“A madman? Not enough to draw attention to myself. A fiend? Only to the men who served on my ship. A fortune hunter? Not all fortunes are silver and gold, Miss Peachum.”
“Oh.” The word left her in a whoosh of air. Her cheeks blazed with heat. “You don’t know anything about me, save my father was the most notorious swindler in all of England, and he died in prison. Why would you tie yourself to a name as scandalous as mine?”
“Has she said yes yet, Captain?” Birdie called across the room. Sir Stirling shook with laughter. Emmaline clapped a hand across her eyes and hung her head.
The captain used two fingers to slowly raise her chin. “You are not your name… Emmaline,” he said in that dark rumble of a voice. “You are a woman who refused Sir Stirling’s marriage auction, because no matter how desperate your circumstances, you still know your worth. That is good enough for me.”
Oh, he was good. Truly. He was aloof, and charming, and clever enough to know he’d win her better by flattery and making himself appear harmless. And he was her only hope. Her strength, stretched like antique lace over watered silk, was set to tear and unravel at any moment. She didn’t have to trust him to marry him. What a sad testament to a supposedly romantic event.
“Then God help you, Captain Lord Arthur Farnsworth,” Emmaline said as she squared her shoulders and tugged her hands from his. “I accept your proposal.”
“God help us both,” he murmured as she walked back toward Birdie and the mad Scotsman who had set this plan in motion.
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Thief of Broken Hearts (The Sons of Eliza Bryant Book 1) Page 20
