  Isaac dropped his hand when the man didn’t return his handshake. “Barnes will do. No need for formalities. Especially not here.”

  Daniel Carrier was tall, with golden hair swept back from a face that might have once been considered handsome in London’s ballrooms. Now he appeared wolfish, his features sunken, heavy stubble growing in patches on his cheeks, his lips chapped. A man who had suffered at the hands of others.

  Isaac turned his focus back to Nora, quickly scanning her for injuries or wounds. His fingers ached to touch her, but she stood there as if she were in a world just beyond the flickering shadows thrown from his candle.

  Isaac wanted to believe he hadn’t been wrong about his wife being in love with him. He wished for it. But she made no effort to come close, nor did she acknowledge what he had done to find her in this small, rat-infested boarding house.

  “Your father is searching for you, Daniel,” Isaac said. “He has paid two men handsomely, to comb Ireland, Scotland, and England for your whereabouts. Staying here, even in Liverpool, is a risk.”

  “I’m not leaving the boy,” Daniel replied gruffly. “He has nowhere to go. No one to watch over him. He’s been locked away in that asylum since birth. He has no knowledge of the outside world.”

  “That boy,” Isaac said, pointing his finger to the child, “is close to death.”

  Daniel straightened his shoulders, his voice laced with threat. “I won’t let him die.”

  “Then he needs a doctor.” Isaac slipped his pistol back into his waistband. “He needs a doctor and not some hack we’re going to get here, so close to the docks that we’ll have to drag him out of the tavern.”

  “Then what?” Nora said. “We w-won’t leave him.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Isaac replied, his voice steady as he met her eyes. For a moment, the hardness fell from her face.

  I found you, he thought. I found you and I’m not letting you go.

  “I have a plan,” he said. “And to start, we’re climbing out that window. Quick, blow out the candle.”

  * * *

  Three Days Later

  Nora closed the door behind her, leaning back against it as her husband read the evening’s paper on the bed, his ankles crossed. The smell of ink, coffee, and sandalwood filled the air.

  It was the first time they had been alone since Isaac crawled up into the attic at the small house in Everton. A place Nora thought was so well hidden from those seeking Daniel out that she was certain they would be safe. The area had been so crowded, and another Irish boy wouldn’t stand out in an area populated by the Irish. And they were safe, after all. She just never counted on her husband finding her.

  Lie.

  But she was glad he had.

  Glad he was here with her now.

  Even if there was so much left unsaid between them. It might as well have been years since she had laid eyes on him instead of mere weeks.

  Their hotel suite was the most luxurious space she had ever been in, and it only seemed to deepen the divide between them. Isaac seemed unattainable between the layers of damask and velvet and giant ferns. Even the bed was well-appointed. He fit so perfectly there, just as he had fit so perfectly playing his part of the moody painter back in Scotland.

  Isaac excelled at being many men, striding through the world full of charm and grace and kindness. He was a chameleon. Nora couldn’t figure why he had come for her, never mind why she was his wife. A man such as Isaac could have anyone.

  And no one seemed to ever want Nora around.

  Except for him.

  What an extraordinary thing.

  “They’re sleeping,” she said, cursing herself for saying something so insignificant.

  The doctor had come again today, a proper doctor at Isaac’s request and expense, to care for the boy and Danny.

  Isaac set the paper down, turning to her, and it nearly robbed her of the air in her lungs. How was it that every time she entered a room, he had the ability to make her feel so loved without ever saying a word?

  “That doctor comes highly recommended. He’ll see them well.” He folded the paper, patting the bed beside him. “You must be tired.”

  “Hmph.”

  Tired wasn’t enough to describe how she felt. Nora was exhausted to her bones from running, and the hiding, and fighting her way to save Danny and the boy.

  Nora was hungry too. Hungry for her husband’s embrace, for his voice, for the feel of his body against hers. They had both said such horrible things when they last parted.

  Though her heart pushed her forward, her feet steered her away from the bed and to the balcony outside their suite. She leaned her arms on the railing, breathing in the night air as the rest of Liverpool carried on with their lives—their hopes and dreams, their plans for the future.

  Nora had no idea where to start now that she had rescued Danny.

  “I’ll have the papers drawn up if you wish,” Isaac said, joining her on the balcony. “I hadn’t the chance before I left to find you. I needed to know you were safe.”

  She shut her eyes at the pain that rang through her heart and grasped the railing.

  “I don’t want an annulment,” Nora said softly into the night.

  He leaned against the railing, inches from touching her. Oh, how she wished he would take her in his arms. Had he missed her as much as she had missed him?

  “You won’t have to return to your parents. I’ll see that you’re comfortable and have a place of your choosing. Another house in Scotland, perhaps? Something quiet and in the country, a house in the mountains.”

  She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. He loved her enough to set her free, to allow her to hide, but it was much too late. She had found her voice in Ireland. She had discovered that she was braver than she had ever imagined.

  “I’m sorry I doubted you.” She faced Isaac. “I never should have doubted you. I wouldn’t be h-here now without your help.”

  After a silence stretched between them for a moment too long, he reached for her hand and held it in his before drawing it up to his lips. He kissed the top of her hand, then opened her palm and placed the sweetest, gentlest kiss inside as if it were a secret she was to keep.

  “I should have done more.”

  She shook her head. “I was scared and i-impatient, and I knew the longer we waited, the worse Danny’s condition could become. I couldn’t lose him.”

  But have I lost you?

  In the night’s inky darkness, her husband’s features were impossibly handsome.

  “I was scared, Isaac. Of you, of London, for Danny. And I was tired of others dismissing me.”

  “And I’m the worst sort of human for wishing for just one more day with you, one more stolen hour, before we had to parade through London. I was selfish.”

  “More than that. We weren’t h
onest with e-each other.”

  “I owe you…well, I don’t know where to start. It’s a long story perhaps for another time, far from this. I hoped that by not telling you, then it no longer had to be a part of my life. But my family will always have a duty to the crown.”

  Nora closed the distance between them, her body weary, and stood toe to toe with him. Still, he towered over her. She gazed up, losing herself to those green eyes of his—home, she thought—Isaac was home.

  “I knew you’d find me.”

  “Always.”

  He became so still, holding his breath as her soft hands cupped his face.

  “I love you,” she said.

  She supposed she should have worked out something far grander to say, something poetic and beautiful, something sweeping. Surely, he had swept her off her feet. Every good man deserved the same.

  But his lips came down to hers in a sweet benediction, and simple was enough. She was enough. And Isaac had given her that gift.

  When they parted, Nora gazed up at Isaac. “Husband mine?”

  “Hmm?” He smiled at her, his hands running through her hair. “Say it again.”

  “I love y-you.”

  His smile broadened.

  “Take me to bed.”

  He leaned down and kissed the column of her neck as he grabbed her hand. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  * * *

  As morning broke, Nora rolled over and grinned at her sleeping husband.

  She slipped out of bed and snatched her robe which had been discarded over the chair by the bed. Nora had mended things with Isaac, and well, she thought, but there was still so much left to figure out. What was she to do in London? As a duchess?

  And then there was seeing Danny safe. She hadn’t come this far to see harm come his way again, or to the little Irish boy, Alex.

  Nora glanced in the mirror and quickly pulled a brush through her curls, then gathered her hair and pinned it back. She should get dressed and have breakfast. Why, it was already almost eight in the morning. In Scotland, she would have scaled a mountain by now. City life was already taking a toll on her.

  “Draw the curtains, and come to bed,” Isaac announced drowsily against the pillows. “You should be sleeping.”

  Well, it wasn’t entirely city life that had altered how she spent her mornings.

  Nora pushed back from the small table and mirror and padded over to the bed. “I need to talk with Danny. We can’t stay h-holed up in this hotel forever. Eventually, we will need to return to London, and he will need to figure out what he would like to do next.”

  Isaac reached for her hand and kissed her open palm. “I don’t know if I could love you anymore than right now.”

  She sat beside him, half tempted to lay back down. After Ireland, she could sleep for weeks.

  “No harm is going to come by Danny when you’re so ready to fight, Nora. Need I remind you that you pulled a gun on me?”

  She laughed softly, stroking her fingers through his black hair. “All bark, d-dear.”

  “Your aim was excellent.” He tugged her forward for a slow, drugging kiss. “But then again, you always did know how to bring a man to his knees.”

  Nora had never had full dance cards or admirers paying calls. Nora arched her brow. “I’m just the poor MacAllen girl.”

  “You’ve never been the poor MacAllen girl. I pity anyone who tries to stand in your way. You needed to see for yourself what you’re capable of. I only wish I could have been there…”

  She bent down and kissed his cheek before rising. “I’m ready to leave Liverpool. And it might be best for Danny and Alex as well.”

  “Leave Liverpool and go where?”

  Nora heard the edge of doubt in his voice. “Home, Isaac. I’m going h-home with you. To London.” She strutted to the door and paused, peeking at him over her shoulder. Laid out in bed, he might as well have been a king, so recklessly handsome in the golden wash of morning light.

  “You were n-never a mistake.”

  “But not coming back to this bed after saying that could be.”

  Nora winked, shaking her head before slipping out of the room, smiling more when she heard her husband’s deep laugh behind her.

  Some twenty minutes later, Danny strode through the door of their suite’s sitting room, the smell of bay after bathing still clinging to his body. He smiled at Nora, before embracing her in a strong hug.

  “I rang for tea,” Nora said. “Will you join me?”

  He pulled away, his hands strong on her shoulders as he studied her face. “My dear, sweet Nora.”

  The ache in her chest blossomed. A hint of hope ballooned at the small smile on his lips. “There’s much to discuss, and I d-don’t know where to begin.”

  He sat opposite her, crossing his ankle over his knee. “I am not…well, I will tell you in time.”

  She held up her hand, waving him off as she took a sip of tea. “What matters is that you’re safe, and Alex is recovering.”

  “All thanks to you. You’re much braver than you give yourself credit for. I didn’t deserve you breaking in and rescuing me like you did.

  Nora set down her tea, her brows set in a line. “You c-certainly didn’t deserve to be there in the first place. That was no h-hospital.”

  Danny relaxed, resting his head back to gaze up at the millwork on the ceiling. “That place was where people with money hide their secrets away to die.” When he looked at her, his eyes were filled with sadness. “My family is disgusted by me. I’ve lost them forever because I was a fool to fall in love.”

  She leaned across and grasped his hand in hers. “But you’re my family, Danny. I f-found you. I l-love you as if you were my o-own brother.”

  “London doesn’t deserve you,” he said on a sigh.

  She pulled back, jumping to her feet to look out the window onto the city beyond. She heard Isaac moving in his room. She had missed that, the sounds of him in the morning as he dressed. Or how he hummed as bounced down the stairs for coffee in the breakfast room. She had missed him sleeping there beside her and the warmth of his body surrounding hers.

  The problem was that she was entirely in love with her husband. Which, she discovered, wasn’t a problem at all.

  “London,” she huffed. “I am b-barely a tolerable wife. I am no duchess, Danny.”

  He barked out a laugh that startled her until she too laughed. She turned to him, crossing her arms.

  “I feel as if I should remind you that you broke into an asylum to rescue me and a dying boy and brought all three of us to safety. You’re worried about London ballrooms, but those stuffy matriarchs and debutantes are no match you, darling. You’ll win them over in time, but it’s not a reason for running.”

  “I wa-wasn’t running.”

  He joined her. “You’ve been running since your accident. You found love despite of it. But don’t let your stutter be the reason why you hide away for the rest of your life.”

  She knew he was right. She knew her husband had been right, and honestly, she was beginning to believe it for herself. But still, what if they laughed? What if she became nothing but another silly duchess satirized in the gossip rags or shunned out of ballrooms or from fancy dinners?

  “What makes us different isn’t a weakness, it’s our strength, Nora.” He drew her in for a hug. “Now, go back to that ridiculously handsome husband of yours. It’s time Alex and I leave.”

  Nora wiggled out of his hold and playfully slapped his shoulder. “You’re not leaving.”

  “Isn’t that what you came to have tea with me for to discuss?” Again, he laughed, and she couldn’t fight back the smile.

  “You’re too clever, Danny.”

  A knock sounded at the door before Isaac popped his head in. “Good morning.” His voice was all business but the light in his eyes was playful. Something else Nora had come to miss dearly.

  She waved him in. “Danny was telling me he was about to leave.”

  “Come to L
ondon with us,” Isaac said. “I can have you put up in a safe spot, see the boy has a doctor and continues to recover.”

  “That offer is more than generous,” Danny said. “But we’ll be staying here. The boy’s mother died in the asylum, and he’s determined to find his father.”

  “And you’re guessing his father is here in Liverpool?”

  “He has his father’s signet ring. A nurse suggested it might belong to a peer with an estate in Lancashire.”

  “I could help while you’re in London,” Isaac insisted. “The men your father hired aren’t going to rest until they find you.”

  “Danny, come to London with us.”

  He shook his head. “No, duchess, I don’t think I will. I made a promise to Alex’s mother that I’d see him safe. Finding his father is the first step in figuring out how. We’ll stay here in the city.”

  Nora gazed between her husband and her friend. Both beautifully determined, both who seemed to believe she was capable. What her inner voice told her for her entire life.

  “I’ll miss you dearly,” Nora said softly. “But if you’re to stay here, I think it’s time to return to London with my husband.”

  Isaac wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

  “You should do more than go to London, dear,” Danny said. “You’ll conquer it if I know you.”

  Epilogue

  London, Six months later

  Isaac had never hosted an event like tonight. His own gallery for guests to walk through as they entered the ball. But tonight was no ordinary night—it was the first ball hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Ashbornham.

  “London deserves to see your work,” Nora said, sidling up to her husband. She looked resplendent in a cream ballgown covered in burgundy beading, depicting heather and thistle. “Are you nervous?”

  Isaac didn’t answer. He adjusted his bow tie. The damn thing was strangling him. What had he done for his valet to kill him by suffocation through formal night wear?

  Nora patted his cheek with her silk glove, smiling at him fully.

  “Husband mine?”