The muscles of his stomach tensed. “I’m s—”
She gave her head a brusque shake, staying that useless apology.
Yes, at some point, he too had reconciled that one was never truly free of such a loss. The jagged, empty hole left in Lionel’s absence would never be fully healed. “That pain will always be with us,” she softly amended. Daisy looked at him squarely. “But I don’t want to imagine a world without you in it.” She let her hands fall to her side and he mourned the loss of her touch.
Ah, God he did not deserve her.
Daisy’s chest rose up and down with the force of her emotion. She took a step closer so only a hairsbreadth of space separated them. “Perhaps you only wed me of obligation,” she began.
“No.” The denial burst from his lips. Auric could not live knowing she believed herself a responsibility and nothing more. How could she not know how much she meant to him? Because you never let her in the way she deserved… He drew in a breath. “I convinced myself that was all it was, Daisy.” He dragged a quaking hand through his hair. “What was the alternative? Loving you, the woman who—”
She pressed her fingertips to his lips, stopping the flow of those words. “I know you love me, Auric.” A tremulous smile hovered on her lips. “And I’ll have you any way I can have you. If yours is just the love of a friend—”
He took her lips under his in a slow, silencing kiss. The noisy call of vendors hawking their wares and the rattle of carriages along the cobbled roads faded and he, who’d spent years valuing and honoring propriety and respectability because he couldn’t face the truth, kissed his wife, uncaring of anyone and everyone around them. Daisy leaned into his touch and met his kiss. He drew back and ran his gaze over her precious, heart-shaped face. Her lashes fluttered wildly, and when she opened her eyes, they were glazed with passion. He caressed her lower lip. “I love you, Daisy Laurel Meadows.”
She said nothing for a long while, studying him with an assessing silence, and then that slow, mischievous, patently Daisy smile turned her lips up at the corners. “And I love you, husband.”
Auric dropped the inexpensive bauble given him by the gypsy woman into his pocket. She narrowed her old, knowing eyes now intently studying them, but then a young woman stepped up to the wagon and called her attention away and she rushed to assist the young woman. He rescued Daisy’s reticule and handed it over to her. “Shall we go home?” He held out his hand.
Daisy looked at his fingers a moment and then placed her fingertips in his. “Haven’t you realized, Auric?” she whispered.
He furrowed his brow.
“We already are,” she said softly.
Her words washed over him, and a lightness he’d never thought to again feel filled his chest, freeing, and at last he knew peace.
Epilogue 17 January, 1817
“It is time we say goodbye,” Auric murmured. His voice carried off the walls of his office. “I will forever appreciate everything you have done, the friend you’ve been to me.” He drew in a slow, steadying breath. “I will no longer require your assistance, however,” he said quietly. Even as the words left his mouth, he recognized how ungrateful they seemed, how formal, and very aloof. “You see, I’ve another who listens and I will give myself wholly to her.” He paused. “And I know you would approve.”
Auric sat back in his chair and studied the slightly charred, black leather book atop the mahogany surface of his desk. He ran his palm over the front of this piece that had been with him for eight years. Odd how an inanimate object had pulled him from the edge of despair and provided him some sliver of solace. He stood. However, he no longer required a mere sliver of solace. Daisy had filled his life with the peace and happiness he’d thought forever beyond his grasp. With purpose in his movements, he stood and carried the book across the room to the blazing hearth.
He touched his lips to the cover of the volume and tossed it into the fire. The crimson red flames licked at the edges of the book, swiftly devouring the pages, until it burned bright in an orange-red blaze. “Goodbye,” he whispered.
A sense of peace filled him. With that, he turned and started for the door. He pulled it open and made his way through the empty, quiet corridors of his London townhouse, passing portraits of his stern, frowning, ducal ancestors and their prim, unsmiling, and very un-Daisy-like duchesses. Auric climbed the stairs and made his way to a set of chamber doors.
Mindful of the late hour, he pressed the handle and quietly stepped inside. It took a moment for his eyes to make order of the darkened chamber. He located Daisy propped amongst a cluster of pillows with a precious bundle in her arms. “Hullo,” she whispered softly, a smile wreathed her plump, freckled cheeks. He returned her smile. She returned her attention to the tiny babe cradled against her heart. Joy swelled in his chest, powerful and all-consuming. He swallowed back a wave of emotion. The roaring fire snapped and hissed angrily, thoroughly warming the room.
Auric made his way carefully over to the bed. “You are awake?” he asked quietly, as he sat at the edge of her bed. The mattress dipped under his weight.
Daisy looked up from the babe in her arms, just two days old. “I could not sleep,” she said with another smile.
Then, they both wore a perpetual smile these days. He brushed his hand over the small tuft of hair atop the tiny babe’s head. Nay, his and Daisy’s babe. She opened her gray, cloudy eyes with effort and her lips moved in a slow, quiet suckle. Then she found him. Ah, God he loved her. She and Daisy were more joy than he, or any one man, had a right to. “Hullo, Lionella,” he said quietly. Her lashes drifted closed once more and she slept. A light sheen of tears marred his vision and he blinked them back.
This was peace. They three, in this moment he would forever freeze in time if he could. He reached into the front of his jacket. “I’ve brought you something.”
Daisy looked to him expectantly.
“I found it at our Gipsy Hill, and waited for the right moment to give it to you.” There would never be a more right moment than this one. He held up the gold chain given him by the old gypsy woman.
A gasp escaped her lips and she alternated a disbelieving gaze between him and the necklace. “I know you sought a heart pendant.” Daisy had demonstrated a singular interest in the heart. “And though it is not fancy and of the rubies and diamonds you deserve,” he murmured and leaned forward to hang it about her neck. “It seemed perfect.” Just as she was and always would be. He snapped the clasp closed with a soft click that echoed in the quiet.
He reached for Lionella and Daisy turned the precious bundle over. Love swelled in his chest as he rocked her in his arms. His body warmed at the sweet, gentleness of her diminutive frame against him.
Daisy touched her fingertips to the necklace. The muscles of her throat moved. He brushed his knuckles over Lionella’s satiny soft cheeks. “The Heart of a Duke,” Daisy whispered.
He looked at her quizzically.
“The necklace,” she explained, her fingers still at her neck. “Whoever wears it shall possess the heart of a duke.”
His lips turned up at the romantic dreamer she’d always been. He wanted his daughter to bear every characteristic of her brave, bold, spirited mother. Well, but for the taking it into her head to dash off through the streets of London without a chaperone.
“Do you know,” Daisy said softly. “I never wanted the heart of a duke, though.”
Her words froze him.
She layered her hand to his, as together they cradled their babe. “I only wanted you, Auric. Only you.”
And finally… he was complete.
The End
Biography
Christi Caldwell is a USA Today Bestselling author of historical romance novels set in the Regency era. Christi blames Judith McNaught’s “Whitney, My Love,” for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and try her hand at writing romance. She believes the most
perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections and rather enjoys tormenting them before crafting a well-deserved happily ever after!
When Christi isn’t writing the stories of flawed heroes and heroines, she can be found in her Southern Connecticut home chasing around her feisty six-year-old son, and caring for twin princesses-in-training!
Visit www.christicaldwellauthor.com to learn more about what Christi is working on, or join her on Facebook at Christi Caldwell Author (for frequent updates, excerpts, and posts about her fun as a fulltime mom and writer) and Twitter @ChristiCaldwell (which she is still quite dreadful with).
Other Books by Christi Caldwell
“Winning a Lady’s Heart”
A Danby Novella
Author’s Note: This is a novella that was originally available in A Summons From The Castle (The Regency Christmas Summons Collection). It is being published as an individual novella.
For Lady Alexandra, being the source of a cold, calculated wager is bad enough…but when it is waged by Nathaniel Michael Winters, 5th Earl of Pembroke, the man she’s in love with, it results in a broken heart, the scandal of the season, and a summons from her grandfather – the Duke of Danby.
To escape Society’s gossip, she hurries to her meeting with the duke, determined to put memories of the earl far behind. Except the duke has other plans for Alexandra…plans which include the 5th Earl of Pembroke!
“A Season of Hope”
A Danby Novella
Five years ago when her love, Marcus Wheatley, failed to return from fighting Napoleon’s forces, Lady Olivia Foster buried her heart. Unable to betray Marcus’s memory, Olivia has gone out of her way to run off prospective suitors. At three and twenty she considers herself firmly on the shelf. Her father, however, disagrees and accepts an offer for Olivia’s hand in marriage. Yet it’s Christmas, when anything can happen…
Olivia receives a well-timed summons from her grandfather, the Duke of Danby, and eagerly embraces the reprieve from her betrothal.
Only, when Olivia arrives at Danby Castle she realizes the Christmas season represents hope, second chances, and even miracles.
“Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride”
Book 1 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Hopeless romantic Lady Emmaline Fitzhugh is tired of sitting with the wallflowers, waiting for her betrothed to come to his senses and marry her. When Emmaline reads one too many reports of his scandalous liaisons in the gossip rags, she takes matters into her own hands.
War-torn veteran Lord Drake devotes himself to forgetting his days on the Peninsula through an endless round of meaningless associations. He no longer wants to feel anything, but Lady Emmaline is making it hard to maintain a state of numbness. With her zest for life, she awakens his passion and desire for love.
The one woman Drake has spent the better part of his life avoiding is now the only woman he needs, but he is no longer a man worthy of his Emmaline. It is up to her to show him the healing power of love.
“Never Courted, Suddenly Wed”
Book 2 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Christopher Ansley, Earl of Waxham, has constructed a perfect image for the ton–the ladies love him and his company is desired by all. Only two people know the truth about Waxham’s secret. Unfortunately, one of them is Miss Sophie Winters.
Sophie Winters has known Christopher since she was in leading strings. As children, they delighted in tormenting each other. Now at two and twenty, she still has a tendency to find herself in scrapes, and her marital prospects are slim.
When his father threatens to expose his shame to the ton, unless he weds Sophie for her dowry, Christopher concocts a plan to remain a bachelor. What he didn’t plan on was falling in love with the lively, impetuous Sophie. As secrets are exposed, will Christopher’s love be enough when she discovers his role in his father’s scheme?
“Always Proper, Suddenly Scandalous”
Book 3 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Geoffrey Winters, Viscount Redbrooke was not always the hard, unrelenting lord driven by propriety. After a tragic mistake, he resolved to honor his responsibility to the Redbrooke line and live a life, free of scandal. Knowing his duty is to wed a proper, respectable English miss, he selects Lady Beatrice Dennington, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, the perfect woman for him. Until he meets Miss Abigail Stone…
To distance herself from a personal scandal, Abigail Stone flees America to visit her uncle, the Duke of Somerset. Determined to never trust a man again, she is helplessly intrigued by the hard, too-proper Geoffrey. With his strict appreciation for decorum and order, he is nothing like the man’ she’s always dreamed of.
Abigail is everything Geoffrey does not need. She upends his carefully ordered world at every encounter. As they begin to care for one another, Abigail carefully guards the secret that resulted in her journey to England.
Only, if Geoffrey learns the truth about Abigail, he must decide which he holds most dear: his place in Society or Abigail’s place in his heart.
“Always a Rogue, Forever Her Love”
Book 4 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Miss Juliet Marshville is spitting mad. With one guardian missing, and the other singularly uninterested in her fate, she is at the mercy of her wastrel brother who loses her beloved childhood home to a man known as Sin. Determined to reclaim control of Rosecliff Cottage and her own fate, Juliet arranges a meeting with the notorious rogue and demands the return of her property.
Jonathan Tidemore, 5th Earl of Sinclair, known to the ton as Sin, is exceptionally lucky in life and at the gaming tables. He has just one problem. Well…four, really. His incorrigible sisters have driven off yet another governess. This time, however, his mother demands he find an appropriate replacement.
When Miss Juliet Marshville boldly demands the return of her precious cottage, he takes advantage of his sudden good fortune and puts an offer to her; turn his sisters into proper English ladies, and he’ll return Rosecliff Cottage to Juliet’s possession.
Jonathan comes to appreciate Juliet’s spirit, courage, and clever wit, and decides to claim the fiery beauty as his mistress. Juliet, however, will be mistress for no man. Nor could she ever love a man who callously stole her home in a game of cards. As Jonathan begins to see Juliet as more than a spirited beauty to warm his bed, he realizes she could be a lady he could love the rest of his life, if only he can convince the proud Juliet that he’s worthy of her hand and heart.
“A Marquess For Christmas”
Book 5 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Lady Patrina Tidemore gave up on the ridiculous notion of true love after having her heart shattered and her trust destroyed by a black-hearted cad. Used as a pawn in a game of revenge against her brother, Patrina returns to London from a failed elopement with a tattered reputation and little hope for a respectable match. The only peace she finds is in her solitude on the cold winter days at Hyde Park. And even that is yanked from her by two little hellions who just happen to have a devastatingly handsome, but coldly aloof father, the Marquess of Beaufort. Something about the lord stirs the dreams she’d once carried for an honorable gentleman’s love.
Weston Aldridge, the 4th Marquess of Beaufort was deceived and betrayed by his late wife. In her faithlessness, he’s come to view women as self-serving, indulgent creatures. Except, after a series of chance encounters with Patrina, he comes to appreciate how uniquely different she is than all women he’s ever known.
At the Christmastide season, a time of hope and new beginnings, Patrina and Weston, unexpectedly learn true love in one another. However, as Patrina’s scandalous past threatens their future and the happiness of his children, they are both left to determine if love is enough.
“Once a Wallflower, At Last His Love”
Book 6 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Responsible, practical Miss Hermione Rogers, has been crafting stories as the notorious Mr. Michael Michaelmas and selling them for a meager wage to su
pport her siblings. The only real way to ensure her family’s ruinous debts are paid, however, is to marry. Tall, thin, and plain, she has no expectation of success. In London for her first Season she seizes the chance to write the tale of a brooding duke. In her research, she finds Sebastian Fitzhugh, the 5th Duke of Mallen, who unfortunately is perfectly affable, charming, and so nicely… configured… he takes her breath away. He lacks all the character traits she needs for her story, but alas, any duke will have to do.
Sebastian Fitzhugh, the 5th Duke of Mallen has been deceived so many times during the high-stakes game of courtship, he’s lost faith in Society women. Yet, after a chance encounter with Hermione, he finds himself intrigued. Not a woman he’d normally consider beautiful, the young lady’s practical bent, her forthright nature and her tendency to turn up in the oddest places has his interests… roused. He’d like to trust her, he’d like to do a whole lot more with her too, but should he?
“In Need of a Duke”
A Prequel Novella to “The Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
In Need of a Duke: (Author’s Note: This is a prequel novella to “The Heart of a Duke” series by Christi Caldwell. It was originally available in “The Heart of a Duke” Collection and is now being published as an individual novella.
*
It features a new prologue and epilogue.
Years earlier, a gypsy woman passed to Lady Aldora Adamson and her friends a heart pendant that promised them each the heart of a duke.
Now, a young lady, with her family facing ruin and scandal, Lady Aldora doesn’t have time for mythical stories about cheap baubles. She needs to save her sisters and brother by marrying a titled gentleman with wealth and power to his name. She sets her bespectacled sights upon the Marquess of St. James.
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