by Burke, Darcy
His tawny eyes darkened with hurt. “That’s why you befriended me?”
She put her hands on his forearms. “Not entirely. I also needed to keep you close—because of your interest in Madame Sybila. But that isn’t the entire truth either.” She briefly closed her eyes. “I’m learning to be honest with myself as well as everyone else. The truth is that I liked you from the start. And I was attracted to you. From the moment you saved me from falling face-first into the pavement.”
He narrowed one eye at her. “Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t. Not at all. But I’m hoping and praying you will.”
“You are a consummate actress,” he said cautiously. “A spectacular fraud. And yet, I can’t believe you pretended everything that went on between us.”
She stepped closer to him until their chests touched, and put her palm against his cheek. “I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’d never been with anyone before, not like you. I knew I shouldn’t—both because it was dangerous and because it wasn’t right. But I couldn’t help myself. I was falling irreversibly in love with you.”
Harry took her hand from his cheek and pressed a kiss against her palm. “I wish you’d trusted me.”
“I don’t—didn’t—trust anyone except Beatrix. Not even Rafe.” She dipped her gaze briefly. “But I’m learning to.”
“You’re going to have to trust me,” he said gently. “If you can’t, there’s no hope.”
Selina put her other hand on his chest. “I will. You hold my entire life in your hands.”
“No. You’re an independent woman who won’t rely on anyone and I respect that. Still, I’m asking you if, from time to time, you might consent to rely on me. I promise to take care of you. If you’ll let me.”
Oh God, what was he asking?
Harry frowned. “I heard a rumor that the Vicar had retired. Is this true?”
Selina nodded vigorously. “Yes. He is entirely Raphael Bowles, Upper Brook Street’s most recent resident. All his business dealings are entirely legitimate.” He said he was transferring the last of his receiver shops next week. “I understand you may still want to arrest him, but I’m asking you not to. We have a great deal of years to make up for, and I hope we will have the chance.”
“How can I deny you the only blood family you have?” he asked softly. Selina could hardly believe his kindness. He gave her an arch look. “But Upper Brook Street? It seems as though Bowles should have offered to help you.”
“He did, but I refused. Because of that whole self-reliance thing.”
Harry shook his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
She clutched his hand tightly. “I need you to know—I have also given up any illegal enterprise. As has Beatrix.”
“Well, that’s a relief. It would be very embarrassing if my sister-in-law was caught stealing.”
Selina froze, her eyes locking with his. “Your what?”
“My sister-in-law. Which Beatrix will be, if you agree to be my wife.”
“You can’t mean that.” Selina tried to back away as she fought to draw air into her suddenly laboring lungs.
He held her fast, drawing her against him. “I’m not letting you go, not unless you really want me to. Yes, I do mean it. Selina, Sybila, Lady Gresham, whoever the hell you are, marry me.”
Selina stared into his eyes and saw something she’d never imagined—a future and happiness. The tears she’d shed the other day returned, but these were from joy. “Yes. And I know precisely who I am finally. Who I want to be.” She smiled up at him. “Yours.”
Harry kissed her, infusing her with a strength and wonder that filled her with emotion until it overflowed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him fiercely.
After several minutes, Harry broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “My family will be unbearable when I tell them.”
“They’ll be ecstatic.”
“Unbearably ecstatic, yes.” He kissed her cheek. “Will you promise to protect me from them?”
“I will do anything you ask for the rest of our lives. You’ve given me a gift I never expected and that I’m still not sure I deserve.”
He cupped her face and stared deep into her eyes. “Don’t say that. Ever. You deserve this. We deserve each other.” He kissed her hard and fast. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am exhausted and need to go to bed.”
Selina unwound her hands from his neck. “Of course. I’ll walk you out.”
“Out or up?” He arched an auburn brow at her.
“Oh! You want to stay?”
“I definitely don’t want to leave.”
“Then stay.” She stood on her toes and kissed him, her lips lingering on his. “Forever.”
Harry swept her into his arms and carried her upstairs.
Epilogue
Just two days later, Harry escorted his betrothed into the library at his parents’ house. He hadn’t told them why he’d wanted to have a family dinner, and his mother hadn’t pressed. She’d just been delighted to have him come since he’d missed Thursday. Then he’d asked her to make sure everyone was there, and she’d become incessant in demanding why.
He still hadn’t told her.
And so when he entered the library with Selina on his arm, followed by Rafe and Beatrix, his mother’s jaw had promptly dropped to the floor. Then she’d burst into tears.
“Good heavens, pull yourself together,” Father said, patting her back.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” Mother managed between sobs.
Rachel went to stand with her and rubbed her arm. She narrowed her eyes at Harry. “It better, or this will be a terrible jest.”
“Not even I would do that,” Harry said with affront. “That you would think that says more about you than it does me.” He waggled his brows at his sister.
Rachel snorted. “That is accurate.”
Mother sniffed as Father gave her a handkerchief and she dabbed her eyes. “Please, don’t keep me in suspense.”
Harry guided Selina to the side and gestured to her siblings. Rather, her sibling and not-sibling, not that anyone would know Beatrix wasn’t their sister. Unless her father—the bloody Duke of Ramsgate—identified her as his bastard daughter. In that case, all the secrets would be out. Harry had learned a great deal about his astonishing new family to be in the past two days.
“Father, Mother, everyone, allow me to present Selina’s brother, Mr. Raphael Bowles. You already know their half sister, Miss Whitford. And of course, Rachel, you and Nathaniel have already met Mr. Bowles.” They decided on making that clear since Rafe’s surname was different from Beatrix’s. Part of Harry felt uncomfortable participating in their falsehood, but he also knew why it was necessary. They very much wanted to leave their past behind and start anew. In the end, he thought that was the best path, and he’d vowed to support them.
Imogen’s gaze flicked from Harry to Selina and back to Harry again. “Did you just call her Selina?”
“I did. It is not uncommon to refer to your betrothed by her given name.”
Mother’s sobs started anew, and all three of his sisters gasped in unison. This was followed by Rachel practically shouting, “I knew it!”
Jeremy, late as usual, strolled into the library. “Knew what?”
“Harry is marrying Lady Gresham,” Delia said, beaming from the settee.
“Bollocks.”
Mother threw a glare at her eldest child. “That is not an appropriate response!”
“It is if I’m to be the only one unwed. Now I shall bear the full brunt of your machinations.” He looked over at Harry. “Congratulations. I suppose.”
Harry couldn’t help but laugh and was glad when Selina did too. Soon, everyone joined in. Except Rafe. He smiled, but he didn’t laugh. Though Harry hadn’t spent much time with him, he’d already determined that the man had a darkness that went deep into his soul. If you looked too long or too hard into his gaze, you felt the emptiness and had to turn
away.
Harry was exceptionally glad Selina had left London when she did.
Then everyone came forward to hug Harry and Selina, welcoming her and her siblings to the family. After some time, Mother demanded everyone’s attention. “When will the banns be read?”
“Tomorrow,” Harry answered. “Is that soon enough?”
“Of course. Have you already chosen a day to wed? There is so much to plan. Can we hold the wedding breakfast here? Harry, I’m sorry, but your house is not large enough.”
No, it wasn’t, and he would need to move soon for it wouldn’t support a family either. “Yes, you can host it here if that’s acceptable to Selina?” He looked at the woman beside him, love for her expanding his chest.
Selina nodded. “I’d be honored, thank you. My brother would like to host a ball before the end of the Season—to celebrate our marriage and for Beatrix. He’s purchased a house on Upper Brook Street.”
Harry’s father’s brows shot up. “Indeed?”
“I’m looking forward to supporting my sisters,” Rafe said evenly, wisely answering the question as if Father was referring to Rafe’s intentions and not the fact that he’d purchased a house on bloody Upper Brook Street.
Jeremy handed Rafe a glass of brandy. “Be careful. You will find yourself the toast of your own ball once the young ladies and their mothers set their eyes on you.”
“But he doesn’t even have a title,” Beatrix said.
“He has money and will shortly be related to an earl by marriage,” Rachel said wryly. “That will be enough.”
It was a buoyant, jubilant evening—some, namely his sisters, might even have called it raucous. By the time Rafe had dropped his sisters and Harry on Queen Anne Street, Harry was yawning.
“Are you sure you want to come in for a nightcap?” Selina asked as they walked to the door.
“Yes.” He looked at her intently as Beatrix preceded them into the house. “Unless you think I should go home for once,” he whispered. He’d spent the last two nights here, waking up with the sun to rush home.
Her eyes danced with promise. “I think you should never go home.”
“Minx.” He resisted the urge to carry her into the house and directly up the stairs.
“I’m going up to bed,” Beatrix announced as Harry followed Selina inside. “You can go into the sitting room and pretend to have a nightcap before you creep upstairs, or you could just be efficient and go up now.” She shrugged. “I won’t tell. Good night!” She waved her fingers at them and bounced up the stairs.
Harry chuckled as he drew Selina into his arms. “I don’t need a nightcap, do you?”
Selina shook her head. She caught her lip between her teeth as she unknotted his cravat. “I only need you.”
“I wish it was that simple. You saw tonight that with me, you get an entire, extended, obnoxious family. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She held on to the ends of his cravat as she tipped her head back. “I’ll admit that when I first met them, I was intimidated. I found them utterly captivating, but also terrifying. I’ve never had a family, not like that.”
“Well, you have one now, and I can’t promise they won’t continue to be terrifying. I can promise, however, they will love you. Though not as much as I do.”
“I still can’t believe you do. I may never believe it, just so you know.”
“Then I will simply have to tell you over and over and over again. I love you. I love you. I love—”
She put her fingers against his lips. “Stop. It’s too much. I am too full.”
“I could make a very lewd remark about how that isn’t remotely true, but I’ll abstain.” He stroked his hand along her nape.
Selina leaned up and tugged at his earlobe with her teeth. “Please don’t. That, I can never get enough of.”
“Skipping the nightcap, then,” he said, picking her up.
“Harry, you’ve carried me upstairs every night.”
He started up the stairs. “And I may carry you tomorrow night and the night after. And the night after that. This is what you’re agreeing to. If you want to change your mind, you better do so before church tomorrow.” He made a face. “But then you’ll have to deal with my mother and sisters.”
She shuddered in his arms. “I’d rather not. Marriage it is, I suppose.” She sounded resigned.
“Damn, but you are still far too good at pretending.” He went to her chamber, and she pushed open the door. “I can’t tell if you’re jesting.”
She slid down his front, keeping her arms around his neck. “Then I shall just have to show you. Surrender to me, Mr. Sheffield, and I will show you the truth of my undying love.”
He put his lips to hers. “I am yours.”
Don’t miss A SCANDALOUS BARGAIN, when Beatrix sees something she shouldn’t and finds herself making a deal to help Lord Rockbourne after the shocking death of his wife. Can a woman who can’t stop stealing and a widower in need of redemption find love, or will their secrets destroy them both?
Thank you so much for reading A Secret Surrender! It’s the first book in The Pretenders trilogy. I hope you enjoyed it!
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Need more Regency romance? Check out my other historical series:
The Untouchables - Swoon over twelve of Society’s most eligible and elusive bachelor peers and the bluestockings, wallflowers, and outcasts who bring them to their knees!
The Untouchables: The Spitfire Society - Meet the smart, independent women who’ve decided they don’t need Society’s rules, their families’ expectations, or, most importantly, a husband. But just because they don’t need a man doesn’t mean they might not want one…
Wicked Dukes Club - six books written by me and my BFF, NYT Bestselling Author Erica Ridley. Meet the unforgettable men of London's most notorious tavern, The Wicked Duke. Seductively handsome, with charm and wit to spare, one night with these rakes and rogues will never be enough...
Love is All Around - heartwarming Regency-set retellings of classic Christmas stories (written after the Regency!) featuring a cozy village, three siblings, and the best gift of all: love.
Secrets and Scandals - six epic stories set in London’s glittering ballrooms and England’s lush countryside, and the first one, Her Wicked Ways, is free!
Legendary Rogues - Four intrepid heroines and adventurous heroes embark on exciting quests across Regency England and Wales!
If you like contemporary romance, I hope you’ll check out my Ribbon Ridge series available from Avon Impulse, and the continuation of Ribbon Ridge in So Hot.
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I appreciate my readers so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Author’s Note
I love the research involved with writing historical fiction. One of my go-to references is the 1817 map of London by W. Darton. This is where I look for neighborhoods and specific streets in London during this time. This map shows a Queen Ann Street intersecting with Portland Street (which is now Great Portland Street). When you compare that 1817 map to a modern map of London, the area looks vastly different! It’s amazing how many streets in London are lost to time. I decided to spell Queen Anne Street with an “e” in this book because the majority of the advance readers (my editor and beta readers) found that the Ann spelling made them stop and wonder if it was spelled correctly, as Queen Anne is the more widely known modern spelling, at least in the US.
Other historical tidbits: the Lambeth Asylum for Orph
an Girls was a real place, but is noted by several different names, including Asylum for Female Orphans. I chose one title and went with it. The Brown Bear pub existed at 34 Bow Street across from the magistrates’ court at 33. I recently started watching Ripper Street, a BBC show set during the 1890s about the police in Whitechapel at Lambeth Street. There is a Brown Bear pub in the show near the police station, which I found interesting since I knew there was a Brown Bear on Bow Street too. I wonder if the Brown Bear in Whitechapel (which I believe was founded shortly after the one in Covent Garden) took its name from the pub across from the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court.
Researching A SECRET SURRENDER was great fun! I do hope you’ll contact me if you have any questions or further information to share.
Also by Darcy Burke
Historical Romance
The Untouchables
The Forbidden Duke
The Duke of Daring
The Duke of Deception
The Duke of Desire
The Duke of Defiance
The Duke of Danger
The Duke of Ice
The Duke of Ruin
The Duke of Lies
The Duke of Seduction
The Duke of Kisses
The Duke of Distraction
The Untouchables: The Spitfire Society
Never Have I Ever with a Duke
A Duke is Never Enough
A Duke Will Never Do
The Untouchables: The Pretenders
A Secret Surrender
A Scandalous Bargain
