He let go a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you.’ He slid off the sofa and on to one knee. He withdrew a ring from his pocket. The one she’d left on the tray at Durn. ‘Merry Draycott, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’ He slipped the ring on her finger.
She stared down at it. Everything clicked into place, her heart, her mind, her soul, joining together with his, like some well-oiled lock. The little schoolgirl who everybody had scorned danced in circles of happiness. What had he said earlier? They would face the future together. With Charlie at her side, no one could cause her hurt. Because no one else counted. Only Charlie.
She lifted her gaze to his eyes, saw the question and the hope and the love. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, please.’ She flung her arms around his neck.
He found her lips with his and she lost herself in his kiss.
After a while he broke away and tucked her against his chest, his arm around her shoulder. ‘Miss Draycott, you certainly know how to lead a man a merry dance.’
‘Mmmm,’ she said. ‘And I am looking forward to many more dances with you.’
He grinned. ‘Other things too,’ he said. ‘After our wedding.’
‘About the wedding. Do we have to have a grand affair in London?’
‘I want everyone to see you. To know you are the woman I have chosen as my wife. To see my pride and my happiness and gnash their teeth.’
A laugh escaped her. ‘Oh, Charlie. You couldn’t have said anything better.’
He grinned. ‘Let us be off, sweet. We can reach Durn tonight and break the news to my parents before they leave for London.’
She winced.
He rose, pulled her to her feet, and kissed her forehead. ‘Courage, love. That is what I admired about you from the first, your courage as well as your beauty.’
She raised a brow. ‘You thought I was a lightskirt.’
‘Instead you are the light of my life.’
He drew her into his arms and kissed her lips. Happiness was a bright golden thing in her heart. It filled her with warmth. True love didn’t care who your parents were, or what had happened before, she realised. True love was a beginning.
‘Has he gone?’ Caro asked, peeping around the door.
They separated like naughty children.
Caro flushed scarlet. ‘Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.’
Merry held out the hand with the ring. ‘You are here just in time to hear my news. I am to be married.’
Caro’s eyes widened. ‘Really married?’
Charlie grinned. ‘Leg shackled. Permanently.’
‘Oh, Merry, I am so happy for you.’ Caro rushed forwards and hugged her. ‘So very happy.’ She stepped back and there were tears of joy in her eyes.
‘Why did you run from Captain Read?’ Merry asked.
Caro paled. ‘He is someone I knew a long time ago.’
Merry glanced at Charlie. ‘Perhaps I should stay and—’
‘No,’ Caro said, her voice firm. ‘I should not have run. He never did me any harm. It was just the shock of seeing him again.’ She smiled. ‘I have made a new life for myself and it is past time I stopped hiding.’
Merry sensed an underlying disquiet beneath the calm face. ‘If you are sure?’
‘Merry,’ Charlie said, capturing her hand, his face serious. ‘If Mrs Falkner finds herself in any difficulty she must send word to me. I will do all in my power to help her. But now we must speak with my parents.’
‘Go,’ Caro said, laughing. ‘Invite me to your wedding and I promise I will come.’
The fear for her friend lightened. She kissed her cheek.
‘Come,’ Charlie said, urging her out of the door. ‘The sooner we get this over, the sooner we can be wed.’
Wed. Common-as-muck Merry Draycott, wed to the heir to a dukedom. It hardly seemed possible, but when she gazed up into Charlie’s face, she knew it had nothing to do with who he was and everything to do with the love shining in his eyes.
She reached up and kissed his cheek. ‘No need to fuss, love,’ she whispered. ‘We have the rest of our lives.’
‘We do.’ He swept her up in his arms and carried her out of the house. ‘And the sooner we get started, the better.’
He’d brought the closed carriage she noticed with a sigh of anticipation and a flood of heat. The ride back to Durn couldn’t start soon enough.
She twined her arms around his neck and smiled.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0585-7
MORE THAN A MISTRESS
Copyright (c) 2011 by Michele Ann Young
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*Rakes in Disgrace
More Than A Mistress Page 25
