Large hands settled on her shoulders, startling her. She’d not heard his quiet approach. Then, the familiar weight of a gold chain settled about her neck and a spark of warmth singed her skin at the reunion. With shaking fingers, she touched her mother’s pendant that Will had fastened about her. He turned her about to face him. “You are no longer that woman.”
Her soul clung to the sliver of hope that he was indeed correct; a tantalizing possibility that would free her of the chains of this horrid creature she’d been for eleven years. “But what if I am?” she whispered. What if that vileness was in her blood and could not be forever buried because it was an inextricable part of her soul?
“Oh, Cara, the very fact that you worry as much means you are not that woman.” William raised her knuckles to his mouth, kissing first one hand, then the other. “You crafted such a perfect façade for the world of a remote ice princess that even you believed it. I saw past that to the woman who smiled and cursed.” His lips twitched. “And who wished to be kind and know kindness.” He brushed his lips over hers in a faint meeting. “Marry me.”
For a moment she believed the whisper, part of the dream she’d carried from the Fox and Hare Inn, echoing around her mind. She tried to drag forth breath to make words, but had nothing. Cara shook her head.
He grinned, the half-smile that dimpled his cheek and gave him a boyish look. “Is that a no?”
“I—” Am not that person. The lady her father and Society had spent years shaping, had been a hollow, empty figure of the woman she was, and more, the woman she was learning to be. She smiled gently up at William. “That is a yes.” A single tear squeezed past her lashes and slid down her cheek.
William widened his smile and then, lowering his head, claimed her mouth.
Cara returned his kiss and for the first time in eleven years, she knew love.
Epilogue
London, England
January, 1818
In the quiet, empty streets of London, the carriage sat outside the townhouse, as it had for…well, Cara knew not how long, but at the very least, knew it had been a good deal of time. Not that it mattered how much time had passed. There were more important matters to attend. She peeled the curtain back ever so faintly and peaked out the window then gulped and let it fall promptly into place.
“Er, you do realize we’ve been sitting here for almost fifteen minutes, love?”
“Hmm?” She swung her attention up to her husband who occupied the seat beside her on the bench. He was saying something. What was he saying? She tried to order her muddled thoughts. Cara swallowed hard and stole another look outside at the front façade of the Marquess of Waverly’s townhouse. Anxiety roiled through her. Then, it was not every day a lady went to make amends with the half-sister she’d so wronged in life. William settled his hand over hers and she took undeserved strength from that offering. “She hates me.”
“Perhaps,” he said with an honest directness she appreciated. “But you will hate yourself more if you do not attempt to make amends.”
Cara caught her lower lip and stared at the red velvet curtain covering the carriage window. Yes, her husband was indeed, correct. If she did not meet her sister and ask for her pardon, she’d not forgive herself, and yet… This was about something so much more than her own eased conscience.
This was about…two sisters who’d been shaped by their own experiences as the Duke of Ravenscourt’s unfortunate daughters, a bond that no one but those wronged children might understand. The woman she’d been at one time would have scoffed at the very idea of asking forgiveness of a woman who, through her efforts, had lost her position. But William was correct. She’d been changed. By him. By their time at the Fox and Hare Inn. And more, because love had flooded her life.
Aware of her husband’s gaze on her, she gave a slight nod and then drew in a breath. “It is time,” she said softly.
He quickly rapped on the carriage door and the driver pulled it open.
Her husband leapt to the ground and then held a hand up to assist her down. Cara’s gaze crept up the length of the townhouse and unease churned within her. What if she does not wish to see me? Then, why should she wish to? As all the doubts and indecision paraded through her mind, the wind pulled at her cloak. She touched the pendant about her neck for strength. “I am ready.”
William slid his fingers into hers and gave her hand a slight, reassuring squeeze. They reached the front door of the marquess’ townhouse and as though he feared she’d change her mind, William knocked once.
“What if she does not wish to see me?” the question slipped from her lips, followed by a stream of inquiries she could not hold back. “What if she has words of hate and loathing? What if she tells me she doesn’t care to ever speak to me again?”
“Then you will know.” He applied gentle pressure to her fingers once more. “I am here, Cara mia. You aren’t alone.”
With the surety of his love, her fear receded and she gave a nod. Cara let her breath out on a slow exhale as her unease faded. “I am ready,” she said softly. “As long as you are beside me.”
William raised her knuckles to his lips. “Always,” he pledged. “I will always be beside you.”
Cara smiled up at him.
For the first time, she was not alone.
The End
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A widow with a past… The last thin
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Adair Thorne has just watched his gaming-hell dream disappear into a blaze of fire and ash, and he’s certain that his competitors, the Killorans, are behind it. His fury and passion burn even hotter when he meets Cleopatra Killoran, a tart-mouthed vixen who mocks him at every turn. If she were anyone else but the enemy, she’d ignite a desire in him that would be impossible to control.
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No one can make Cleopatra do anything. That said, she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her siblings—even if that means being sponsored by their rivals for a season in order to land a noble husband. But she will not allow her head to be turned by the infuriating and darkly handsome Adair Thorne.
There’s only one thing that threatens the rules of the game: Cleopatra’s secret. It could unravel the families’ tenuous truce and shatter the unpredictably sinful romance mounting between the hellion…and a scoundrel who could pass for the devil himself.
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Never trust a gentleman…
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A Heart of a Duke Collection: Volume 1-A Regency Bundle Page 183